Proposed Crystal Creek Timber Sale within the Council Mountain Roadless Area, Payette National Forest, Adams County, ID

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Proposed Crystal Creek Timber Sale within the Council Mountain

Roadless Area, Payette National Forest, Adams County, ID

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 for the proposed Crystal Creek Timber Sale, Council Ranger

District, Payette National Forest, Idaho. The proposed sale would

construct road and harvest timber within a portion of the Council

Mountain Roadless area that the Payette National Forest Land and

Resource Management Plan (1988) allocated to multiple use management.

The agency gives notice of the environmental analysis and decision-

making process that is beginning on the proposal so that interested and

affected people know how they may participate and contribute to the

final decision. The agency invites comments and suggestions on the

scope of the analysis, including issues to be addressed during the

analysis.

A scoping meeting will be held to gather comments from the public

on the proposed action. The meeting will be Thursday, February 3, 7

p.m. at the Council Ranger District office conference room in Council,

Idaho. Forest Service officials will explain the proposed action and

planning process, and accept public input.

A scoping document explaining the proposed action and analysis

process is also available from the contacts identified below.

DATES: Comments on the scope of the analysis should be received by

February 14, 1994, to assure timely consideration.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Pete L. Johnston, District Ranger,

Council Ranger District, Payette National Forest, P.O. Box 567,

Council, ID 83629.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pete Johnston, District Ranger, or

Tracy Beck, EIS Team Leader, phone 208-253-4215.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USDA Forest Service is proposing to

construct 10.0 miles of road and harvest about 14.9 million board feet

of timber from 1,145 acres of suitable timber lands within the Crystal

Creek timber sale area. A mix of silvicultural treatments is proposed,

including 8 acres of commercial thinning, 101 acres of shelterwood

(about 35 percent crown canopy closure), 643 acres of reserve tree

(about 5 trees per acre), and 393 acres of sanitation/salvage. This mix

of silvicultural prescriptions seeks to retain suitable habitat for

sensitive species within all treatment units where it currently exists,

improve forest health (resilience and resistance to insect and

disease), and increase dominance of seral ponderosa pine and douglas-

fir.

Helicopter logging is proposed for 354 acres (31 percent of the

treatment acreage). Skyline logging is proposed for 322 acres (28

percent of the treatment acreage). Tractor logging is proposed for 469

acres (41 percent of the treatment acreage). The proposed mix of

logging systems seeks to protect leave stands and regenerate stands in

a cost efficient and cost effective manner.

This sale lies within the council Mountain Roadless Area, Adams

County, Idaho. Crystal Creek and Lake Creek are the two drainages

within the proposed timber sale area; both are tributaries of the

Middle Fork Weiser River.

The proposal follows direction in the Payette National Forest Land

and Resource Management Plan, 1988 (Forest Plan). The decision to be

made is whether the sale area should be entered at this time for timber

harvest and associated activities, and, if so, the specific conditions

of entry.

Preliminary issues include the proposal's effect on roadless

characteristics, vegetation, water quality, biological diversity,

fisheries, soils, wildlife habitat, and economics.

Preliminary alternatives being considered include no action, an

alternative that seeks to achieve forest Plan objectives to maximize

timber growth and yield, and the proposed action alternative that

modifies timber management intensity in response to the preliminary

issues.

A draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) considering the

proposed action and a reasonable range of alternatives will be

prepared. The DEIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency and to be available for public review by March 1995.

The comment period on the DEIS will be 45 days from the date the

Environmental Protection Agency's notice of availability appears in the

Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important

to give reviewers early 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 that proposal so that it

is meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewers position and

contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,

553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could have been raised

at the draft environmental impact statement stage but that 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 Circut, 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.

The final environmental impact statement is scheduled to be

completed by July 1995.

The Responsible Official is David F. Alexander, Forest Supervisor,

Payette National Forest, McCall, ID 83638.

Dated: January 10, 1994.

David F. Alexander,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 94-1502 Filed 1-21-94; 10:00 am]

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