[Federal Register: August 21, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 162)]
[Notices]              
[Page 44830-44832]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr21au98-22]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Cool Bear Vegetative Management, Road Management, and Watershed
Rehabilitation. Lolo National Forest, Sanders County, Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of timber
harvest, reforestation, precommercial thinning, prescribed burning,
road management and watershed rehabilitation; and to correct management
area mapping errors in the Lolo National Forest Land and Resource
Management Plan (Forest Plan) in the Fishtrap Creek drainage (herein
referred to as the Cool Bear Project). The project area encompasses
18,000 acres north of Thompson Falls, Montana.
    The proposed actions of timber harvest, reforestation,
precommercial thinning, prescribed burning, road management, and
watershed rehabilitation are being considered together because they
represent either connected or cumulative actions as defined by the
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25). This EIS will tier
to the Lolo Forest Plan Final EIS (April, 1986).

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by September
21, 1998.

[[Page 44831]]

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed
management activities or a request to be placed on the project mailing
list to Richard A. Smith, District Ranger, Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger
District, Lolo National Forest, P.O. Box 429, Plains, Montana 59859.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Frank Yurczyk, EIS Team Leader, Plains/Thompson Falls Ranger District,
Lolo National Forest, Phone (406) 826-4313.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Timber harvest, is proposed on approximately
2170 acres of forested land removing an estimated 8.9 MMBF, in the Cool
Bear project area, T. 24 N.,R. 27 W.: T. 24 N., R. 28 W.; and T. 25 N.,
R. 28 W, PMM. This area has been designated as suitable for timber
management by the Lolo Forest Plan. Prescribed burning on approximately
701 acres is proposed to facilitate reforestation, improve forest
health, reduce fuel loading and enhance big game forage production.
Approximately 1.9 miles of new road construction is proposed.
Reconditioning of 12 miles and reconstructing 27 miles of existing road
is proposed to improve drainage and reduce sediment delivery to
Fishtrap Creek. Fishtrap Creek is identified as a water quality limited
stream segment by the State of Montana. The project would also
obliterate the entrances of secondary roads that are not needed in the
future. There are 15 roads that are now closed with gates. The gates
will be removed and the entrances obliterated to prevent all motor
vehicle travel. These roadways will be reseeded to hasten recovery. The
project will also propose correction of mapping errors in the Forest
Plan Management Area allocation.
    The Lolo Forest Plan provides the overall guidance for management
activities in the potentially affected area through its goals,
objectives, standards and guidelines, and management area direction.
The purpose of these proposed actions is to alter current trends in the
forest condition and to regulate, over time, changes in vegetative
cover which could adversely affect timber commodity potential, wildlife
habitat, fuel build up or watershed stability. Timber harvest will help
support the economic structure of local communities while contributing
to the regional and national timber supply. Proposed road closures and
timing of harvest activities are intended to limit human disturbance
within suitable grizzly bear habitat, improve long-term watershed
conditions, while continuing to provide non-motorized recreational
uses.
    The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives. One of
these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in which none of the
proposed activities would be implemented. Additional alternatives will
examine varying levels and locations for the proposed activities in
response to issues and other resource values.
    The EIS will analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental effects of the alternatives. Past, present, and projected
activities on both private and National Forest lands will be
considered. The EIS will disclose the analysis of site-specific
mitigation measures and their effectiveness.
    Public participation is an important part of the analysis. The
public may visit Forest Service officials at any time during the
analysis and prior to the decision. The Forest Service will be seeking
information, comments, and assistance from Federal, State, and local
agencies and other individuals or organizations who may be interested
in or affected by the proposed action. No public meetings are scheduled
at this time. Comments previously received from the public on the Cool
Bear project, will be utilized in the preparation of the EIS and do not
need to be resubmitted.
    Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in
preparation of the Draft EIS.
    The following principle issues have been identified so far:
    1. The potential effect of proposed timber harvest and associated
road development on forest health, old growth, fragmentation,
vegetative cover types and patterns across the landscape and natural
ecological processes.
    2. The potential effect of proposed timber harvest and associated
road development on grizzly bear recovery.
    3. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road
development to affect water quality and quantity, including all
cumulative effects from adjacent previous and reasonable foreseeable
future activities.
    4. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road
development to affect wildlife habitat including big game, snag
dependent species, riparian dependent species, threatened, endangered,
and sensitive species.
    5. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road
development to affect the net economic cost and benefit to the public.
    6. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road
development to affect the current patterns of public use for
recreation, hunting, personal firewood gathering and the natural
appearance of the landscape.
    7. The potential for proposed harvest and associated road
development to affect fisheries, including bull char and their habitat.
    Other issues commonly associated with timber harvesting and road
construction include effects on cultural resources, soils, compaction,
nutrients, and noxious weeds in the area. This list will be verified,
expanded, or modified based on public scoping for this proposal.
    The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in February
1999. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of Availability of
the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the Draft
EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA's notice of availability
appears in the Federal Register. It is very important that those
interested in management of the Cool Bear project area participate at
that time. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed by April, 1999.
    The Forest Service believes 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 30-day scoping 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 developing issues and alternatives. To assist the
Forest Service in identifying and considering issues, comments should
be as specific to this proposal as possible. Reviewers may wish to
refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for
implementing the procedural provisions of the National

[[Page 44832]]

Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
    I am the responsible official for this environmental impact
statement. My address is Lolo National Forest, Building 24--Fort
Missoula, Missoula, MT 59804

    Dated: August 13, 1998.
Dallas J. Emch,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 98-22508 Filed 8-20-98; 8:45 am]
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