Revised Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National Grassland Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest and Pawnee National Grassland; Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Grand, Jefferson, Larimer, Park, and Weld Counties, Colorado

summary: The Forest Supervisor of the Arapaho and Roosevelt National

Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland gives notice of the agency's

intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on the revision of

the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National

Grassland Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan).

The original Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement for this Forest Plan Revision was published July 10, 1990.

Due to the delay in publishing a Draft EIS, this Notice serves to

revise the Notice of July 1990.

for further information contact: Howard Sargent, Forest Planner, (970)

498-1201, 240 West Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526.

supplementary information: A Forest Plan shall ordinarily be revised on

a 10-year cycle or at least every 15 years. A plan may also be revised

whenever the Forest Supervisor determines that conditions or demands in

the area covered by the plan have changed significantly. The current

Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

was approved on May 4, 1984. The Forest is scheduled to complete its

revision of the Forest Plan and FEIS in Fall, 1996.

Through evaluation of the Forest Plan, documented in the ``Five

Year Evaluation: Forest Plan Monitoring and Evaluation Report'' (1990)

and further refined in 1993 in the ``Analysis of the Management

Situation,'' the Forest Supervisor of the Arapaho and Roosevelt

National Forest and the Pawnee National Grassland has determined that

the following topics should be the primary focus of the Forest Plan

Revision:

1. Biological diversity including old growth;

2. National Forest-residential intermix areas;

3. Oil and gas leasing;

4. Recreation-related items such as recreation settings, scenic

resources and wild and scenic rivers;

5. Roadless areas and additions to the Wilderness Preservation

System;

6. Timber management, including suitable lands, allowable sale

quantity, silvicultural practices;

7. Travel management; and

8. Water yield and management.

Public involvement in the Plan Revision process has been extensive

since the original Notice of Intent was published, utilizing a variety

of scoping techniques. These included mailings to individuals and

organizations known to be interested in the Plan Revision, newspaper

articles, newsletters, public meetings, and open houses. After release

of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement, more open houses will be

held and will be announced in local news media and in newsletters.

Revision of the Forest Plan began in 1990; the draft environmental

impact statement and Proposed Revised Forest Plan should be available

for public review in November, 1995. The final environmental impact

statement, Record of Decision, and Revised Forest Plan are scheduled to

be completed by Fall, 1996.

The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will

be a minimum of 90 days from the date the Environmental Protection

Agency publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

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 F2d

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 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 official responsible for approving the revised Forest Plan is

the Regional Forester, Rocky Mountain Region, USDA Forest Service,

11177 West 8th Avenue, P.O. Box 25127, Lakewood, Colorado 80225. The

Forest Supervisor, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee

National Grassland, is delegated responsibility for preparing the

revision.

Dated: August 29, 1995.

William P. Lisowsky,

Acting Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 95-22938 Filed 9-14-95; 8:45 am]

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