[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 199 (Wednesday, October 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61849-61850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24441]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Klamath National Forest, California, Westside Fire Recovery
Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Klamath National Forest will prepare an environmental
impact statement (EIS) on a proposal to reduce safety hazards to the
public and forest workers, obtain the maximum economic commodity values
from burned timber, and increase the likelihood and speed by which
burned forested areas are regenerated on about 63,883 acres that burned
with high severity in the Beaver Creek, Whites, and Happy Camp Complex
fires in 2014. The project area includes 162,264 acres of National
Forest System lands and 20,863 acres of private land. Treatments for
the project will be limited to National Forest System lands. It is
located on the west side of the Forest within the Beaver Creek, Horse
Creek-Klamath River, Humbug Creek-Klamath River, Elk Creek, Indian
Creek, Lower Scott River, Seiad Creek-Klamath River, Thompson Creek-
Klamath River, Ukonom Creek-Klamath River, French Creek-Scott River,
North Fork Salmon River, and South Fork Salmon River 5th field
watersheds. The legal description of the project area is Township (T)
39 North (N) Range (R) 10 West (W), T39NR11W, T40NR8W, T40NR10W,
T40NR11W, T41NR10W, T41NR11W, T43NR12W, T44NR11W, T44NR12W, T45NR10W,
T45NR11W, T45NR12W, T46NR8W, T46NR9W, T46NR10W, T46NR11W, T46NR12W,
T47NR8W, T47NR9W, and T47NR10W of the Humboldt Meridian and T14NR8 East
(E), T15NR7E, T15NR8E, T16NR7E, T16NR8E of the Humboldt Meridian.
DATES: The comment period on the proposed action will extend 30 days
from the date the Notice of Intent is published in the Federal
Register. The draft EIS is expected to be completed by March 2015, and
the final EIS is expected to be completed by June 2015.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Patricia A. Grantham, Forest
Supervisor, Klamath National Forest, 1711 South Main Street, Yreka,
California 96097, ATTN: Westside Fire Recovery Team Leader, or send
facsimile to 530-841-4571. Submit electronic comments at the Klamath
National Forest's project Web page: http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=45579 by selecting the ``Comment on Project'' link in
the ``Get Connected'' group at the right hand side of the project Web
page. Put the project name in the subject line; attachments may be in
the following formats: Plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), Word
(.doc, .docx), or portable document format (.pdf).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Coats, Klamath National Forest,
Yreka, California 96097. Phone: 530-841-4470. 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
The purpose of this project is to:
1. Reduce safety hazards to adjacent landowners, the public, and
Forest workers from falling trees (i.e. ``hazard trees,'' also known as
``danger trees'') or hazardous fuels conditions. Trees killed or
severely burned by wildfire (i.e. snags) are often unstable and at risk
for falling or snapping off, especially during high wind events. It is
important that safety is maintained and hazardous fuels conditions are
abated, where they exist within the Wildland Urban Interface,
especially within one-quarter mile of private property in burned areas
or within areas that underwent fire suppression-related activity. It is
also imperative that infrastructure, especially utility lines, roads,
trailheads, campgrounds, fire lookouts, and bridges, are maintained for
use by the public and Forest workers. Further, dead and dying trees
within proposed salvage harvest areas need to be addressed to minimize
safety hazards to the public who recreate in the area, Forest workers
(i.e. planting), and firefighters (i.e. to enable future suppression
efforts should the area burn again).
2. Obtain the maximum economic commodity and value from burned
timber by offering a sale while the wood is still marketable. The
Forest Plan directs the Forest to harvest dead or dying trees to
produce wood products as consistent with Forest goals. Dead timber
loses significant value if left standing beyond two winters and is most
profitable if harvested even sooner. Capturing the marketability of the
timber provides the agency a viable means of meeting this and other
project needs, since the timber sale can be used to fund restoration
implementation. If treatment is delayed beyond the marketability period
of the timber, the Forest Service will need to pay for the hazard tree
abatement and removal of dead and dying trees in order to meet the
first need described above. By contrast, if salvage occurs during the
marketability period, funds gained from the salvage sale can be used
for additional restoration work. Capturing the maximum economic value
of the salvaged timber will benefit Siskiyou County and surrounding
communities by maintaining and/or creating jobs in forest management by
providing timber to the local mills who are major employers of these
rural communities.
