[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 56 (Friday, March 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15020-15021]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05826]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
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. 82, No. 56 / Friday, March 24, 2017 /
Notices
[[Page 15020]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Malheur National Forest, Blue Mountain Ranger District and
Umatilla National Forest, North Fork John Day Ranger District; Oregon;
Ragged Ruby Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of upland
restoration activities; watershed, fisheries, and wildlife restoration;
bat gate installation; prescribed burning; road activities; and
recreation system changes in the Ragged Ruby planning area.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by 30 days from date of publication in the Federal Register, which
initiates the project's scoping period. The draft environmental impact
statement is expected January 2018 and the final environmental impact
statement is expected July 2018.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Dave Halemeier, District Ranger,
Blue Mountain Ranger District, c/o Sasha Fertig, P.O. Box 909, John
Day, OR 97845. Comments may also be sent via email to [email protected], or via facsimile to
541-575-3319.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sasha Fertig, NEPA Planner, Blue
Mountain Ranger District, 431 Patterson Bridge Road, P.O. Box 909, John
Day, OR 97845. Phone: 541-575-3061. Email: [email protected].
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: The Ragged Ruby planning area encompasses
approximately 34,000 acres in the Granite Boulder Creek and Balance
Creek subwatersheds that drain into the Middle Fork John Day River. The
legal description for the planning area includes Townships 10 and 11
South, Ranges 33 and 34 East, Willamette Meridian, Grant County,
Oregon. The full scoping package is available on the Malheur National
Forest Web site: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=49392.
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose and need for the Ragged Ruby Project was developed by
comparing the management objectives and desired conditions in the
Malheur and Umatilla Forest Plans to the existing conditions in the
Ragged Ruby planning area related to forest and watershed resiliency
and function. The purpose and need is to: Maintain and improve
landscape resiliency and manage for diverse forest composition,
stocking levels, and pattern to maintain healthy ecological function
and process within a complex disturbance regime of wildfire, drought,
insects, and diseases; promote forest conditions that allow for the
reintroduction of fire upon the landscape, thereby creating conditions
that are conducive for firefighter safety, resource values, and private
lands; improve aquatic resource conditions; improve wildlife habitat;
improve one or more of the nine roadless area characteristics (as
defined by the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule) within the Dixie
Butte and Greenhorn Mountain inventoried roadless areas and restore the
characteristics of ecosystem composition and structure within the range
of variability that would be expected to occur under natural
disturbance regimes of the current climatic period; and contribute to
the social and economic health of those enjoying multiple uses in the
Ragged Ruby planning area.
Proposed Action
The proposed action includes:
(1) Upland restoration on approximately 9,030 acres. Activities
types include dry pine restoration, mixed conifer restoration, aspen
restoration, scabland flat bunchgrass restoration, and whitebark pine
and western white pine restoration. Upland restoration activities would
help restore forest structure, composition, and density toward more
resilient vegetative conditions.
(2) Watershed, fisheries, and wildlife restoration that includes
ecological riparian treatments (variable density thinning, openings,
leave areas, tree tipping, and potential removal within riparian
habitat conservation areas) and large wood treatments (placement of
trees within streams and floodplains).
(3) Bat gate installation at 2 mine adits using an existing road or
pack stock.
(4) Prescribed burning on up to 34,000 acres to restore and
maintain an ecosystem that would thrive with the recurring disturbance
of wildfire within the planning area. Treated stands would see a
combination of burning piled material and underburning. Those stands
not mechanically treated would be managed exclusively with the use of
prescribed burning. As conditions and stand characteristics allow,
natural ignitions within the planning area would be used to meet the
objectives of prescribed burning.
(5) Road activities that support implementing upland restoration
and other project activities as well as road system changes. Road
maintenance and reconstruction for haul would occur on open or
temporarily opened roads to provide safe access and adequate drainage.
Temporary roads (approximately 10 miles) would be constructed to access
some timber harvest units, which would be rehabilitated following use.
The following changes to the road system are proposed: decommissioning
1.9 miles of road, closing 6.4 miles of currently open road, confirming
the previous administrative closure of 26.7 miles or road, opening 2.8
miles of currently closed road, relocating 0.2 miles of road, and
adding 2.5 miles existing roadbed onto system as closed road.
(6) Recreation system changes to improve or maintain quality
recreational opportunities by reducing user conflicts on the current
trail system, improving access to trail systems, mitigating resource
concerns, and providing family friendly and Americans with Disability
Act (ADA) accessible trails. Seven trails and their associated
trailheads would be improved with 3.3 miles of new trail
[[Page 15021]]
construction, 9.1 miles of trail co-designated on existing roads, 5.1
miles of trails being un-designated, and 18.7 miles of trail remaining
on the system.
Preliminary connectivity corridors have been identified between
late and old structure stands to allow for movement of old-growth
dependent species. The goal of creating ``connectivity'' is to manage
stands in corridors at higher canopy densities when compared to more
intensively managed stands located outside of corridors.
The Ragged Ruby Project will also include a variety of project
design criteria that serve to mitigate impacts of activities to forest
resources, including wildlife, soils, watershed condition, aquatic
species, riparian habitat conservation areas, heritage resources,
visuals, rangeland, botanical resources, and invasive plants. The
proposed action may also include amendments to the Malheur National
Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, as amended: dedicated old
growth unit changes, reduce satisfactory and/or total cover, removal of
trees greater than or equal to 21 inches diameter at breast height, and
harvest within late and old structure stands.
Possible Alternatives
The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives. One of
these will be the ``no action'' alternative in which none of the
proposed action would be implemented. Additional alternatives may be
included in response to issues raised by the public during the scoping
process or due to additional concerns for resource values identified by
the interdisciplinary team.
Responsible Official
The Forest Supervisor of the Malheur National Forest, 431 Patterson
Bridge Road, John Day, OR 97845, is the Responsible Official. As the
Responsible Official, I will decide if the proposed action will be
implemented. I will document the decision and rationale for the
decision in the Record of Decision. I have delegated the responsibility
for preparing the draft EIS and final EIS to the District Ranger, Blue
Mountain Ranger District.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
Based on the purpose and need, the Responsible Official reviews the
proposed action, the other alternatives, the environmental
consequences, and public comments on the analysis in order to make the
following decision: (1) Whether to implement the proposed activities;
and if so, how much and at what specific locations; (2) What, if any,
specific project monitoring requirements are needed to assure project
design criteria and mitigation measures are implemented and effective,
and to evaluate the success of the project objectives.
Scoping Process
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. The
interdisciplinary team will continue to seek information and comments
from Federal, State, and local agencies, Tribal governments, and other
individuals or organizations that may be interested in, or affected by,
the proposed action. There is a collaborative group in the area that
the interdisciplinary team will interact with during the analysis
process.
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.
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.
Dated: March 17, 2017.
Jeanne M. Higgins,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2017-05826 Filed 3-23-17; 8:45 am]
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