Management of Selected Vegetation Stands in the Nebo Management Area: Spanish Fork Ranger District, Uinta National Forest, Utah County, UT

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Management of Selected Vegetation Stands in the Nebo Management

Area: Spanish Fork Ranger District, Uinta National Forest, Utah County,

UT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, will

prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to document the

analysis of the effects of alternatives for management of white fir

timber stands infested with fir engraver beetles (Scolytus Ventralis)

within the Nebo Management Area of the Spanish Fork Ranger District of

the Uinta National Forest. The proposed action is to implement

management activities that will support the desired future condition

for the Nebo Management Areas outlined in the Uinta National Forest

Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) in accordance with the

requirements of 36 CFR 219.17 and 219.27.

The project area is located south of Payson, Utah, and northeast of

Nephi, Utah, on lands accessible from the Mt. Nebo Loop Scenic Byway.

The largest concentration of infected timber stands are in the

Sheepherder Hill area (Sections 15, 22-24, 28, 29, T10S, R2E, Salt Lake

Meridian). The purpose of this proposed management action is to save

the remaining healthy trees by removing the competition that may be

posed by dead and dying conifer trees and planting seedlings to

accelerate the recovery time for reestablishing a healthy forest.

Implementation of activities to restore a healthy forest condition

may require entry into areas designated as roadless in the 1980 RARE II

inventory.

The agency invites comments and suggestions on the scope of the

analysis. In addition, the agency gives notice of the full

environmental analysis and decisionmaking process that will occur on

the proposal so that interested and affected people are aware of how

they may participate and contribute to the final decision.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis for this Forest

Service proposal should be received in writing by May 10, 1994. A

scoping meeting will be held at the Spanish Fork Ranger Station, May 4,

1994 from 3 to 7 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Tom Tidwell, District Ranger,

Spanish Fork Ranger District, 44 West 400 North, Spanish Fork, Utah

84660.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Requests for further information or comments should be sent to Mark

Sensibaugh, Resource Assistant, phone (801) 798-3571.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Because much of this project area is within

view of a designated Scenic Byway and in the vicinity of the Mt. Nebo

Wilderness Area, the nature and scope of the decision to be made is

affected.

Aerial surveys indicate more than 15,000 acres of timber stands

were infested in the Nebo Management Area by the summer of 1993. A

biological evaluation of current stand conditions was conducted on 350

acres to assess the magnitude of the problem and potential management

options. The biological evaluation indicated that management actions

should be considered to reduce the volume of dead and dying trees in

the more concentrated, infested timber stands in the area, specifically

Sheepherder Hill. In the spring of 1993, an emergency timber sale, the

Payson Canyon Salvage Sale, was approved for harvesting approximately

141 acres of highly visible dead and dying timber within the proposed

project area, but not within an inventoried roadless area. The

emergency sale is adjacent to the Sheepherder Hill area. Since the

Payson Canyon Salvage Sale was initiated, many additional fir beetle

infestations have been identified and concern about forest health has

increased throughout the area.

Scoping of public issues were initiated as part of the Payson

Canyon Salvage Sale, which is applicable to this project. The

preliminary list of issues identified to be addressed by this project

analysis include:

--Forest health

--Impacts on the roadless characteristics of the project area

--Cumulative impacts of alternatives to this action

--Visual impacts to the Scenic Byway

--Fuel build-up/fire and insect disease hazards

--Economic feasibility of implemented management actions

--Implications to wetlands, floodplains and riparian vegetation

--Possible impacts to threatened, endangered and/or sensitive species

--Land/slope stability

--Forest user safety

--Water quality

--Elk calving vs. the timing of management activities

A wide range of alternatives will be considered in managing the

insect impacted timber stands. A preliminary list of alternatives

includes:

--No change to current management

--Harvest the dead and dying trees

--Burning of infested areas

--Stand treatment based on its visibility from the Scenic Byway

--A combination of any or all of the above

--Other considerations identified in the analysis process

There are no known permits or licenses required to implement any of

the proposed alternatives.

The comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement will

be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency's notice

of availability appears in the Federal Register. It is very important

that those interested in the proposed action participate at that time.

To be most helpful, comments on the Draft Environmental Impact

Statement should be as specific as possible and may address the

adequacy of the statement or the merits of the alternatives discussed

(see The Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing

the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at

40 CFR 1503.3).

In addition, Federal court decisions have established that

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 reviewers' position and

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

533 (1978). Environmental objectives that could have been raised at the

draft stage may be waived if not raised until after completion of the

final environmental impact statement. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 9th

Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 F. Supp.

1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). The reason for this is to ensure 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.

It is estimated that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(DEIS) will be released for public review in August 1994. The Final EIS

is scheduled to be released in November 1994. Implementation of the

project could occur by late fall of 1994 or the Spring of 1995.

After the 45 day comment period ends on the Draft EIS, the comments

will be analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing the

Final EIS. The Forest Service is required to respond to the comments

received in the Final EIS. The responsible official is the District

Ranger. The responsible official will consider the comments, responses

and environmental consequences discussed in the EIS and applicable

laws, regulations and policies in making a decision regarding this

proposal. The responsible official will document the decision and

reasons for the decision in the Record of Decision. That decision will

be subject to review under 36 CFR part 215.

Dated: March 4, 1994.

Tom L. Tidwell,

District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 94-5802 Filed 3-11-94; 8:45 am]

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