BlueGrass Bound Ecosystem Management Project; Idaho Panhandle National Forest, Boundary County, ID

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

BlueGrass Bound Ecosystem Management Project; Idaho Panhandle

National Forest, Boundary County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the USDA Forest Service is

gathering information in order to prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) for an Ecosystem Management project in the United

States portion of the Boundary Creek watershed. The purpose and need

for action is to trend or sustain the environment in the BlueGrass

Bound project area towards the desired condition. The desired condition

is to sustainably support healthy forest and aquatic ecosystems--within

the project area as part of the Selkirk Ecosystem and the Idaho

Panhandle National Forest.

The proposed management activities include watershed, and fisheries

and wildlife habitat improvement projects. Prescribed fire, timer

harvesting, road closures, road reconstruction and obliteration,

limited road construction, fish structures, and wildlife security areas

are all being considered to achieve the desired condition. The Forest

Service estimates that this proposed action would include 1,007 acres

of underburning (including harvest units), 2,088 acres of timber

harvesting, 23.8 miles of road obliteration, 10.0 miles of road

reconstruction, 130.2 miles of road stabilization, 1.9 miles of new

road construction, 1.5 miles of stream rehabilitation, 14.1 miles of

revegetation, and 84 instream structures for fish habitat. Most of the

proposed timber harvest locations are located on areas with the highest

stand treatment needs; low current and potential caribou habitat value;

low potential for producing and delivering sediment to streams; and

high potential for creating or improving habitat for wildlife species

such as flammulated owl, lynx, black-backed and pileated woodpeckers.

Part of the proposed action involves harvesting timber from existing

roads within the Saddle Mountain Roadless Area (1-154). These proposed

actions are being considered together because they represent either

connected, similar, or cumulative actions as defined by the Council on

Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25).

DATES: Written comments and suggestions concerning the scope of this

analysis would be most useful if received by February 13, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to District Ranger, Bonners Ferry

Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Route 4, Box 4860,

Bonners Ferry, Idaho 83805-9764.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dale Deiter, EIS Team Leader, Bonners

Ferry Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Phone (208)

267-5561.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Development of the alternatives is underway.

The Forest Service is continuing to seek information and comments from

all parties who may be interested in or affected by the proposed

action. The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives. The

analysis will consider the No Action alternative in which none of the

proposed activities would be implemented. Under No Action, no

management would be undertaken to actively trend the project area

towards the desired condition. The proposed action and alternatives

will respond in part to the purpose and need by addressing the desired

condition objectives to varying degrees. Three action alternatives to

the proposed action are being considered at this time.

1. One alternative would only include watershed, fisheries, and

wildlife improvements that do not involve harvesting timber.

2. One alternative would place more emphasis than the proposed

action on managing vegetation to maintain stand growth and reduce the

risk of disturbance from insect, disease, and fire. This alternative

would also include watershed, fisheries, and wildlife improvements.

3. At least one alternative in addition to No Action would not have

any activity within the Saddle Mountain Roadless area.

The draft environmental impact statement should be available for

public review in March of 1995. 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. After

this public comment period, the comments received will be analyzed and

considered by the Forest Service in preparing the final environmental

impact statement. The final EIS is scheduled to be completed by July of

1995. The District Ranger, who is the responsible official for this

EIS, will make a decision regarding this proposal after considering the

comments and responses, environmental consequences discussed in the

final EIS, and applicable laws, regulations, and policies. This

decision and reasons for the decision will be documented in a Record of

Decision.

Public participation is an important part of the analysis,

commencing with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7). The public

is encouraged to visit with Forest Service officials at any time during

the analysis and prior to the decision. The Forest Service will be

seeking information, comments, and assistance from Federal, State, and

local agencies and other individuals or organizations who may be

interested in or affected by the proposed action. A public meeting and

open house has already been held. Additional meetings will be held if

necessary, but are not scheduled at this time.

Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in

preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to:

1. Identify potential issues.

2. Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.

3. Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a

relevant previous environmental analysis, such as the Idaho Panhandle

Forest Plan EIS.

4. Identify alternatives to the proposed action.

5. Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action

and alternatives (i.e., cumulative effects).

6. Determine potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.

Some public comments have already been used during the initial

interdisciplinary review of the original project proposal. The comments

that we have received so far relate to the following elements of the

BlueGrass Bound landscape:

1. Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive plant and animal species.

2. Watershed and Fisheries.

3. Roadless.

4. Visual Quality.

This list will be verified, expanded, or modified based on

additional public scoping and interdisciplinary review of this

proposal. Most of the above comments received so far have been more

categorically in nature than site specific. Site specific comments are

the most useful information that we can have for improving the design

and implementation of this project.

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 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 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 Cir. 1986) andWisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris,

490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of those court

rulings, it is very important that those interested in this proposed

action participate by the close of the 45-day scoping 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 developing issues and alternatives in the final EIS.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

on the proposed action, comments on this notice or the draft EIS should

be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to

specific pages or chapters of this notice or the draft EIS. Comments

may also address the adequacy of the draft EIS 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.

I am the responsible official for this environmental impact

statement. My address is Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Rt. 4 Box 4860,

Bonners Ferry, ID 83805-9764.

Dated: December 16, 1994.

Allen B. Chrisman,

Acting District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 94-32147 Filed 12-29-94; 8:45 am]

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