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

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Proposed Crystal Creek Timber Sale Within the Council Mountain

Roadless Area, Payette National Forest, Adams County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Revised notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact

statement.

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SUMMARY: A notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement for the proposed Crystal Creek timber sale was published in

the Federal Register January 24, 1994 (Vol. 59, Issue No. 15, Page

3554).

That notice is hereby revised to include the entire subwatershed

north of the Middle Fork Weiser River in the analysis. The proposed

timber sale area has been expanded west to the Payette National Forest

boundary. This boundary adjustment will enable the interdisciplinary

team assigned to this project to address cumulative effects better in

the watershed.

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 roads

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 has already completed a 30-day public

comment period. The agency invited comments and suggestions on the

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

analysis. An additional 30-day public comment period is being offered

because of the expanded size of the project area.

A scoping meeting was held to gather comments from the public on

the proposed action. The meeting was on Thursday, February 3, at 7 p.m.

at the Council Ranger District office conference room in Council,

Idaho. Forest Service officials explained the proposed action and

planning process, and accepted public input. The members of the public

that attended this meeting felt that expanding the project area to

include the entire subwatershed, was a good idea.

A scoping document explaining the revised 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 May

13, 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 15.9 miles of road and harvest about 20.1 million board feet

of timber from 1,835 acres of suitable timber lands within the Crystal

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

including 231 acres of commercial thinning, 227 acres of shelterwood

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

(about 5-10 trees per acre), and 734 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 insects and

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

fir.

Helicopter logging is proposed for 488 acres (27 percent of the

treatment acreage), skyline logging is proposed for 812 acres (44

percent of the treatment acreage), and tractor logging is proposed for

535 acres (29 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, Lake Creek, Cabin Creek, Boulder Creek,

Bar Creek, Warm Spring Creek, and Sheep Creek are drainages within the

proposed timber sale area and are all 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.

At this early stage, the Forest Service believes 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 reviewer's 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: April 13, 1994.

David F. Alexander,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 94-9639 Filed 4-20-94; 8:45 am]

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