Bull Lake Easement; Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, Montana

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Bull Lake Easement; Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County,

Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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

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

statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of the granting

of a road easement and of road reconstruction needed to access a

subdivision in the vicinity of Bull Lake. The area is located in the

Kootenai National Forest, Three Rivers Ranger District, Lincoln County,

Montana.

The proposal's actions to grant an easement to Lincoln County,

Montana for a county easement over portions of roads #398 and #8019,

and to reconstruct these roads to county standards, for public access

to a subdivision of land located in Section 29, T29N, R33W, Principle

Meridian, Montana, are being considered together because they represent

either connected or cumulative actions as defined by the Council on

Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25). This project-level EIS will

tier to the Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

(Forest Plan) and Final EIS (September 1987), which provides overall

guidance of all land management activities on the Kootenai National

Forest, including road management.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received on or before

March 20, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed

management activities or a request to be placed on the project mailing

list to Michael L. Balboni, District Ranger, Three Rivers Ranger

District, Kootenai National Forest, 1437 N. Hwy 2, Troy, Montana,

59935.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mark Natale, EIS Team Leader, Three Rivers Ranger District, Kootenai

National Forest, Phone (406) 295-4693.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A county easement is proposed on

approximately 1.0 mile of road #398 and 2.0 miles of road #8019 to

access a subdivision on private land that has received conditional

approval from the county. If approved, the road would then be

reconstructed to meet county standards.

The Kootenai Forest Plan provides guidance for management

activities within the potentially affected area through its goals,

objectives, standards and guidelines, and management area direction.

The area of the proposed easement would occur within Management Areas 6

and 11. Road reconstruction would occur in these two management areas.

Below is a brief description of the applicable management direction.

Management Area 6--These are recreational areas (campgrounds, boat

ramps, picnic areas, etc.). There is no restriction on easements within

this management area.

Management Area 11--These are areas of big game winter range that

allow for easements while including provisions for scheduling to

prevent conflicts during periods of wildlife use.

The Forest Service has identified two alternatives. These are: (1)

The ``no action'' alternative, in which the easement would not be

granted and (2) to issue the requested easement.

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 lands will be

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

mitigation measures and their effectiveness. [[Page 6693]]

Public participation is an important part of the analysis,

commencing with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7), which will

occur in the period February/March 1995. In addition, the public is

encouraged to visit with Forest Service officials at any time during

the analysis and prior to the decision. 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. A public meeting will

be held late February or early March 1995 in Troy, Montana.

Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in

preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to:

1. Identify potential issues.

2. Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.

3. Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a

relevant previous environmental analysis, such as the Kootenai Forest

Plan EIS.

4. Identify alternatives to the proposed action.

5. Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action and

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

6. Determine potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.

Some public comments have already been received. The following

preliminary issues have been identified so far:

1. How may proposed road reconstruction and subdivision of the private

land affect the water quality in Bull Lake?

2. How will the proposed road construction and subdivision affect

threatened, endangered and sensitive species in the area?

3. How may the proposed road construction affect big game winter range

use?

Other issues commonly associated with such activities include:

effects on cultural resources, soils, old growth, and scenery values.

This list may be verified, expanded, or modified based on public

scoping for this proposal.

The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in September of

1995. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of Availability of

the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the Draft

EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA's notice of availability

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

interested in management of this area participate at that time. To be

most helpful, comments on the Draft EIS should be as site-specific as

possible. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed by January 1996.

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,

(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 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 scoping 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 developing issues and alternatives.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

on the proposed action, comments should be as specific as possible.

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.

I have the final authority for issuing a decision regarding this

proposal. I have delegated the responsibility of preparing the EIS to

Three Rivers District Ranger, Michael Balboni. My address is Kootenai

National Forest, 506 U.S. Hwy 2 West, Libby, MT 59923.

Dated: January 27, 1995.

Robert L. Schrenk,

Forest Supervisor.

FR Doc. 95-2633 Filed 2-2-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M