[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 212 (Friday, November 1, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66604-66605]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-27786]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Toolbox Fire Recovery Project, Fremont National Forest, Lake
County, OR
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) on a proposal to assist the recovery of areas burned in
2002 by the Toolbox Complex Fires (includes Toolbox Fire, Silver Fire
and small portion of Winter Fire). This will include proposals to
salvage burned timber, implement re-forestation and implement projects
to alleviate the potential for future damage to riparian and aquatic
resources as a result of the Toolbox Complex Fires. The 48,000 acre
project area is located on the Silver Lake Ranger District and is
centered approximately 13 miles south of Silver Lake, Oregon, within
the Silver Creek, Silver Lake and Summer Lake Watersheds.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by December 2, 2002.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Carolyn Wisdom, District Ranger,
Silver Lake Ranger District, PO Box 129, Silver Lake, OR 97638.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick Elston, Toolbox Fire Recovery
Project Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Silver Lake Ranger District,
Phone: (541) 576-7569. E-mail [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In July 2002 the Toolbox Complex Fires
burned approximately 85,000 acres, of which 49,500 occur on the Fremont
National Forest. The remainder of the fire includes approximately 8,000
acres of Bureau of Land Management Administered lands and 27,500 acres
of private land. The 48,000 acre decision area for the Toolbox Fire
Recovery Projects includes those portions of the Toolbox Complex Fires
that occurred within the Silver Creek, Silver Lake and Summer Lake
Watersheds on National Forest System lands.
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose and need for action in the project planning area is to
create conditions that would facilitate our efforts to:
--Recover habitat lost and soil damaged as a result of intense fire and
reduce the likelihood of future loss or damage from reburn;
--Restore damaged riparian areas resulting from the Toolbox Complex
Fire;
--Protect remaining live stands from insect infestations associated
with fire-killed trees;
--Develop a long term sustainable forest through re-forestation and
fuels reduction; and
--Salvage burned timber, while it retains some merchantable value.
Proposed Action
The proposed project would include the following activities:
--Reforestation of areas that sustained high tree mortality including
existing plantations that were affected by the fire;
--Re-vegetation of burned riparian areas;
--Reconstruction of roads open to the public and repair of roads closed
to the public but still required for administrative use;
decommissioning of degraded roads;
--Riparian Restoration including adding large wood to deficient stream
channels; and
--Salvage harvest of approximately 21,500 acres in the Silver Creek,
Silver Lake and Summer Lake Watersheds and removal of hazardous trees
along open roads and at recreational facilities.
Most of the proposed timber salvage units would be harvested using
ground-based logging systems. Access for salvage would require
reconstruction of about 9 miles of existing roads, primarily by adding
surfacing, and construction of approximately 12 miles of new temporary
roads and 14 miles of temporary roads located on old road locations.
The temporary roads would be closed and obliterated after completion of
project activities. Approximately 10 to 15% of the area to be salvaged
would be harvested using helicopter based logging systems, including
areas salvaged within Riparian Habitat Conservation Areas (RHCAs). All
activities within RHCAs would be in accordance with Fremont National
Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) Standards and
Guidelines, as amended by the Inland Native Fish Strategy (INFISH).
Other connected actions in association with salvage include water
barring and erosion control measures such as scattering of slash on
skid trails and treatment of slash.
Planting of tree seedlings following site preparation would occur
on approximately 28,500 acres, including areas that are salvage
harvested and existing plantations or young stands in which fire damage
occurred. Most or all seedlings would be ponderosa pine. Reduction of
fuels, including those created by the fire, by salvage activity and by
site preparation would occur throughout the project area. A variety of
fuel treatment methods would be used, including removing marketable
timber through salvage harvest, burning in place, piling and burning,
yarding tops to landings to be burned, or lopping and scattering to
speed decay. In order to meet desired fuels conditions some areas may
be ``pretreated'' (by thinning very small diameter trees) and
prescribed burned. In some instances this may require a Forest Plan
amendment.
Additional proposed activities include:
--Approximately 35 miles of road decommissioning to promote watershed
recovery;
--Approximately 880 acres of aspen stand protection;
--Placement of large woody debris or other in-stream structures to meet
Riparian Management Objectives in approximately 8 miles of Silver Creek
and 6 miles of West Fork Silver Creek;
--Approximately 10 acres of riparian area deciduous plantings;
--Approximately 1,300 acres of contour falling (using dead trees) on
steep slopes to protect water quality;
--Culvert replacement where Forest Road 27 crosses West Fork Silver
Creek to improve fish passage;
--Approximately 2,500 acres of plantation thinning; and
--Re-routing sections of the Fremont National Recreation Trail if
necessitated by salvage activity.
