[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 240 (Wednesday, December 13, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77848-77849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31694]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 240 / Wednesday, December 13, 2000 /
Notices
[[Page 77848]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Lassen National Forest; California; Lakes Forest Recovery Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service intends to prepare an environmental impact
statement to analyze and disclose the environmental effects of
implementing resource management activities that include fuelbreak
construction consisting of a strategic system of defensible fuel
profile zones, group selection and individual tree selection harvests,
and riparian restoration projects on the Almanor Ranger District in the
Lassen National Forest. These activities are part of a 5-year pilot
project to test and demonstrate the effectiveness of certain resource
management activities designed to meet ecologic, economic, and fuel
reduction objectives on the Lassen National Forest as well as the
Plumas National Forest and on the Sierraville Ranger District of the
Tahoe National Forest. This notice applies only to the Lassen National
Forest; however, all three National Forests were named in the Record of
Decision (August 1999) for the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group
Forest Recovery Act Final Environmental Impact Statement. The Record of
Decision amended the management direction in the Land and Resource
Management Plans for these three National Forests. The need for the
Record of Decision and Final Environmental Impact Statement was
generated from the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group Forest
Recovery Act of October 21, 1998.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be
received in writing on or before January 12, 2001.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Susan Jeheber-Matthews, Almanor
District Ranger, P.O. Box 767, Chester, CA, 96020.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dominic Cesmat, Interdisciplinary Team
Leader, telephone: (530) 258-2141.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Proposed Action
To accomplish the purpose of the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library
Group Forest Recovery Act (Act), resource management activities
included in the proposed Lakes Forest Recovery Project are defensible
fuel profile zone (DFPZ) construction, group selection and individual
tree selection harvests, and riparian restoration projects. The
proposed project is located in Butte County, California, within the
Almanor Ranger District of the Lassen National Forest in all or
portions of Sections 1-3, 10-15, 22-27, 34-36, T.25N, R.4E., Sections
3-10, 15-20, 29-30, T.25N., R.5E., Sections 1-4, 9-15, 22-26, 34-36,
T.26N., R.4E., Section 4-10, 14-23, 26-35, T.26N., R.5E., Sections 33-
36, T.27N., R.4E., and Sections 31-33, T.27N., R.5E., MDM.
The Lakes Forest Recovery Project area is one of five sub networks
established to implement a DFPZ network on the District. The purpose of
DFPZs in this area is to reduce the number of acres that would be
burned by high-intensity and stand-replacing fires. DFPZs are needed in
this area in order to improve suppression efficiency by creating an
environment where wildfires would burn at lower intensities and where
fire fighting production rates would be increased. DFPZ are
strategically located strips of land on which forest fuels, both living
and dead, have been modified in order to reduce the potential for a
sustained crown fire and to allow fire suppression personnel a safer
location from which to take action against a wildfire. Fuels treatment
strategies would focus on the alteration or reduction of surface fuels,
ladder fuels, and canopy closure in order to effectively alter fire
behavior and severity. Treatment methods would include thinning
timbered stands, hand or machine piling of excessive forest fuels, and
prescribed fire. The Lakes Forest Recovery Project proposes to
construct 7,780 acres of DFPZs in the Lake's project area including an
estimated 5,520 acres that would be thinned.
Groups selection harvests would be implemented to promote diversity
in stand age and structure. Root disease centers or dwarf mistletoe
infected areas would be targeted for group selection, as well as those
stands that are even-aged in structure. Some understocked areas would
also be regenerated using the group selection prescription. Group
selection harvests would be implemented in some aspen stands where
competition for light and soil moisture from conifers is causing a
decline in health and structure of the aspen stand. Treatment would
consist of removing most of the conifers within identified aspen
stands. Group selection harvests would also be utilized to treat stands
with meadow attributes that are declining due to conifer encroachment
within the meadow. Group selection harvests would be performed to
reduce the encroachment of conifers. Group selection would be
implemented on an estimated 1,100 acres within the Lakes Forest Recover
Project area. Fuels treatment would occur on 650 acres within group
selections.
Individual tree selection is allowed in the Act to promote forest
health and provide an uneven-aged structure to forested lands.
Individual tree selection would be implemented on an estimated 460
acres within the Lakes Forest Recovery Project area.
Included in the proposed action for the Lakes Forest Recovery
Project is the realignment of a boundary for a protected activity
center for the California spotted owl, and the establishment of a new
goshawk management area for a nesting pair of goshawks.