3. Promote ecosystem sustainability by increasing the likelihood
and speed by which burned, forested areas are restored. Although
wildfires have some benefits (e.g., snag and downed wood creation),
intensely burned forested areas may be slow to recover and heavy fuel
loading will result from fallen snags. Following a high severity
wildfire, heavy fuel loading predisposes
[[Page 61850]]
an area to higher intensity and higher severity wildfires in the
future. Such fires would inhibit stand regeneration, resulting in stand
type changes to brush or other non-forested vegetation types and
delaying these lands from reaching the desired conditions of the Forest
Plan.
Proposed Action
The proposed action was designed to meet the purpose and need for
action. The proposed action will treat a total of about 63,883 acres
within the 214,848-acre project boundary (10,600 acres of salvage
harvest, 21,872 acres of roadside hazard treatment, 11,411 acres of
hazardous fuels treatment and 20,000 acres of site preparation,
planting and release). Acres do not account for the overlap in
treatment types. Treatment acreages are approximate at this point and
will be adjusted and refined following scoping.
Responsible Official
Patricia A. Grantham, Forest Supervisor, Klamath National Forest,
1711 South Main Street, Yreka, CA 96097.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The responsible official will decide whether to adopt and implement
the proposed action, an alternative to the proposed action, or take no
action to make changes to existing conditions in the Westside Fire
Recovery Project Area.
Scoping Process
Public participation is important at numerous points during the
analysis. The Forest Service seeks information, comments and assistance
from federal, state, and local agencies and individuals or
organizations that may be interested in or affected by the proposed
action.
The Forest Service conducts scoping according to the Council on
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR 1501.7). In addition to
other public involvement, this Notice of Intent initiates an early and
open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the
EIS and for identifying the significant issues related to a proposed
action. This scoping process allows the Forest Service to not only
identify significant environmental issues deserving of study, but also
to deemphasize insignificant issues, narrowing the scope of the EIS
process accordingly (40 CFR 1500.4(g)).
This project is subject to comment pursuant to 36 CFR 218, Subparts
A and B; however, the Forest is requesting an emergency situation
determination as provided for in 36 CFR 218.21. If it is determined
that an emergency situation exists with respect to all or part of the
proposed project or activity, the proposed action shall not be subject
to the pre-decisional objection process and implementation may proceed
immediately after notification of the decision (Sec. 218.21(d)(1)).
The responsible official shall identify any emergency situation
determination made for a project in the notification of the decision
(Sec. 218.21(e)). The Forest is also seeking alternative arrangements
with the Council on Environmental Quality; arrangements may include but
are not limited to a reduced comment period on the draft EIS and
release of the final EIS and record of decision at the same time.
Comment Requested
This Notice of Intent initiates the scoping process which guides
the development of the EIS. Comments on the proposed action should be
submitted within 30 days of the date of publication of this Notice of
Intent in the Federal Register.
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public
review by March 2015. A draft EIS will be available for comment when
the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of
availability in the Federal Register. The Forest Service believes, at
this early stage, it is important to give reviewers notice of several
court rulings related to public participation in the environmental
review process. First, reviewers of a draft EIS 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 EIS stage but that are not raised until after completion of the
final EIS 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 during the 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 the final EIS. The final EIS is scheduled to be completed in
June 2015.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the proposal should be
as specific as possible.
Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection. (Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7
and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 21)
Dated: October 8, 2014.
Patricia A. Grantham,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2014-24441 Filed 10-14-14; 8:45 am]
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