[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 207 (Thursday, October 25, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65167-65169]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-26276]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Blacksmith Ecological Restoration Project, Eldorado National 
Forest, Placer and El Dorado Counties, CA

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, Eldorado National Forest will 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposal to treat 
approximately 6,970 acres of National Forest System land. The purpose 
of the project is to: (1) Protect, increase and perpetuate old forest 
ecosystem habitat components and conserve their associated wildlife 
species; (2) strategically reduce fuel loads to modify landscape fire 
behavior; (3) restore a composition of tree species and size classes 
that are likely to be more sustainable into the future; (4) improve 
access and reduce resource damage through improvements to the forest 
transportation system; and (5) treat hazardous fuels and implement 
forest health improvements in a cost-effective manner to ensure 
sufficient treatments occur to meet project objectives and to support 
the retention of local industrial infrastructure. The project area is 
situated on the Georgetown Ranger District northeast of Georgetown, CA 
in the vicinity of Ralston Ridge and Nevada Point Ridge, between the 
Middle Fork of the American River and the Rubicon River. The focus of 
each treatment is based on the desired quality of each treatment area 
after management rather than the quantity or quality of the products 
removed from each area. The Proposed Action consists of commercial and 
non-commercial tree thinning with follow-up tractor piling or 
mastication; mastication of select, existing plantations with a follow-
up treatment of herbicides to reduce brush competition and fuel 
buildup; the planting of conifers in expanded canopy gaps with a 
follow-up treatment of herbicide; prescribed burning, and associated 
roadwork.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received 
by November 30, 2012. The draft environmental impact statement is 
expected March 2013 and the final environmental impact statement is 
expected October 2013.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 7600 Wentworth Springs Rd., 
Georgetown, CA 95634 Attention: Blacksmith Ecological Restoration 
Project. Comments may also be sent via email to [email protected], or via facsimile to 
530-333-5522.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dana Walsh, Project Leader, Georgetown 
Ranger District, 7600 Wentworth Springs Rd., Georgetown, CA 95634, or 
by telephone at 530-333-4312.
    Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action

    (1) Protect, increase and perpetuate old forest ecosystem habitat 
components and conserve their associated wildlife species.
    (2) Strategically reduce fuel loads to modify landscape fire 
behavior.
    (3) Restore a composition of tree species and size classes that are 
likely to be more sustainable into the future.
    (4) Improve access and reduce resource damage through improvements 
to the forest transportation system.
    (5) Treat hazardous fuels and implement forest health improvements 
in a cost-effective manner to ensure sufficient treatments occur to 
meet project objectives and to support the retention of local 
industrial infrastructure.

Proposed Action

    The Proposed Action includes a combination of fuels reduction and 
forest health improvement actions designed to move stands toward the 
Desired Future Condition for the land allocation described in the Final 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the Sierra 
Nevada Forest Plan Amendment dated 1/21/2004 on approximately 6,968 
acres of National Forest System land on the Eldorado National Forest in 
Placer County and El Dorado Counties, California. The Proposed Action 
has been developed based on collaborative efforts during project 
development, and activities have been selected and designed based on a 
desire to balance treatment needs with the potential risks of 
treatments to occupancy and reproduction in individual California 
spotted owl territories.
     Approximately 2,519 acres are proposed for mechanical 
thinning with the cutting and removal of select commercial and non-
commercial size trees using a combination of variable density thinning 
and thinning from below to maintain or increase within-stand 
heterogeneity while reducing ladder fuels in strategic locations and 
where machinery can effectively and efficiently achieve project 
objectives. Commercial timber removed from this project would be scaled 
or weighed for payment purposes.
    Thinning would be performed using a combination of ground based and 
skyline systems. Ground based whole tree logging system would be used 
to thin approximately 2,462 acres on slopes generally less than 35%. A 
skyline system would be used to thin approximately 57 acres of 
treatment units with slopes generally greater than 35%. Units 
identified for thinning using

[[Page 65168]]

