[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 222 (Friday, November 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57715-57716]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25059]
[[Page 57715]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Umatilla National Forest, Oregon, Ellis Integrated Vegetation
Management Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Heppner and North Fork John Day Ranger Districts propose
the Ellis Integrated Vegetation Project (Ellis Project) to reduce
overstocking, improve ecosystem health, and enhance resilient
landscapes by creating and maintaining heterogeneous vegetative
conditions at multiple scales. As a result, this action will reduce the
risk of uncharacteristic disturbances; enhance vegetative communities;
provide well-distributed, high quality wildlife habitat for associated
species; aid in protecting values at risk; promote the health and
safety of the public and firefighters; and contribute to social,
cultural, and economic needs. The project area is approximately 15
miles southeast of Heppner and 7 miles west of Ukiah, Oregon, in
Morrow, Umatilla, and Grant Counties. Based on internal and external
issues raised early in proposal development; and the scope, scale, and
potentially significant beneficial impacts to distribution of wildlife,
forest health, and fuels reduction, the Umatilla National Forest plans
to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS).
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by January 15, 2019. The draft EIS is expected November 2019 and the
final EIS is expected July 2020.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Heppner District Ranger, Brandon
Houck; c/o Leslie Taylor, PO Box 7, Heppner, Oregon, 97836, or they can
be hand delivered to the Heppner Ranger District (117 So. Main St.,
Heppner, OR 97836). Comments may also be submitted electronically via
https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=41350 selecting the ``Comment
on Project'' link in the ``Get Connected'' group at the right hand side
of the project web page, or via facsimile to 541-278-3730.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Elizabeth Berkley, 541-278-3814,
[email protected].
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: The Ellis Project is located within the
Upper Butter Creek, Upper Willow Creek, Rhea Creek, Lower Camas Creek,
and the Potamus Creek-North Fork John Day River 5th field watersheds.
Private land accounts for approximately 4,626 acres within the project
boundary, leaving about up to 110,000 acres that may be considered for
treatment on National Forest System lands.
Purpose and Need for Action
The Ellis Project is an interdisciplinary project developed to meet
a wide variety of program needs. The key purposes are to reduce the
risk of undesirable wildfire, improve ingress and egress for
firefighters, increase forest health and vigor for timber and non-
timber values, and improve wildlife habitat. This project is needed to
protect values at risk, create healthy, fire-resistant landscapes and
improve wildlife habitat and forage variability. Additional program
purposes include improving the quality of rangelands, enhancing unique
vegetation communities, improving ethnographically important foods, and
improving and maintaining recreational opportunities.
Proposed Action
The Ellis Project is expected to include the following types of
treatments: commercial thinning; small diameter thinning; mechanical
fuels treatments; pile, jackpot, and broadcast burning; landscape
burning; pruning and planting. Target basal area for thinning will be
dependent on species composition, stand age, size classes and desired
future conditions. Varying desired stand density will create or
maintain a clumpy, patchy, uneven mosaic of trees across the landscape.
Regeneration harvest will occur in cold and cool moist forest areas
affected by insect and disease. Areas of additional treatment will be
focused on the ember reduction zone, areas of scenic recreational
value, and areas of conifer encroachment on aspen stands, wet meadows
and shrub-steppe. Additional wildlife habitat improvements will include
forage plantings and road closures to increase security. Rangeland
improvements may include water developments and fencing. Project
outputs include a variety of forest products including fuelwood, posts
and poles, saw logs, and other wood fiber products.
Responsible Officials
Brandon Houck (Heppner) and Paula Guenther (North Fork John Day)
District Rangers.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
Given the purpose and need, the responsible officials will review
the proposed action and comments on the scope of the project to develop
any alternatives to address issues identified by the public.
Alternatives and the environmental consequences will be drafted and
analyzed in the draft decision. The responsible officials will compare
the proposed action and alternatives and consider environmental
consequences of the Ellis Project in order to decide how well the
selected alternative meets the purpose and need described in the EIS;
how well the selected alternative moves the project area toward the
desired conditions; and if the selected alternative mitigates potential
adverse effects.
Preliminary Issues
Issues identified so far include potential impact of treatments in
cold and cool moist forest and wildlife movement/displacement.
Vegetation treatments in cold and cool moist forest remains a
contentious topic among stakeholders as these areas are considered more
sensitive to disturbance, but the need still exists to reduce stand
density for forest vigor and to reestablish historical fire regimes.
Wildlife movement and distribution, particularly for elk, is also a
growing concern. Early stakeholder engagement has identified a need to
improve security and forage on National Forest System lands to better
retain elk, which are pushed off-forest onto private lands, creating
conflict in agricultural areas. High road use and road density
exacerbate this issue.
Scoping Process
The Heppner and North Fork John Day Ranger Districts have scheduled
three public workshops to help facilitate conversations about the
project area and solicit input on the proposal. These workshops are
scheduled for November 8, November 15, and December 13, 2018, from 1800
to 2000 hours (6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.). Two will be held at the Heppner
Ranger District (117 So. Main St., Heppner, OR 97836) and the other at
the North Fork John Day Ranger District office (401 W. Main, Ukiah, OR
97880). Exact locations will be announced closer to scheduled dates in
consideration of weather and road conditions.
Comments should be as specific as possible and focus on desired
conditions or means to address concerns about the proposed action. It
is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times and in
such
[[Page 57716]]
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 commenter's suggestions for alternatives.
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, anonymous comments will not allow the
Agency to provide the respondent with updates or subsequent
environmental documents.
Dated: November 1, 2018.
Gregory C. Smith,
Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2018-25059 Filed 11-15-18; 8:45 am]
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