New construction of permanent and temporary roads would be needed
to economically access stands requiring treatment for DFPZ and group
selection harvest. Within the project area, 19.9 miles of permanent new
road construction and 8.2 miles of temporary road construction would be
implemented for this purpose. New construction of permanent roads would
be added to the Forest transportation system. Temporary roads would be
obliterated upon completion of use.
Riparian restoration projects would include erosion control
treatment on existing landings and skidtrails, and on eroding
streambanks that are contributing sediment to the streams. Treatment of
existing roads would be
[[Page 77849]]
implemented as part of an overall riparian restoration strategy to
reduce impacts caused by roads. Impacts include erosion and increased
runoff from inadequately or poorly drained roads, especially those
located close to streams and with poorly designed drainage structures
and stream crossings. Road treatments would include road relocation
(11.2 miles of new construction, all of which is included in the new
construction mentioned above), reconstruction (44 miles of existing
roads for DFPZ and group selection access), and decommissioning (14.9
miles). Reconstruction activities would also include improvement or
relocation of several in-channel water sources.
Decision To Be Made
The decision to be made is whether to implement the proposed action
as described above, to meet the purpose and need for action through
some other combination of activities, or to take no action at this
time.
In order to fully test the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library Group
Forest Recovery Act on the Almanor Ranger District (e.g., implement
contiguous DFPZs on the landscape), it is necessary to analyze and
implement the resource management activities outlined in the Act within
suitable habitat for the California spotted owl. The Lakes Forest
Recovery Project proposed action includes projects within suitable
habitat.
The Record of Decision for the Herger-Feinstein Quincy Library
Group Forest Recovery Act Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)
stated that California spotted owl habitat would be avoided at the
site-specific project level until a new California spotted owl habitat
management strategy is released. The decision to implement resource
management activities within suitable owl habitat in the Lakes Forest
Recovery Project area will be based upon one or more of the following
three actions:
(1) A decision is made on the Sierra Nevada Conservation Framework
(that would amend the Lassen National Forest (NF) Land and Resource
Management Plan) that defines a new owl strategy and allows the
implementation of resource management activities as outlined in the
Act, or;
(2) A new California spotted owl viability assessment is completed
providing direction encompassing the species' range and the Lassen NF
Land and Resource Management Plan is amended to include the new owl
strategy, or;
(3) A site-specific California spotted owl strategy would be
developed and implemented for this project resulting in a non-
significant amendment to the Lassen NF Forest Plan.
Responsible Official and Lead Agency
The USDA Forest Service is the lead agency for this proposal.
District Ranger Susan Jeheber-Matthews is the responsible official.
Tentative or Preliminary Issues and Possible Alternatives
Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in
preparation of the draft environmental impact statement (EIS). The
scoping process will be used to identify questions and issues regarding
the proposed action. An issue is defined as a point of dispute, debate,
or disagreement related to a specific proposed action based on its
anticipated effects. Significant issues brought to our attention are
used during an environmental analysis to develop alternatives to the
proposed action. Some issues raised in scoping may be considered non-
significant because they are: (1) Beyond the scope of the proposed
action and its purpose and need; (2) already decided by law,
regulation, or the Land and Resource Management Plan; (3) irrelevant to
the decision to be made; or (4) conjectural and not supported by
scientific or factual evidence.
An anticipated public issue with the Lakes Forest Recovery Project
is the proposal to implement resource management activities within
suitable California spotted owl habitat. Alternatives currently being
considered for the Lakes Forest Recovery Project include: (a) No
action; (b) the proposed action as outlined above, and; (c) an
alternative, based on the proposed action, that does not enter into
suitable California spotted owl habitat.
While public participation in this analysis is welcome at any time,
comments received within 30 days of the publication of this notice will
be especially useful in the preparation of the draft EIS.
Identification of Permits or Licenses Required
No permits or licenses have been identified to implement the
proposal action.
Estimated Dates for Filing
The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency and available for public review on March 2001. The
comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability of
the draft EIS in the Federal Register.
The Reviewers Obligation To Comment
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
draft statements must structure their participation in the
environmental review of the proposal so that is meaningful and alerts
an agency to the reviewer's position and contentions. Vermont Yankee
Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also,
environmental objections that could be raised at the draft
environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised until
after completion of the final environmental impact statement may be
waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490
F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court rulings,
it is very important that those interested in this proposed action
participate by the close of the 45 day comment period so that
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest
Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to
them in the final environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulation of implementing the
procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40
CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
Dated: December 6, 2000.
Edward C. Cole,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 00-31694 Filed 12-12-00; 8:45 am]
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