All proposed activities are responsive to the stated purpose and
need for this project.
Possible Alternatives
A full range of alternatives will be considered, including a ``no-
action'' alternative in which none of the activities proposed above
would be implemented. Based on the issues gathered through scoping, the
action alternatives would differ in (1) The silvicultural and post-
harvest treatments prescribed (2) the amount and location of harvest
(3) the amount and location of fuels reduction activity. Tentative
[[Page 66605]]
alternatives to the proposed action include an alternative that does
not require the construction of additional temporary or permanent
roads, other than temporary re-opening of existing roads, and that does
not consider salvage removal from RHCAs. Another alternative would
emphasize removal (or other fuels treatment options) of dead timber in
the size classes most likely to reburn. Currently available science on
snag and coarse woody debris dependent species habitat will be a factor
in alternative development and could result in a proposal of a site-
specific Forest Plan amendment to update standards and guidelines for
these species. Consideration of various regeneration strategies
including planting at relatively low stocking levels could also be a
factor that differentiates alternatives.
Scoping Process
Public participation will be sought at several points during the
analysis, including listing of this project in the Fall 2002 and
subsequent issues of the Fremont-Winema National Forest's Schedule of
Proposed Activities; letters to agencies, organizations, and
individuals who have previously indicated their interest in such
activities; and a legal notice in the Klamath Herald and News. Public
meetings may be scheduled during the fall/winter of 2002-2003. The
scoping process will include: Identifying potential issues, identifying
major issues to be analyzed in depth, eliminating non-significant
issues or those previously covered by a relevant environmental
analysis, considering additional alternatives based on themes which
will be derived from issues recognized during scoping activities, and
identifying potential environmental effects of this proposed action and
alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect and cumulative effects and
connected actions).
Preliminary Issues
Preliminary issues include: Snag and downed wood habitat; big game
thermal cover; disturbance of cultural resources; potential noxious
weed expansion; effects of proposed activities on soils exposed by the
fire; effects of proposed activities on the recovery of water quality
and resident fisheries resource; ability of proposed activities to
contribute to restoration of historic vegetation composition,
structures, and patterns; potential loss of commercial timber value;
and economic viability of timber salvage.
Public comments about this proposal are requested in order to
assist in properly scoping issues, determining how to best manage the
resources, and fully analyzing environmental effects. Comments received
to this notice, including names and addresses of those who comment,
will be considered part of the public record on this proposed action
and will be available for public inspection. Comments submitted
anonymously will be accepted and considered; however, those who submit
anonymous comments will not have standing to appeal the subsequent
decision under 36 CFR parts 215 and 217. Additionally, pursuant to 7
CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the agency to withhold a submission
from the public record by showing how the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) permits such confidentiality. Persons requesting such
confidentiality should be aware that, under FOIA, confidentiality may
be granted in only very limited circumstances, such as to protect trade
secrets. The Forest Service will inform the requester of the agency's
decision regarding the request for confidentiality, and where the
request is denied, the agency will return the submission and notify the
requester that the comments may be resubmitted with or without name and
address within a specified number of days.
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review
The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes
the notice of availability in the Federal Register. The draft EIS is
expected in June 2003 and the final EIS is expected in October 2003.
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 environmental impact statements must structure their
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it 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 EIS.
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 Regulations for implementing
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
The Forest Service is the lead agency. The Responsible Official is
the Forest Supervisor, Fremont National Forest, 1301 South ``G''
Street, Lakeview, Oregon 97630-9701. The Responsible Official will
decide which, if any, of the proposed projects will be implemented. The
Responsible Official may also decide on site-specific Forest Plan
amendments regarding standards and guidelines for snag and coarse woody
debris, as well as big game habitat, if warranted by the analysis of
those components in light of recent science.
The Responsible Official will document the Toolbox Fire Recovery
Project decision and reasons for the decision in the Record of
Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal
Regulations (36 CFR part 215).
Dated: October 21, 2002.
Charles R. Graham,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 02-27786 Filed 10-31-02; 8:45 am]
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