Murphy Timber Sales and Associated Activities; Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, MT

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Murphy Timber Sales and Associated Activities; Kootenai National

Forest, Lincoln County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of timber

harvest, reforestation, wildlife habitat enhancement (prescribed

burning), construction of low standard haul roads, and restriction of

existing roads within the lower portion of the Fortine Creek drainage.

The Fortine Creek drainage is located approximately 40 air miles

northeast of Libby, Montana near the town of Fortine, Montana.

The proposal's actions to harvest and reforest timber stands,

construct and reconstruct roads, prescribed burning, and restricting

roads are being considered together because they represent either

connected or cumulative actions as defined by the Council on

Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25). The purposes of the project are

to maintain and enhance winter thermal habitat requirements for

whitetailed and mule deer, improve grizzly bear habitat by providing

security, cover, and forage, and maintain a healthy forest while

providing timber to the local economy.

The EIS will tier to the Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource

Management Plan and Final EIS of September 1987, which provides overall

guidance for achieving the desired forest condition of the area. All

activities associated with the proposal will be designed to maintain

high quality wildlife, fisheries, and watershed objectives.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received within 45

days following publication of this notice.

ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is Jane P. Kollmeyer, District

Ranger, Fortine Ranger District, P.O. Box 116, Fortine, Montana 59918.

Written comments and suggestions concerning the scope of the analysis

may be sent to her at that address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Joleen Dunham, ID Team Leader, Fortine Ranger District. Phone: (406)

882-4451.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The decision area contains approximately

15,000 acres within the Kootenai National Forest in Lincoln County,

Montana. All of the proposed projects are located in the Fortine Creek

drainage with sub-drainages of Deep, Brimstone, and Murphy Creeks

included. The legal location of the decision area is as follows:

Sections 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32,

33, and 34 of Township 35 North, Range 25 West; Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26,

27, 28, and 29 of Township 34 North, Range 25 West; Sections 25 and 36

of Township 35 North, Range 26 West; and Sections 1 and 12 of Township

34 North, Range 26 West; Principal Montana Meridian.

Some timber management and prescribed wildlife burning activities

under consideration would occur within the Marston Face Roadless Area

X172 and the Thompson-Seton Roadless Area 483. No proposed activities

are located in areas considered for inclusion to the National

Wilderness System as recommended by the Kootenai National Forest Plan

or by any past or present legislative wilderness proposals. Both even-

aged and uneven-aged management would be used in implementing the

proposed actions. Logging systems consist of tractor harvest only.

The Forest Service proposes to harvest approximately 3.3 million

board feet of timber through application of a variety of harvest

methods on approximately 1063 acres of forest land. The proposal also

includes prescribed burning of 117 acres to enhance wildlife habitat.

The Forest Service proposal also includes approximately 2.1 miles of

new road construction (0.9 miles of temporary road and 1.2 miles of low

standard specified road) and approximately 1.0 mile of road re-

construction to access the specific harvest units. Approximately 15-18

miles of existing road is also proposed for additional road use

restrictions to improve wildlife habitat security.

The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

provides overall management objectives in individual delineated

management areas (MA's). The proposed projects encompass three

predominant MA's; 11, 13, and 14. Briefly described, MA 11 is managed

to maintain or enhance the winter-range habitat effectiveness for big-

game species and produce a programmed yield of timber. MA 14 focuses on

maintaining or enhancing grizzly bear habitat, reducing grizzly/human

conflicts, assisting in the recovery of the grizzly bear, realizing a

programmed yield of timber production, and providing for the

maintenance or enhancement of other wildlife species, especially big-

game. MA 13 is designated to provide the special habitat necessary for

old growth dependent wildlife. Timber harvest is proposed only in MA

11. Prescribed burning for wildlife is the only activity proposed in MA

14. No activity is proposed in MA 13.

Issues

Tentatively, several issues of concern have been identified through

the scoping process. These issues are briefly described below:

Whitetailed and Mule Deer Winter Thermal Cover--How would

the proposed action maintain and enhance winter thermal cover?

Visuals--What effects would the proposed action have on

naturally appearing views seen from trails, private land, Dickey Lake

and Highway 93?

Timber Supply--How would the proposed action help satisfy

local and national needs?

Activity in Roadless Area--What effect would the proposal

have on the roadless character of Marston Face and Thompson-Seton

Roadless Areas.

Grizzly Bear--How would the proposal maintain and enhance

grizzly bear habitat?

Old Growth--What effect would the proposed action have on

old growth habitat?

Forest Health--Some stands are not growing at their full

potential and some have sustained heavy mortality due to the mountain

pine beetle. What effect would the proposed action have to reduce

susceptibility to bark beetles and improve stand conditions?

Water Quality--What effects would the proposed action have

on riparian areas, lakes, and private water developments?

Public Involvement and Scoping

Public participation to this point has been extensive. On August

15, 1991 an initial scoping meeting was held with the local community

and interested individuals for the development of a timber sale

proposal. On May 28, 1992 we held another open house to present a

revised proposal. In addition, a field trip to the Murphy Decision Area

was conducted on June 26, 1992 with seven individuals attending.

Comments were requested in writing during all of these public

involvement efforts. Consultation with appropriate State and Federal

agencies has been initiated. Preliminary effects analysis indicated

that the proposed action may significantly affect quality of the human

environment and may substantially alter the undeveloped character of

the Marston Face Roadless Area. These potential effects prompted the

decision to prepare an EIS for the Murphy Timber Sales.

This environmental analysis and decision making process will unable

additional interested and affected people to participate and contribute

to the final decision. Public participation will be requested at

several points during the analysis. The Forest Service will be seeking

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

agencies and other individuals or organizations who may be interested

in or affected by the proposed projects. This input will be used in

preparation of the draft and final EIS. The scoping process will

include:

Identifying potential issues.

Identifying major issues to be analyzed in depth.

Exploring additional alternatives which will be derived

from issues recognized during scoping activities.

Identifying potential environmental effects of this

project and alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative effects

and connected actions).

The analysis will consider a range of alternatives, including the

proposed action, no action, and other reasonable action alternatives.

Estimated Dates for Filing

The draft Murphy EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review by

September, 1994. At that time EPA will publish a Notice of Availability

of the draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the

draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA publishes the Notice of

Availability in the Federal Register.

The final EIS is scheduled to be completed by December, 1994. In

the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to comments

and responses received during the comment period that pertain to the

environmental consequences discussed in the draft EIS and applicable

laws, regulations, and policies considered in making a decision

regarding the proposal.

Reviewer's Obligations

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. versus NRDC, 435 U.S.

519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at

the draft environmental impact statement stage may be waived or

dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon versus Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016,

1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. versus 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 and respond to them

in the final EIS.

To be most helpful, comments on the draft EIS should be as specific

as possible and may address the adequacy of the statement or the merit

of the alternatives discussed. 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.

Responsible Official

Jane P. Kollmeyer, District Ranger, Fortine Ranger District,

Kootenai National Forest, P.O. Box 116, Fortine, Montana, 59918, is the

Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official I will decide which,

if any, of the proposed projects will be implemented. I will document

the decision and reasons for the decision in the Record of Decision.

That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations.

Dated: December 16, 1993.

Jane P. Kollmeyer,

District Ranger, Fortine Ranger District.

[FR Doc. 94-4 Filed 1-3-94 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M