[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 149 (Wednesday, August 3, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46721-46722]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19493]
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Notices
Federal Register
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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. 76, No. 149 / Wednesday, August 3, 2011 /
Notices
[[Page 46721]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Salmon-Challis National Forest, ID; Upper North Fork HFRA
Ecosystem Restoration Project Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The North Fork Ranger District, Salmon-Challis National
Forest, is proposing an integrated hazardous fuels and forest
restoration project in the Upper North Fork drainage. The approximately
41,000 acre planning area is being considered for treatments consisting
primarily of prescribed burning and mechanical thinning. The drainage
area includes the communities of Moose Creek Estates, Royal Elk Ranch,
Lost Trail Ski Area, Gibbonsville and North Fork which have widespread
private land resources, and have been identified as ``at-risk''
communities by Lemhi County and the State of Idaho. Lemhi County's
Wildfire Prevention Plan has designated the North Fork drainage as high
priority for hazardous fuel reduction, an essential criteria allowing
the use of authorities and expedited environmental analysis under the
Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003. A collaborative process
was used to obtain suggestions and input on restoration needs and
potential activities for this project area to improve the health of the
ecosystem and reach the desired future condition.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by September 2, 2011. The draft environmental impact statement is
expected in November, 2011 and the final environmental impact statement
is expected in March, 2012.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Russell Bacon, North Fork District
Ranger, Attn: Upper North Fork HFRA Ecosystem Restoration Project EIS,
P.O. Box 180, 11 Casey Rd., North Fork, ID 83466. Comments may also be
sent via e-mail to [email protected],
or via facsimile to (208) 865-2738.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Maggie Milligan, Project Team Leader,
at (208) 865-2711 or visit the Forest Web site http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/sc/projects/. Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through
Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action
Existing forest stand structure and forest vegetation have created
the potential for large-scale, high-intensity wildfires that threaten
human life, property, and natural resources. Quaking aspen stands
provide substantial habitat value for wildlife and contribute to
landscape habitat diversity. However, many historic aspen stands in
Central Idaho have been lost, and many others are either regenerating
poorly or are otherwise in decline. Likewise, whitebark pine is being
considered as the first tree species in the Northwest to be listed as
endangered because of a lethal combination of blister rust and mountain
pine beetle. Historic logging practices and fire suppression have
contributed to a decline in ponderosa pine, known to be more fire
resilient. In essence, the rich biodiversity in the project area is at
risk.
This area contains the State Highway 93 transportation corridor and
scenic byway, private lands, residences and a winter recreation ski
facility classified by Lemhi County as wildland urban interface (WUI).
The purpose is to reduce hazardous natural fuels, restore plant
communities and improve fish and wildlife habitat diversity while
returning resilient conditions to this fire adapted landscape. This
proposal is necessary to compliment other existing, on-going and
planned fuels treatments surrounding ``at-risk'' communities within the
North Fork drainage, and to address forest health conditions that are
reaching crucial stages towards non-desired change.
Private developments, such as Moose Creek Estates, have responded
to these needs and have already completed planning and hazard reduction
treatments necessary to gain enrollment as a ``Fire-Wise Community'' in
the State of Idaho.
Proposed Action
Hazardous fuels treatments and associated opportunities have been
identified by the Salmon-Challis National Forest for this project
through extensive discussions, focused site visits and numerous
exchanges of ideas with the Lemhi County Forest Restoration Group and
other local community members. Three Idaho Roadless Areas are in the
project area. Ladder fuel reduction along road corridors, shaded fuel
break creation in strategic locations adjacent to private land and
other developments, restoration treatments for mountain meadow and
aspen and whitebark pine communities, old growth stand protection, re-
establishing landscape fire resilience through prescribe burning, fish
habitat and passage restoration are activities proposed for the
project. Integrated and adaptive invasive weed management would be an
integral activity with all the proposed treatments and restoration
actions.
The proposed action includes commercially thinning from below to
reduce the understory on approximately 5,123 acres of the project area;
2,687 acres of tractor logging, 1,332 acres of skyline logging and
1,104 acres of helicopter logging. All emphasis would be to retain
large trees; whole tree skidding to facilitate use of tree tops and
slash as biomass or for pile burning. All slash piles would be left
onsite for 1 year for possible biomass utilization. Pre-commercial
thinning would occur within the commercial units and in 1300 additional
acres. All thinning (commercial/precommercial) units would receive a
follow-up prescribed burning treatment.
The project would use the existing transportation system except for
the construction of approximately 14 miles of new temporary road of
which 2.8 miles are proposed within Idaho Roadless Areas. All new roads
or other roads currently closed would be rehabilitated and closed
following use. Additionally, 53 miles of non-system roads in the
project ara would be decommissioned.
Two site-specific Forest Plan Amendments are proposed in
association with this project to change
[[Page 46722]]
current requirements and prescriptions which limit treatments and
activities needed to attain the desired future condition in the project
area. Proposed Site Specific Amendment 1--Wildland Fire
Management would more closely align with Federal Wildland Fire policy
by allowing for the use of unplanned ignitions to meet project
objectives. Proposed Site Specific Amendment 2--Big Game
Winter Range would change direction regarding cover to forage ratios
within management area (MA) 4A in order to achieve fuels reduction
objective in this HFRA project.
Responsible Official
Regional Forester, Intermountain Region, 324 25th St., Ogden, UT
84401.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
An environmental impact statement (EIS) that discloses the
environmental consequences of implementing the proposed action and
alternatives to the proposed action will be prepared. A separate Record
of Decision (ROD) will explain the Regional Forester's decision
regarding whether or not to implement some level of fuels reduction and
other proposed activities on all, part, or none of the area analyzed,
given the consideration of multiple-use goals and objectives.
Scoping Process
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. Comments that
would be most useful are those concerning developing or refining the
proposed action, in particular are site specific concerns and those
that can help us develop treatments and activities that would be
responsive to our goal to reduce hazardous fuel conditions, risks to
communities from uncharacteristic high-intensity wildfires and
landscape restoration needs in the project. It is important that
reviewers provide their comments at such times and in such manner that
they are useful to the agency's preparation of the environmental impact
statement. Therefore, we ask that input be timely and clearly
articulate the reviewer's concerns and contentions. Section 104(e) of
the HFRA requires agencies to provide notice of the project and conduct
a public meeting when preparing authorized hazardous-fuel-reduction
projects. A public meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 18th, 2011
at 6:30pm at the Gibbonsville Improvement Association Building.
Additional public meetings are anticipated to be held following
publication of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names
and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record
for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be
accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide
the Agency with the ability to provide the respondent with subsequent
environmental documents.
Dated: July 26, 2011.
Frank V. Guzman,
Forest Superviser.
[FR Doc. 2011-19493 Filed 8-2-11; 8:45 am]
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