skyline systems would include harvest on slopes generally less than 50% 
with mechanical equipment to cut and bunch thinned trees. Hand falling 
would be used in areas with slopes generally steeper than 50%. Removal 
of trees >=30'' dbh would not occur, except to allow for equipment 
operability or safety.
    Biomass accumulated on landings could be disposed of in a number of 
ways, including on-site burning, commercial and personal use firewood, 
or used as co-generation fuel.
     Tractor pile or grapple pile activities would treat brush, 
slash and downed woody debris. Piling intensity would vary by slope 
with north slopes piled less intensively than south slopes. Tractor 
piling with follow-up prescribed burning is proposed on up to 2,093 
acres as a follow-up treatment and 8 acres as the initial treatment.
     Mastication of competing vegetation is proposed as the 
follow-up treatment on approximately 279 acres and as the initial 
treatment on approximately 478 acres of plantation stands. This 
activity would treat brush, shrubs, slash, and small trees by mulching 
the material into fine chips. Approximately 5-20% of the area of these 
stands would not be treated in order to provide habitat diversity by 
leaving concentrations of trees or bush scattered at various locations 
within the treatment area.
     Mastication in 246 acres of plantations with re-sprouting 
brush species would have follow-up herbicide application if brush cover 
returns at greater than 30% following initial treatment. Depending on 
treatment timing and brush size, initial treatment as mastication could 
be converted to initial treatment with herbicide in approximately 118 
acres of plantation established after the Ralston Fire. Herbicides 
would also potentially be applied to reduce brush competition in 
planted areas.
    A ground based foliar application of glyphosate (Rodeo or 
equivalent) would be used when the plants are actively growing at a 
rate of 4 lbs. a.e. per acre. Glyphosate would be applied as a mixture 
with Hasten added as a surfactant and Hi-light blue added as a marker 
dye.
     A combination of hand treatment and prescribed burning is 
proposed on 213 acres of sensitive sites to reduce fuel loadings, and 
areas with mostly non-commercial removal that is best suited to lop and 
scatter.
     Planting of ponderosa and sugar pine would occur to 
restore pine in areas that have a high concentration of white fir 
mortality from Annosus root rot. Planting is also proposed for an area 
which was burned at stand-replacing intensities in the Long Fire and 
has since converted to deer brush.
     Pile burning and under burning are the two primary 
techniques of prescribed fire proposed in this project. Prescribed 
burning is proposed as a follow-up treatment on 6,843. Prescribed 
burning is proposed as the initial treatment or primary treatment for 
this project on 3,477 acres where land allocations, environmental 
constraints, or stand conditions make prescribed fire the preferred 
tool to achieve treatment objectives.
    All proposed fire treatment areas would be ignited using ground 
based firing except the north eastern portion of unit 5, above the 
Rubicon River. In this unit, several hundred acres would be ignited 
through aerial firing techniques using a plastic sphere dispenser 
(PSD).
    In preparation for prescribed fire, perimeter line construction 
would be needed where roads, trails, or natural barriers are absent. 
This may involve hand cutting of vegetation including trees up to 6-
inch diameter, pruning, and scraping a bare soil line, or line 
construction with a D-6 or smaller dozer.
    Treatments proposed for initial prescribe burn treatments may have 
2-3 follow-up prescribed fire treatments to achieve objectives for 
reduced surface and latter fuels. These follow-up treatments would 
occur typically in 5 to 7 year intervals after initial treatment.
     2 miles of new road construction are proposed in order to 
facilitate the treatment activities. Roads will not be designed for 
public use.
     Road reconstruction to facilitate treatments and to 
improve water quality through installation of Best Management Practices 
(BMPs) is proposed on approximately 36 miles of existing roads. 
Reconstruction activities include: road rocking, replacement of 
inadequate drainage crossings, cutting or trimming of trees and brush 
for sight distance improvement, elimination of ruts, gate or barrier 
installation to control seasonal use or replacement of existing non-
functional gates or barriers, ditch repair, and installation of 
waterbars and dips on roads with inadequate runoff control.
     Within the project area, routes that are not designated 
routes identified in the Eldorado National Forest Public Wheeled 
Motorized Travel Management Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) 
(2008), are candidates for closure and restoration. Non-System Routes 
(NSRs) include old skid roads, old temporary roads, trails, and 
unauthorized off highway vehicle trails. NSRs within identified units 
of either commercial or non-commercial treatments may be eliminated or 
closed by a variety of methods including, but not limited to: covering 
with brush, ripping, re-contouring barricading with use of gates or 
natural material, or a combination of the above in order to restore 
ecological function to the area.

Responsible Official

    Forest Supervisor, Eldorado National Forest.

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 improve forest health, and to reduce fuels.

Permits or Licenses Required

    At this time, there is uncertainty whether a National Pollution 
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit would be required for 
stormwater discharges from logging roads associated with this project. 
Currently, the Environmental Protection Agency is not requiring 
agencies to obtain NPDES permits for stormwater discharges from logging 
roads and on September 4, 2012, the EPA proposed revisions to its Phase 
I stormwater regulations to clarify that stormwater discharges from 
logging roads do not constitute stormwater discharges associated with 
industrial activity and that a NPDES permit is not required (Federal 
Register/Vol. 77, No. 171--pp. 53834-53838). Pending the outcome of 
this rulemaking and any associated legal challenges, a NPDES could be 
required at a later date.

Scoping Process

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides 
the development of the environmental impact statement. To facilitate 
public participation, information about the proposed action will be 
mailed to all who express interest in the Proposed Action.
    It is important that 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 action. Comments submitted anonymously will be 
accepted and considered, however.


[[Page 65169]]


     Dated: October 15, 2012.
Kathryn D. Hardy,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2012-26276 Filed 10-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P