[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 198 (Friday, October 12, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62214-62215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25100]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Travel Management Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
(SEIS), Eldorado National Forest, El Dorado County, CA

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: In March 2008, the U.S. Forest Service completed the Eldorado 
National Forest Public Wheeled Motorized Travel Management Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (ENF TM FEIS) and Record of Decision 
(ROD). The 2008 TM FEIS and ROD designated roads and trails to be open 
for public motor vehicle use and prohibited cross country travel. In 
2009 a complaint was filed with the Eastern District Federal Court 
(Court Case No. 2:09-CV-02523-LKK-JFM). In its opinion dated May 26, 
2011, the Court found the Forest Service failed to comply with the 
National Forest Management Act (``NFMA'') in connection with its 
analysis and designation of routes encountering meadows. In particular, 
the court found that the Forest Service had designated 42 routes 
through meadows which was inconsistent with certain standards and 
guidelines in both the Forest's 1989 Land and Resource Management Plan 
(LRMP) and standards and guidelines within the 2004 Sierra Nevada 
Forest Plan Amendment (SNFPA), which amended the ENF LRMP. The Court 
pointed out that the error in the agency's Travel Management Decision 
was limited to 42 routes designated for public wheeled motorized travel 
that have some segment(s) that go through meadows.
    The purpose of the current analysis is to comply with the 
subsequent court order to reconsider that portion of the Travel 
Management Decision that pertains to the Riparian Conservation 
Objective (RCO) 2 for Standard and Guideline 100 
pertaining to the meadows on the 42 routes, and to determine whether 
public wheeled motor vehicle use will be allowed on the portions of 
those routes that were closed by Court Order.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by November 7, 2012. The draft Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (DSEIS) is expected in December 2012, and the final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) is expected in July, 
2013.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Kathryn Hardy, Forest Supervisor, 
Eldorado National Forest, 100 Forni Road, Placerville, CA 95667, 
Attention: Travel Management SEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Diana Erickson, TM SEIS Project 
Leader, 100 Forni Road, Placerville, CA 95667, or by telephone at 530-
621-5214. More detailed information about the project may also be found 
at http://www.fs.usda.gov/eldorado/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need for Action

    There is a need for compliance with the United States District 
Court for the Eastern District of California Case No. 2:09-CV-02523-
LKK-JFM, Court Order filed 07/31/12 in which the Court ``set aside and 
remanded for reconsideration in light of the applicable law that 
portion of the Forest Service's Final Environmental Impact Statement 
relating to the Riparian Conservation

[[Page 62215]]

Objective (``RCO'') Analysis for RCO 2 Standards and 
Guidelines 100 pertaining to the meadows on the 42 routes.''
    There is a need for determining whether public wheeled motor 
vehicle use will be allowed on the portions of the 42 specific routes 
designated for such use in the Eldorado National Forest Public Wheeled 
Motorized Travel Management EIS Record of Decision, March 2008 that 
were found by the court to be inconsistent with the ENF LRMP Standards 
and Guidelines, as amended by SNFPA.

Proposed Action

    The Forest Service proposes the following designations for the 
portions of the 42 routes that were closed by Court Order:
    1. Designate for public motorized use 9 routes that field surveys 
conducted in 2011 and 2012 determined did not cross meadows, as defined 
in the 1988 ENF LRMP.
    2. Designate for public motorized use 12 routes where field surveys 
determined the meadow crossings meet Standard and Guideline (S&G) No. 
100.
    3. Designate for public motorized use a portion of one route where 
the field survey determined a logical closure point before crossing a 
meadow.
    4. Amend the Eldorado National Forest Plan as amended by SNFPA S&G 
No. 100 to allow continued public motorized use on 19 routes that field 
surveys determined to not currently meet S&G 100, and are needed to 
meet other purposes, and designate those routes for public motorized 
use.
    5. Amend the Eldorado National Forest Plan as amended by SNFPA S&G 
100 to allow continued public motorized use on a portion of one route 
up to a logical closure point after the main destination before 
crossing additional meadows that the field survey determined to not 
meet S&G 100, and designate that portion for public motorized use.

Responsible Official

    Kathyrn D. Hardy, Forest Supervisor of the Eldorado National Forest 
will be the Responsible Official for the project.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The decision to be made is whether to adopt and implement the 
proposed action, an alternative to the proposed action, or take no 
action to address the 42 routes.

Scoping Process

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides 
the development of the environmental impact statement.
    It is important that the reviewers provide their comments at such 
times and in such manner that they are useful to the agency's 
preparation of the environmental impact statement. Therefore, comments 
should be provided prior to the close of the comment period and should 
clearly articulate the reviewer's concerns and contentions.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names 
and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record 
for this proposed aciton. Comments submitted anonymously will be 
accepted and considered, however.
    Three public Informational Open Houses will be held:
    Monday, October 22, 2012 (4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.) at Turtle Rock 
Community Center, 17300 State Route 89, Markleeville, CA;
    Thursday, October 25, 2012 (3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) at Placerville 
Inn, Best Western, 6850 Greenleaf Drive, Placerville, California; and
    Monday, October 29, 2012 (3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) at the Jackson 
Civic Center, 33 Broadway, Jackson, California.

    Dated: October 4, 2012.
Kathryn D. Hardy,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2012-25100 Filed 10-11-12; 8:45 am]
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