Notice of the Preparation of the Southern Appalachian Assessment, and the Beginning of the Forest Plan Revision Efforts for the National Forests in Alabama, Chattahoochee-Oconee, Cherokee, and Sumter National Forests

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Notice of the Preparation of the Southern Appalachian Assessment,

and the Beginning of the Forest Plan Revision Efforts for the National

Forests in Alabama, Chattahoochee-Oconee, Cherokee, and Sumter National

Forests

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: This Notice is to announce the U.S. Forest Service's

participation in the preparation of the Southern Appalachian Assessment

(SAA). This Assessment is being prepared by the U.S. Forest Service

(the Southern Region of the National Forest System and the Southeastern

Forest Experiment Station) in cooperation with the other Federal

agencies that are members of SAMAB (Southern Appalachian Man and the

Biosphere Cooperative). It will include national forest lands of the

George Washington, Jefferson, Nantahala-Pisgah, Cherokee, and

Chattahoochee National Forests; and parts of the Sumter and Talladega

National Forests. Also involved will be National Park Service lands in

the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shenandoah National Park, and

the Blue Ridge Parkway.

This Notice also announces the beginning of the efforts to revise

the Land and Resource Management Plans (Forest Plans) for the National

Forests in Alabama, the Chattahoochee-Oconee, the Cherokee, and the

Sumter National Forests. This is not the ``Notice of Intent'' (NOI) for

the Environmental Impact Statements that will accompany the Revised

Forest Plans. Those NOIs will be issued at a later date.

The Southern Appalachian Assessment will support and facilitate

ecosystem management decisions to be made in Forest Plan revisions. As

the National Forests in the Southern Appalachians are conducting their

local efforts to describe their ``Analysis of the Management

Situation'' (AMS), they will also be providing information for the

larger scale Southern Appalachian Assessment.

The Assessment will be used to help determine each National

Forests' ``Need for Change'' section of their AMS. This information

will then be used to publish the Notices of Intent to prepare the

Environmental Impact Statements, which will begin the NEPA (National

Environmental Policy Act) processes associated with each Forest Plan

revision.

Public involvement is critical throughout these processes and it

will be requested and accepted continually throughout these efforts.

Formal public involvement with the Forest Plan revision efforts will

also be conducted through ``Scoping'', following the issuance of the

National Forests NOIs.

DATES: The Southern Appalachian Assessment is scheduled to be completed

by January 1996.

The National Forests in Alabama, the Chattahoochee-Oconee National

Forests, the Cherokee National Forest, and the Sumter National Forest

are scheduled to complete the drafts of their Analysis of the

Management Situation between October 1995 and January 1996. During this

same time period, these Forests are scheduled to issue their Notices of

Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (NOI) for their

Revised Land and Resource Management Plans. A Revised NOI for the

Jefferson National Forest will also be issued during this time period.

ADDRESSES: Requests for information, and comments concerning this

notice can be sent to:

Director, Planning and Budget, USDA-Forest Service, 1720 Peachtree Rd.

NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30367-9102.

Co-Team Leader, Southern Appalachian Assessment, USDA-Forest Service,

1720 Peachtree Rd. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30367-9102.

Forest Supervisor, National Forests in Alabama, 2946 Chestnut,

Montgomery, Alabama 36107-3010.

Forest Supervisor, Chattahoochee-Oconee NFs, 508 Oak Street, NW,

Gainesville, Georgia 30501.

Forest Supervisor, Cherokee NF, 2800 N. Oconee St. NE, P.O. Box 2010,

Cleveland, Tennessee 37320-2010.

Forest Supervisor, Francis Marion-Sumter NFs, 4931 Broad River,

Columbia, South Carolina 29210-4021.

Forest Supervisor, George Washington NF, P.O. Box 233, Harrison Plaza,

Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801.

Forest Supervisor, Jefferson NF, 5162 Valley Pointe Parkway, Roanoke,

Virginia 24019-3050.

Forest Supervisor, National Forests in North Carolina, 100 Post and

Otis Streets, P.O. Box 2750, Asheville, North Carolina 28802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information concerning this

notice contact: Gary Pierson, Director of Planning and Budget, Southern

Region.

For more information on the Southern Appalachian Assessment

contact: Forrest Carpenter, Co-Team Leader, Southern Region.

