[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 229 (Tuesday, November 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60088-60089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-30271]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Kootenai National Forest, Northern Region
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to revise the Land and Resource Management
Plan (Forest Plan) for the Kootenai National Forest.
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SUMMARY: this notice announces the beginning of the efforts to revise
the Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) for the Kootenai
National Forest. This is not the Notice of Intent (NOI) for the
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that will accompany the Revised
Forest Plan. That NOI will be issued at a later date.
The beginning efforts are to prepare the ``Analysis of the
Management Situation'' (AMS) per 36 CFR 219.12(e). This includes
analysis of local conditions and consideration of broad scale
information from the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management
Project (ICBEMP) EIS. The AMS and ICBEMP EIS will be used to determine
the Kootenai National Forest's Need for Change. This information will
then provide a basis for the NOI to prepare the EIS, which will begin
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process associated with
Forest Plan revision.
Public involvement is critical and will be requested throughout
this effort. The forest is developing a communication strategy to
document how the public and government entities may participate in the
AMS and revision of the forest Plan. Formal public involvement,
associated with the Forest Plan revision, will also be conducted
through scoping following the issuance of the EIS Notice of Intent.
DATES: A supplemental notice will be placed in the Federal Register
announcing the beginning of formal scoping for the Forest Plan revision
DEIS. The notice will provide an opportunity to comment and the
expected completion dates. This notice is anticipated to be issued in
the winter/spring of 1998.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments concerning this notice, communication
strategy and requests to be added to the Forest Plan revision mailing
list to Robert L. Schrenk, Forest Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest,
506 Highway 2 West, Libby, Montana 59923.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Joan Dickerson, Forest Planner, Kootenai National Forest, phone (406)
293-6211.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Plan for the Kootenai National
Forest was completed in September, 1987 and has guided the management
of the Forest since then. Forest Plans are revised on a 10-year cycle
or at least every 15 years. It also may be revised whenever the Forest
Supervisor determines that conditions or demands in the area have
significantly changed (36 CFR 219.10(g)).
On November 20, 1995 the Chief of the Forest Service issued a
decision on an appeal by the Cabinet Resource Group and Montana
Wilderness Association regarding the Kootenai Forest Plan. The Chief
directed the Regional Forester to:
(a) Incorporate through Forest Plan amendment or revision the terms
and conditions of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) July 27,
1995 amended Biological Opinion on the Forest Plan relating to road
management;
(b) Incorporate through Forest Plan amendment or revision the terms
and conditions of the amended Biological Opinion relating to grizzly
bear management and incorporate the Interagency Grizzly Bear Guidelines
in their entirety;
(c) Amend or revise the Forest Plan if a review determines that it
is not in compliance with new regulations for oil and gas resources.
(d) Amend or revise the Forest Plan to correct the ASQ calculation,
based on a more accurate method of summarizing the timber inventory
data, to bring the analysis into technical compliance.
In addition to the Chief's direction, monitoring and evaluation of
the Forest Plan has shown that many factors affecting land management
have changed since the time the Forest Plan was prepared. Therefore,
the agency has chosen to revise, rather than amend the Kootenai Forest
Plan. Revision will provide opportunity to update the Plan to more
adequately account for such changing factors. The Forest's annual
monitoring reports describe these factors.
The Forest Plan, as approved September 14, 1987 and amended through
project specific or programmatic amendments, will remain in effect and
continue to be implemented as modified by the Chief's November 27, 1995
decision (to limit average annual program sales to 150 MMBF).
(1) Preparation of the ICBEMP
In addition, another planning effort is currently ongoing that
involves the Kootenai National Forest. This effort is the Interior
Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP) EIS, which will
address issues relevant to the Kootenai National Forest and likely
result in changes in the Forest Plan. Notice of this effort and
supporting information was previously published in the Federal Register
on December 4, 1994. The purpose of the ICBEMP is to ``* * * develop
and analyze a
[[Page 60089]]
scientifically sound, ecosystem-based strategy for management of lands
administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Forest Service.* * * The strategy will modify existing Forest Plans and
will focus on forest, rangeland, and aquatic/riparian ecosystem health
and the sustainability of threatened, endangered, and sensitive
species.''
Direction from the Record of Decision for the ICBEMP EIS is assumed
to be in place for 10 years. Forest Plan direction that is specific to
the Kootenai National Forest (such as standards applicable to
particular areas) will be revisited at the time of Forest Plan
revision. Direction that applies to multiple units (such as broad scale
objectives) will remain in place to guide forest plan revision. It is
the intent that the Kootenai Forest Plan revision will be designed to
achieve this ICBEMP broad scale direction. Therefore, the revision
schedule for the Kootenai National Forest Plan will be coordinated with
the information and decisions produced by the ICBEMP EIS.
(2) Beginning of the Forest Plan Revision Effort
This notice announces that the Kootenai National Forest is
beginning the effort to revise the Land and Resource Management Plan.
The forest is in the process of preparing the AMS, one of the first
steps in the revision process. This step includes defining the current
situation, reviewing new information, reviewing monitoring and
evaluation results, estimating supply capabilities and resource
demands, and determining the Need for Change (36 CFR 219.12(e)(5)).
As part of the AMS a communication strategy is being developed. The
purpose of this strategy is to document how the public and government
entities may participate in the AMS and revision of the Forest Plan on
an ongoing basis. Suggestions on the formation of the communication
strategy are welcome. In addition, the Forest Plan mailing list is
being updated. Send a letter to the address above to add your name to
the mailing list.
Another critical element in describing the need for change is
determining the concerns and expections of National Forest constituents
and getting public input on how well the current forest plan is
working. A social assessment for the Kootenai Forest was completed in
July 1995. The assessment provides the initial information about how
people in surrounding communities perceive the resources of the
Kootenai Forest and their management. This assessment is one
information source for describing the need for change. Additional
information will be requested as portions of the AMS are assessed.
(3) Relationship Between the AMS and the Notice of Intent to Prepare
the Environmental Impact Statement
In the past, a ``Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement'' was issued at the beginning of the forest planning
process, and before the development of the AMS. This time, we are first
defining the current situation and an initial need for change in a
Draft AMS, and will issue a NOI to prepare an EIS prior to developing
alternatives. The draft AMS is scheduled to be completed in the fall of
1998. The NOI to prepare an EIS would be issued after this date. The
NOI to prepare an EIS will include (1) a proposed action and purpose
and need; (2) preliminary issues and; (3) preliminary alternatives.
Scoping to receive public comments on the proposed action and
alternatives will follow the publication of the NOI. These public
comments will be used to further refine the proposed action and the
alternatives, to possibly identify additional alternatives, and to
finalize the AMS and the need for change. It will also start the formal
NEPA process of preparing the EIS that will accompany the Revised Land
and Resource Management Plan.
(4) The Responsible Official
The responsible official is Richard M. Bacon, Deputy Regional
Forester, Northern Region, 200 East Broadway, PO Box 7669, Missoula,
Montana 59807.
Dated: November 20, 1996.
Richard M. Bacon,
Deputy Regional Forester.
[FR Doc. 96-30271 Filed 11-25-96; 8:45 am]
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