[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 34 (Monday, February 22, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8539-8540]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-4223]
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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. 64, No. 34 / Monday, February 22, 1999 /
Notices
[[Page 8539]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Tobacco Root Vegetation Management Plan, Madison Ranger District,
Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Madison County, Montana
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to document the analysis and disclose the environmental
impacts of a proposed action to designate wildlife security blocks and
treat 18,167 acres of vegetation. The project area is located in the
southern Tobacco Root Mountains northwest of Ennis, Montana.
Designation of the wildlife security blocks would require an
amendment to the Beaverhead National Forest Land and Resource
Management Plan (Forest Plan). This amendment would identify 29
wildlife security blocks ranging in size from 220 to over 10,000 acres.
These areas lie at least a quarter mile from a road or trail open to
motorized use during the general hunting season. Guidelines limiting
timber harvest and road construction in these security blocks would
replace existing Forest Plan wildlife standards.
Over the next 10 years, the proposal would maintain open, park-like
stands of Douglas-fir on 3,613 acres by thinning these stands using
Stewardship Contracts, paying contractors or Forest Service employees
to complete the work, or through commercial timber harvest and
underburning. Primarily, posts and poles would be harvested on another
671 acres of stagnated lodgepole pine stands. An additional 1,423 acres
of old harvest units would be thinned. These activities would require
the construction of about 25 miles of temporary roads which would be
obliterated after project completion. Aspen stands would be invigorated
by cutting competing trees and burning to stimulate new growth from the
aspen roots. To reestablish grasslands, an additional 12,460 acres
would be treated using prescribed fire.
DATE: Initial comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be
received in writing no later than March 5, 1999.
ADDRESSES: The responsible official is Deborah L.R. Austin, Forest
Supervisor, 420 Barrett St., Dillon, MT 59725. Send written comments to
Deborah L.R. Austin, Forest Supervisor, c/o Mark Petroni, District
Ranger, 5 Forest Service Road, Ennis, Montana 59729.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jan Bowey, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Madison Ranger District, P.O.
Box 428, Sheridan, MT 59749, or phone: (406) 842-5432.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public participation is important to this
analysis. Part of the goal of public involvement is to identify
additional issues and to refine the general, tentative issues. A
scoping notice describing the project was mailed to those who requested
information on activities on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
Three public field trips have been held to review the proposed
activities. Additional public meetings are not planned. Montana Fish,
Wildlife and Parks has been involved in the development of this
proposal and will be consulted through the analysis and decision making
process. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service will be consulted
concerning effects to threatened and endangered species. Montana
Department of Environmental Quality will be consulted concerning
effects to Water Quality Limited Stream Segments.
Preliminary issues identified by Forest Service specialists include
effects to vegetation, wildlife habitat, and the undeveloped character
of inventoried roadless areas. No timber harvest or road construction
is proposed in an inventoried roadless area. While proposed management
activities affect over 18,000 acres, the proposal analyzes all
reasonably foreseeable activities in the next ten years over the entire
114,000 acre southern Tobacco Root Mountains. Potential alternatives
include management activities without temporary road construction and
management activities that focus on commodity production, rather than
ecosystem restoration.
People may visit with Forest Service officials at any time during
the analysis and prior to the decision. Two periods are specifically
designated for comments on the analysis: (1) During the scoping process
and (2) during the draft EIS period.
During the scoping process, the Forest Service is seeking
additional information and comments from Federal, State and local
agencies and other individuals or organization who may be interested in
or affected by the proposed action. The agency invites written comments
and suggestions on this action, particularly in terms of identification
of issues and alternative development.
The draft EIS should be available for review in March, 1999. The
final EIS is scheduled for completion in June, 1999.
The comment period on the draft EIS 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 stage, 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 it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. 3NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,
553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the
draft environmental impact statement stage but are not raised until
after completion of 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 those interested in this proposed action
participate by the close of the 45-day comment period so 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
[[Page 8540]]
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 CFR 1503.3 in
addressing these points.
The Beaverhead-Deerlodge Forest Supervisor is the responsible
official who will make the decision. She will decide on this proposal
after considering comments and responses, environmental consequences
discussed in the final EIS, and applicable laws, regulations, and
policies. The decision and reasons for the decision will be documented
in a Record of Decision.
Dated: February 11, 1999.
Deborah L.R. Austin,
Forest Supervisor, Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.
[FR Doc. 99-4223 Filed 2-19-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M