[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 40 (Tuesday, March 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10573-10574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-04487]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Conejos Peak Ranger District, Rio Grande National Forest;
Colorado; CP District-wide Salvage Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Conejos Peak Ranger District, Rio Grande National Forest,
proposes to salvage timber stands killed or infested by spruce beetles;
reduce fuel loading adjacent to private lands; and regenerate forested
acres, as needed, to move toward the long-term desired conditions
described in the Forest Plan.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by March 31, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice should be addressed
to Andrea Jones, District Ranger; Conejos Peak Ranger District; 15571
CR T.5; La Jara, CO; 81140. Comments may also be sent via email to
[email protected], or via
facsimile to 719-274-6301, with subject `CP District-wide Salvage
Project.'
All comments, including names and addresses when provided, are
placed in the record and are available for public inspection and
copying. The public may inspect comments received at the Conejos Peak
Ranger District office, address listed above. Visitors are encouraged
to call ahead to 719-274-8971 to facilitate document access.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael Tooley, Interdisciplinary Team
Leader, telephone: (719) 274-8971 or visit the Forest Web site: http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/riogrande/landmanagement/projects.
Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD)
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339
between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through
Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Estimated Dates
The draft environmental impact statement is expected September 2017
and the final environmental impact statement is expected December 2017.
Purpose and Need for Action
Extensive spruce beetle mortality has occurred across the Conejos
Peak Ranger District since 2002, affecting over 67,000 acres to date.
As a result, existing conditions within certain Management Area
Prescriptions (MAPs) have departed from desired conditions described in
the Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). Management
emphasis is on wood production within some MAPs, and there is express
intent to evaluate insect and disease outbreaks against the potential
for loss of commercial forest resources, with an emphasis on protecting
the commercial resources. Within other MAPs, vegetation composition and
structure are managed to meet specific objectives for the area (e.g.
recreation), and vegetation management treatments are implemented to
accomplish those objectives or contribute to user safety. Within yet
other MAPs, the plant communities may be managed in a range of
successional stages to achieve biological diversity, and vegetation
management treatments are allowed with resource constraints.
These desired conditions for the MAPs tie to overarching Forestwide
Desired Conditions and Objectives. One overarching Desired Condition is
to supply wood products while providing for the biological diversity of
forested areas. An associated Objective provides an emphasis on long-
term sustainable production of resources for economies, communities,
and people. Another overarching Desired Condition is that fuel profiles
be consistent with land uses and estimates of historic fire regimes. An
associated Objective provides for using appropriate vegetative-
management methods to modify unacceptable fuel profiles, contributing
to the protection of human life, property, and resources needed to
support long-term industries, with firefighter safety being paramount.
This disparity between existing and desired conditions creates a
need to utilize available dead and dying trees in a timely manner to
meet multiple-use mandates and provide for the protection of
firefighters, users, communities, and private resources. The purpose of
this project is to provide an adaptive decision framework for
responding to spruce beetle mortality with salvage and hazardous fuel
treatment projects in a timely and cost-effective manner, while
providing for site-specific protection of biological diversity and
other resource management objectives.
Proposed Action
The Conejos Peak Ranger District of the Rio Grande National Forest
proposes to salvage dead and dying spruce from suitable areas across
the district, as well as modify forest fuels adjacent to private
property and administrative sites within areas affected by spruce
beetle mortality. Salvage harvest activities would occur on up to
17,000 acres across the district, on lands determined by the Forest
Plan as appropriate for timber harvest. Hazardous fuel treatment
activities would occur on up to 1,000 acres of treatment area, on lands
determined by the same plan as appropriate for pre-commercial hand-
thinning operations. Activities would begin in the summer of 2018 and
continue for 10-15 years.
Activities associated with spruce salvage harvest would include:
(1) Commercial logging and log hauling operations; (2) National Forest
System Road maintenance and reconstruction; (3) Re-opening old non-
system roads, followed by rehabilitation; (4) Temporary road
construction and rehabilitation; (5) Areas identified for public and
commercial firewood gathering; (6) Planting of native conifer seedlings
as needed to meet future forest objectives.
Activities associated with hazardous fuel treatments within spruce
mortality zones would include: (1) Pre-commercial thinning by chainsaw
within 400 feet of private boundary or 200 feet of administrative sites
to create defensible space; (2) Hazard tree removal by chainsaw within
400 feet of private boundary or 200 feet of administrative sites; (3)
Pruning of residual trees to lift crown base height; (4) Piling and
burning or removal of activity-generated fuels within timber sale or
pre-commercial thinning areas.
The proposed action also includes development of an implementation
checklist for later-stage analysis. The developed checklist would tier
to this early-stage decision and allow focus on compliance alone in
relation to (1) project decision, (2) Forest Plan, statute, and
regulation, and (3) reporting and notification requirements.
Responsible Official
Conejos Peak District Ranger at 15571 County Road T.5; La Jara, CO;
81140
Nature of Decision To Be Made
An environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared that
discloses the environmental consequences of implementing the proposed
action and alternatives to the proposed action, including No Action. A
separate Record
[[Page 10574]]
of Decision (ROD) will explain the Responsible Official's decision
regarding whether or not to implement some level of timber harvest 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. The Forest
invites public comment and participation in this project by publication
of this notice. Comments are also invited by: publication in the
quarterly Schedule of Proposed Actions (SOPA); public notice regarding
this project in the newspaper of record, the Valley Courier; and
letters to potentially interested individuals, tribal governments,
elected officials, and State and other Federal Agencies. Information
will also be posted on the Rio Grande National Forest project Web site
as this project progresses. Comments received during these and other
scoping efforts will be considered in this EIS. No scoping meetings are
planned at this time.
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.
Preliminary Issues
The effect of proposed activities on the habitat structural needs
of the local population of Canada Lynx, a Threatened species, and their
primary prey, the snowshoe hare.
Comment Requested
The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will
be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes
the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
The Forest Service believes, at this early state, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
draft environmental impact statements must structure their
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's positions 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 environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised
until after completion the final environmental impact statement 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 by the close of the 45 day 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 environmental impact statement
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers may wish to refer
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
Dated: February 24, 2016.
Andrea Jones,
District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 2016-04487 Filed 2-29-16; 8:45 am]
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