[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 39 (Wednesday, February 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13315-13316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04498]
[[Page 13315]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Bridger-Teton National Forest; Wyoming; Teton to Snake Fuels
Management Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service is preparing an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to document the potential effects of the Teton to Snake
Fuels Management Project. The analysis will evaluate and disclose the
effects of treating National Forest land to reduce the potential fire
behavior within the wildland-urban interface to better protect
threatened values, to improve firefighter safety, and to allow fire to
play a more natural role in the ecosystem. Treatments include
understory thinning and prescribed fire some of which are located
within the Palisades Wilderness Study Area (WSA) and Inventoried
Roadless Areas (IRAs). Connected actions necessary to implement the
proposed treatments include road maintenance, reconstruction, temporary
road and landing construction and obliteration, and construction of
fire control lines where needed to contain prescribed fire treatments.
No road work or commercial vegetation treatments would occur within the
WSA. Road maintenance would occur in a small portion of the Phillips
Ridge IRA but no reconstruction would occur. The project is located in
Teton and Lincoln Counties, Wyoming, west of the Jackson Hole valley
and Snake River corridor, and east of the Caribou-Targhee National
Forest.
The Teton to Snake Fuels Management Project was previously scoped
and anyalyzed through an environmental assessment (EA) process. The EIS
alternatives developed to date are the same as those in the EA. Public
comments received on the original Proposed Action, Alternative 2,
included support of the project as proposed, but also concerns that the
proposed treatments constitute human manipulation in the WSA which
could adversely affect wildlife, wilderness character, and eligibility
for future designation in the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Concern about proposed thinning treatments in the IRAs was also
expressed. Requested modifications included reducing the amount of
prescribed burning and eliminating all thinning treatments in the WSA
and IRAs. Additionally concern was expressed that the proposed action
could have adverse effects to habitat for boreal owls and goshawks, as
well as reduce old growth habitat. The Forest Service responded to
these concerns by developing a new alternative (Alternative 3--Reduce
Potential Impacts to Special Areas and Wildlife Habitat), which reduces
activities in the WSA and IRAs and avoids goshawk habitat, whitebark
pine, boreal forest, and old growth habitat. Changes include dropping,
reconfiguring, and reducing the size of units, and changing treatment
prescriptions. In addition to the above resource concerns, units were
modified or dropped if they also had potential impacts to visual
quality, implementation difficulty, or topography that could slow an
advancing wildfire. Also considered was the proximity of hazardous
fuels to homes and to other fuel reduction projects that could
contribute to reducing fire behavior in the project area. The Jackson
Ranger District may be contacted for specific treatment unit revisions
made in developing Alternative 3.
DATES: Comments submitted during the scoping period for the
environmental assessment (EA) beginning in 2010 will be brought forward
into the EIS analysis so there is no need to re-submit them. New
comments would be most useful if they present new information or
describe specific unwanted effects of implementing Alternative 3.
Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received by April
1st, 2013. The draft environmental impact statement is expected in July
2013 and the final environmental impact statement is expected September
2013.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Dale Deiter, District Ranger, USDA
Forest Service, Bridger-Teton National Forest, 25 Rosencrans Lane, P.O.
Box 1689, Jackson, WY 83001. Comments may also be sent via email to
comments-intermtn-bridger-teton-jackson@fs.fed.us or via facsimile to
(307) 739-5450. Verbal comments must be received in person at the
Jackson Ranger Station, 25 Rosencrans Lane, Jackson, WY, or by
telephone at (307) 739-5431 during normal business hours (8:00 a.m.-
4:30 p.m.).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Visit our projects Web site at http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/btnf/projects or contact Jason Lawhon, North Zone
Fuels Assistant Fire Management Officer, phone (307) 739-5431 or email
jdlawhon@fs.fed.us.
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
The purpose of this project is to (1) reduce wildland fire threat
to residential areas, (2) allow Forest managers to transition from
suppressing most fires to a more natural fire regime, and (3) improve
firefighter and public safety.
The project area lies within the wildland-urban interface (WUI) as
identified by Teton County's Community Wildfire Protection Plan. As per
the National Fire Plan, the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management
Strategy, and the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, the Forest Service
has made the commitment to protect human communities from wildfires
originating on public lands by implementing hazardous fuel reduction
projects on Federal lands within the WUI. A fire behavior assessment
conducted in 2010 revealed that 42 percent of the area within one-
quarter mile of residential areas and the Bonneville Power
Administration powerline could produce flame lengths over 4 feet, and
25 percent of this same area could produce crown fires and potential
spotting up to a mile ahead of the fire. Wildfires are difficult to
suppress under these conditions, particularly with the prevailing winds
pushing fire toward the resdiential areas bordering the project area on
the east. Additionally, there is a need to remove some snags in close
proximity to homes, where firefighters would be located, to promote
safety during firefighting activities.
