Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive Management Area Plan, Wenatchee National Forest, Kittitas County Washington and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, King County, Washington

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive Management Area Plan, Wenatchee National

Forest, Kittitas County Washington and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National

Forest, King County, Washington

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

statement (EIS) to develop and evaluate a range of alternatives for

management of the 212,700 acres in the Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive

Management Area (AMA), as directed by the April 13, 1994 Record of

Decision (ROD) for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land

Management Planning Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted

Owl. This area is located within both the Cle Elum Ranger District of

the Wenatchee National Forest in Kittitas County, and the North Bend

Ranger District of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in King

County.

The alternatives will be consistent with the emphasis direction as

described in the ROD, which is the ``Development and implementation,

with the participation of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, of a

scientifically credible, comprehensive plan for providing late-

successional forest on the ``checkerboard'' lands''. This forest

Service proposal is scheduled for completion no later than December

1995.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope and implementation of this

proposal must be received by February 20, 1995.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions and comments about this EIS should be directed to Floyd J.

Rogalski, Project Planner, Cle Elum Ranger District, 803 West Second

Street, Cle Elum, Washington 98922; Phone 509-674-4411, ext. 315.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service is initiating this action

in response to the Snoqualmie Pass AMA emphasis direction, on page D-16

of the ROD for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land

Management Planning Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted

Owl.

The Snoqualmie Pass AMA is a 212,700 acre portion of the North

Cascades east of North Bend and west Cle Elum, along Interstate 90.

Most of the AMA is within the Wenatchee National Forest. The western

portion is within the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. The

vegetation in the area varies from cool, moist forest on the westside

of the crest to drier, more fire prone forest on the eastside. The most

defining characteristic of this AMA is its checkerboard ownership.

Approximately every other square mile is privately owned, even though

it is within the National Forest boundary.

Issues that have been identified to date include: (1) Provision of

late-successional forest and connectivity in an area where much of the

land belongs to private companies; (2) the fact that the I-90 highway

corridor acts as a barrier to the movement of plants and animals; (3)

the need to create an environment where communities and agencies can

work together to develop an innovative management approach.

The proposed action is to adopt the Standards and Guidelines for

the Late-Successional Reserves and Riparian Reserves from the ROD for

Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning

Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl.

The plan will focus on Late-successional characteristics and

riparian guidelines, deferring to the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie and

Wenatchee Land and Resource Management Plans on other issues such as

recreation and wilderness management. The decision to be made is what

standards and guidelines, if any, to adopt for the management of late-

successional and riparian habitat in the Snoqualmie Pass Adaptive

Management Area.

Alternatives to the proposed action that we have identified at this

time include: (1) No Action; and (2) Developing another scientifically

credible plan(s) that meets the emphasis of the Snoqualmie Pass

Adaptive Management Area. Other alternatives will be developed in

response to issues identified during the scoping process for the EIS.

All alternatives will need to respond to specific conditions in the

Snoqualmie Pass area.

Public participation will be especially important at several points

during the analysis. The Forest Service will be seeking information,

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

other individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected

by the proposed action. The scoping process includes:

1. Identifying potential issues;

2. Identifying issues to be analyzed in depth;

3. Eliminating insignificant issues or those which have been covered by

a relevant previous environmental process;

4. Exploring and identifying additional alternatives.

5. Identifying potential environmental effects of the proposed action

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

connected actions); and

6. Determining potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.

Public meetings will be held in both eastern and western

Washington. Notice of meeting dates and locations will be published in

the newspapers of record for the Wenatchee and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie

National Forests. These include the Seattle Post-intelligencer,

Wenatchee World, and Yakima Herald Republic. The February 15th meeting

will be a Scientist's Forum and will focus on scientific aspects of the

AMA. The scoping meetings are planned to be held as follows.

January 31, 1995--7 to 9 p.m., North Bend Ranger Station, 42404 SE

North Bend Way, North Bend, WA, Phone: 202-888-1421

February 9, 1995--7 to 9 p.m., Cle Elum Ranger Station, 803 West Second

St., Cle Elum, WA, Phone: 509-674-4411

February 8, 1995--7 to 9 p.m., White River Ranger Station, 857

Roosevelt Ave. East, Enumclaw, WA, Phone: 206-825-6585

February 15, 1995--10 a.m. to 3 p.m., North Bend Ranger Station, 42404

SE North Bend Way, North Bend, WA, Phone: 206-888-1421.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

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

October 1995. At that time, copies of the draft EIS will be distributed

to interested and affected agencies, organizations, and members of the

public for their review and comment. The comment period on the draft

EIS will be 45 days from the date of the EPA Notice of Availability as

published in the Federal Register. It is very important that those

interested in the management of the Wenatchee and the Mt. Baker-

Snoqualmie National Forests participate at that time.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying the considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS should

be as specified as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to

specific pages or

[[Page 6502]]

chapters of the draft EIS. 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 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

a 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 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 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 specified as

possible.

The final EIS is scheduled to be completed in December 1995. 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. Sonny O'Neal, Forest Supervisor, Wenatchee

National Forest and Dennis Bschor, Forest Supervisor, Mt. Baker-

Snoqualmie National Forest are the responsible officials. As

responsible officials they 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: January 25, 1995.

Sonny O'Neal,

Forest Supervisor, Wenatchee National Forest.

Dated: January 26, 1995.

Dennis E. Bschor,

Forest Supervisor, Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

[FR Doc. 95-2537 Filed 2-1-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M