[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 93 (Monday, May 16, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-11321] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: May 16, 1994] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Savant Sage Resource Area; Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Kootenai County, Idaho. ACTION: Notice of availability of the final environmental impact statement for activities in the Savant Sage Resource Area. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DATES: The appeal period on this Final Environmental Impact Statement ends June 29, 1994. APPEAL RIGHTS: Send appeals to Appeal Reviewing Officer, Regional Forester David F. Jolly, USDA Forest Service, Northern Region, Federal Building, 200 East Broadway, P.O. Box 7669, Missoula, MT 59807. Appeals must meet the requirements of 36 CFR 215.4. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions about the decision and environmental impact statement should be directed to Patrick Sheridan, Planning Staff Officer, Fernan Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 2502 East Sherman Avenue, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814. Phone: (208) 664-2318. SUMMARY: The notice is hereby given that the Forest Service has prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) documenting activities in the Savant Sage Resource Area. The area is located approximately 5 miles east of Athol, Idaho, and is approximately 7,500 acres in size. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action was based on a landscape-level approach to ecosystem management, and included timber harvest and reforestation in the Savant Sage Resource Area, through implementation of a single timber sale. The scope of the proposed action is limited to timber harvesting, reforestation, and related road construction and reconstruction activities. During development of the proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action, emphasis was placed on addressing the water resource needs and visual concerns of local residents. Five alternatives were developed, including a No-Action Alternative. Alternative 4 is the alternative selected by the Responsible Official. Alternative 4 provides resource management practices that move toward the desired future conditions for the area, described in the Forest Plan, and includes several features favored by the public: no new roads, large streamside management zones where no cutting will occur, no helicopter yarding, and protection of unfragmented habitat. Alternative 4 demonstrates a balance between protecting visual, recreation, fragmentation, biodiversity, watershed, and wildlife resources, and initiating treatment of disease conditions. It will allow for the effective re-establishment of native tree species (white pine, ponderosa pine, and western larch), and will reduce the risk of severe fires on the acres that are treated. Alternative 4 will provide timber volume to the timber industry and funds to the local counties for schools and roads. Management activities would be administered by the Fernan Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in Kootenai County, Idaho. This EIS will tier to the Forest Plan (September 1987) which provides the overall guidance (Goals, Objectives, Standards and Guidelines, and Management Area direction) in achieving the desired future condition for this area. Dated: May 1, 1994. Donald J. Bright, District Ranger, Fernan Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests. [FR Doc. 94-11321 Filed 5-13-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-11-M