Wilderness policy dictates that the Forest Service shall ``reduce,
to an acceptable level, the risks and consequences of wildfire within
wilderness or escaping from wilderness.'' Most of the project area is
located within the Palisades Wilderness Study. There is a need to
reduce potential fire behavior along the National Forest boundary to
reduce the threat of wildfire spreading to residential areas, and to
provide the opportunity for wildfire to play a more natural role in the
ecosytem. The Wyoming Wilderness Act requires that the Palisades WSA be
managed to preserve wilderness character, which includes allowing
natural processes of ecological change, such as fire, to operate freely
to the extent possible. However, this can only occur if fire managers
feel they have a reasonable chance of keeping the fire from escaping
off of National Forest System lands.
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Proposed Action
Alternative 3 proposes to treat 35 units totalling 14,281 acres
through thinning (1,757 acres) and prescribed burning (12,524 acres).
Thinning would favor large tree retention using the general priority
order of whitebark and limber pine, aspen, Douglas-fir, lodgepole pine,
Engelmann spruce, and subalpine fir. Thinning would leave 70 to 200
trees per acre in the non-commercial units, and 60 to 140 trees per
acre in the commercial units. Conifers in and around aspen clones would
be thinned to release suppressed aspen. Residual branches, logs, and
other resulting debris would be hand- or machine-piled and burned in
the units or on the landings, or scattered to further reduce fuel
concentrations in the project area. Ladder fuels would be pruned in
some units. Snags would be removed as needed for firefighter safety in
portions of 27 units located in close proximity to residential areas.
Road reconstruction would occur on 1.3 miles of National Forest roads
and a total of 1 mile of temporary road would be constructed and then
obliterated after use. Routine maintenance would occur on 11.7 miles of
roads. Approximately 27 landings would be used.
Prescribed fire would reduce fire potential while creating a mosaic
of burned and unburned areas. Ground and aerial ignition techniques
would adhere to site-specific burn plans that identify parameters for
weather, air quality, contingency resources, other resource concerns,
equipment needs, and responses for potential escapes. Fire managers
would use, and subsequently rehabilitate, up to seven miles of low-
impact fire control lines if needed to contain prescribed fire. Natural
barriers to fire spread would be used where possible.
Alternative 3 includes extensive project design features and best
practices to avoid or reduce impacts to cultural resources, water
resources, range, recreation, scenery, sensitive plants, air quality,
soils, special areas, and wildlife.
Possible Alternatives
At this time it is planned that the EIS will examine Alternative 1
(No Action), Alternative 2 (Proposed Action originally scoped in
December 2010 and modified after further analysis), and Alternative 3--
Reduce Potential Impacts to Special Areas and Wildlife Habitat
(developed to address public concerns after original scoping period).
Preliminary Issues
Key issues identified during the original public scoping include
effects to the WSA, IRAs, and wildlife habitat. Additional public
concerns addressed in the analysis include potential effects related to
unauthorized motorized use, standing trees, spread of noxious weeds,
road use, smoke, heavy equipment, and biodiversity.
In March 2012, the Palisades WSA map used by the Forest Service for
analysis of the Teton to Snake Fuels Management Project was questioned.
In July 2012, Jackson District Ranger Dale Deiter put the project on
hold until more clarity was obtained regarding the WSA boundary. Since
then extensive record searches have occurred uncovering many valuable
maps and memos. In addition, two public meetings were held with people
interested in the boundary issue. Based on the best information
available at this time, the Forest Service is proceeding with the RARE
II map from 1977 (Roadless Area and Review Evalaution process). The map
package is expected to be assembled in March 2013 and will be submitted
to the Regional and Washington Offices of the Forest Service for review
and approval. Upon approval, a certified boundary and legal description
will be prepared by the Forest Service lands office with final approval
from the Regional Forester. A decision on the Teton to Snake Fuels
Management Project would only be made after the Palisades WSA boundary
is approved.
Responsible Official
Dale Deiter, District Ranger, Jackson Ranger District, Bridger-
Teton National Forest
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The District Ranger will decide whether to implement one of the
alternatives designed to meet the purpose and need for the project, or
take no action.
Permits or Licenses Required
A permit would be required from the State of Wyoming prior to any
prescribed burning. The appropriate regulatory agencies will be
consulted regarding national or state required permits associated with
roads used in project implementation, and required permits obtained
prior to implementation.
Scoping Process
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. As noted above,
comments submitted during the scoping period beginning in 2010 will be
brought forward in the EIS so there is no need to re-submit them. New
information and concerns describing site-specific unwanted effects
related to Alternative 3 would be useful.
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, comments should be
provided prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly
articulate the reviewer's concerns and contentions.
Include the following information with your comments: Your name,
address, email (optional), and telephone number; the project name:
Teton to Snake Fuels Management Project; and site-specific comments,
along with supporting information you believe will help identify
issues, develop alternatives, or predict environmental effects of this
proposal. The most useful comments provide new information or describe
unwanted environmental effects potentially caused by the proposed
action. If you reference scientific literature in your comments, you
must provide a copy of the entire reference you have cited and include
the predicted site-specific effects supported by the literature.
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 you with project updates.
Dated: February 21, 2013.
Dale Deiter
Jackson District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 2013-04498 Filed 2-26-13; 8:45 am]
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