Huckleberry Land Exchange With Weyerhaeuser Company, Mt. Baker- Snoqualmie National Forest, Skagit, Snohomish, King, Lewis and Pierce Counties, Washington

SUMMARY: The Forest Service, USDA, will prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) on a proposal to exchange lands west of the Cascade

Crest in the state of Washington. The exchange would result in the

transfer of up to 7,200 acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands for

up to 33,000 acres of Weyerhaeuser lands in Snohomish, King, Pierce,

Yakima, Skagit, and Kittitas Counties in the state of Washington.

Transfer of these lands will result in consolidation of NFS land

ownership in the Greenwater, Snoqualmie (I-90 corridor), and Skykomish

River Basins.

The EIS will be consistent with the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National

Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) (as amended in April

1994), which provides overall guidance of all land management

activities on the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

The Forest Service invites written comments and suggestions on the

issues and management opportunities for the area being analyzed.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received

in writing by July 31, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Dennis Bschor, Forest Supervisor,

21905 64th Avenue West, Mountlake Terrace, Washington 98043.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jeff Osmundson, Washington Area Land Adjustment Team, Staff Appraiser,

Phone: 206-744-3446.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service proposed action would

consolidate landownership presently characterized by a ``checkerboard''

ownership pattern. Consolidation will enable the Forest Service to:

implement more effective ecosystem based management; better protection

of wetlands; attainment of long-term habitat needs by reducing

fragmentation of forest cover; and reduce recreational conflict. Lands

acquired in the exchange by the Forest Service will be managed in

accord with the LRMP.

The proposed action will exchange lands that are offered to the

Forest Service which include Weyerhaeuser lands that are: in the

Greenwater River Basin east of Enumclaw; near the Norse Peak Wilderness

Area; and next to the Clearwater River Wilderness Area east of

Carbonado. Other Weyerheauser lands offered are: between the north and

middle forks of the Snoqualmie River near the Alpine Lakes Wilderness

Area; in the McClellan Butte area near Snoqualmie Pass and south of

U.S. Highway 2; and in the South Fork of the Skykomish River Basin near

Index. Two smaller Weyerhaeuser parcels are located in south Skagit

County and in Lewis County, in the North fork of the Stillaquamish

drainage.

Weyerhaeuser will acquire NFS lands located generally to the west

of the administrative boundary of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National

Forest. The area is mostly north of the Greenwater River and the

community of Greenwater.

The Mt-Baker-Snoqualmie LRMP (as amended) provides guidance for

land exchanged within the potentially affected area through its goals,

objectives, standards, guidelines and management area direction.

An environmental document will be produced which will display

alternatives considered, including the proposed action, and an

estimation of the effects of the alternatives. Based on the issues

identified through scoping, all action alternatives will vary in the

number of acres to exchange, the location of the acres to be exchanged,

and the kind of mitigation measures.

The EIS will analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative

environmental effects of the alternatives. Past, present, and projected

activities on both private and National Forest System lands will be

considered. The EIS will disclose the analysis of site-specific

mitigation.

Comments from the public will continue to be used to:

--Identify potential issues.

--Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.

--Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a previous

environmental analysis, such as the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie LRMP.

--Identify alternatives to the proposed action.

--Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action and

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

--Determine potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.

Issues identified as a result of internal and public scoping

include: Access and travel management; threatened, endangered and

sensitive plant and animal species; current condition of federal and

nonfederal lands; and valuation procedures for Federal and nonfederal

lands.

An initial scoping letter was mailed on June 14, 1994. The

responses have been compiled and will be incorporated into the process.

Public involvement meetings have been considered but are not scheduled

at this time.

Consolidation of checkerboard ownership in the I-90 corridor into

federal control would provide an opportunity for ecosystem management

on a larger scale. It would also support the ``Mountains-to-the-Sound''

goals of a continuous greenway between the Cascade Mountains and Puget

Sound.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed in November 1995. The comment

period on the draft environmental impact statement will be 45 days from

the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of

availability in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers

notice at this early stage of several court rulings related to public

participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of

draft EIS 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 EIS stage but

[[Page 36258]]

that are not raised until after completion of the final EIS may be

waived or dismissed by the courts (City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d

1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 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 EIS.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS 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 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.).

The final EIS is scheduled to be completed March 1996. 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 the decision

regarding this proposal. The lead agency is the Forest Service. Wendy

M. Herrett, Director of Recreation, Lands, and Mineral Resources,

Pacific Northwest Region, is the responsible official. As the

responsible official she will document the decision and reasons for the

decision in the Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to

Forest Service appeal regulations (36 CFR Part 217).

Dated: July 10, 1995.

Wendy M. Herrett,

Director, Recreation, Lands and Mineral Resources.

[FR Doc. 95-17299 Filed 7-13-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M