For more information from the individual National Forests contact:

Rick Morgan, Planning Team Leader, National Forests in Alabama

Caren Briscoe, Planning Staff Officer, Chattahoochee-Oconee NF

Red Anderson, Planning Team Leader, Cherokee NF

Dave Plunkett, NEPA Coordinator, George Washington NF

Nacy Ross, Planning Team Leader, Jefferson NF

Larry Hayden, Planning Team Leader, Nantahala-Pisgah NF

Richard Shelfer, Planning Team Leader, Sumter NF [[Page 9323]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Southern Region of the National Forest System and the

Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, in cooperation with the other

Federal agencies that are members of the Southern Appalachian Man and

the Biosphere Cooperative (SAMAB, i.e., the Environmental Protection

Agency, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National

Park Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Geological Survey,

the Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Economic

Development Administration, and the National Biological Survey) have

begun conducting a Southern Appalachian Assessment (SAA). The

Assessment will include the national forest lands of the George

Washington, Jefferson, Nantahala-Pisgah, Cherokee, and Chattahoochee

National Forests, and parts of the Sumter and Talladega National

Forests. The Assessment will also include National Park Service lands

in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shenandoah National Park,

and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Assessment will facilitate an interagency ecological approach

to management in the Southern Appalachian area by collecting and

analyzing broad-scale biological, physical, social and economic data to

serve as a foundation for more local natural resource management

decisions. The Assessment will be organized around four ``themes''--(1)

Terrestrial (which includes the Health of Forest Ecosystems, and Plant

and Animal Resources); (2) Aquatic Resources; (3) Air Quality and (4)

the Human Dimension of Ecosystems (which includes Communities and Human

Influences; Roadless Areas and Wilderness; Recreation, Wildlife and

Fish Supply and Demand; and the Timber Economy of the Southern

Appalachians).

Public comment on the SAA process began with a series of open town

hall meetings held in Asheville, NC; Gainesville, GA; and Roanoke, VA

in August 1994. In addition, interested members of the public were

asked for further written comments to be received by September 15. As

the Assessment progresses, continued public involvement will be

facilitated through additional meetings and newsletters.

2. Beginning of the Forest Plan Revision Efforts for the National

Forests in Alabama, the Chattahoochee-Oconee, the Cherokee, and the

Sumter National Forests

This Notice announces that the National Forests in Alabama, the

Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, the Cherokee National Forest,

and the Sumter National Forest either have already started or are

beginning efforts to revise their Land and Resource Management Plans

(LRMP). These Forests are each in the process of preparing their

Analysis of the Management Situation (AMS), one of the first steps in

the revision process. This step includes updating resource inventories,

defining the current situation, estimating supply capabilities and

resource demands, and determining the ``Need for Change'' (36 CFR

291.12(e)(5)).

3. Public Involvement in Developing the ``Need for Change'' in an AMS

Determining the concerns and expectations of National Forest

constituents and getting public input on how well current forest plans

are working, or not working, are critical elements of describing the

``need to change'' a forest plan. An integral part of determining the

need for change is public involvement. Each of the National Forests

described above either have already, or will soon contact their

interested public to solicit their participation in this step of the

forest plan revision process.

4. Relationship Between the AMS and a Notice of Intent To Prepare

an Environmental Impact Statement

In the past, a ``Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement'' (NOI) was issued at the beginning of the forest

planning process, including before the development of the AMS.

This time, we are first defining the current situation and an

initial ``need for change'' in a Draft AMS, and then issuing a NOI

prior to developing alternatives. This will allow us to incorporate a

more definable ``Proposed Action'' and ``Purpose and Need'' into our

NOIs, which will begin the formal NEPA process of preparing the

Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) that will accompany the Revised

Land and Resource Management Plans.

5. Relationship Between the Southern Appalachian Assessment and the

Process for Revising the Southern Appalachian National Forests' LRMPs

The public has expressed concern that the Southern Appalachian

Assessment will ``delay'' revising National Forest Land and Resource

Management Plans in the Southern Appalachians. However, the SAA is

being conducted concurrently, and in support of, the forest plan

revisions.

Many of the information needs for the Forest AMSs and for the SAA

are the same. The Assessment will support the revision of the LRMPs by

determining how the lands, resources, people and management of the

National Forests interrelate within the larger context of the Southern

Appalachian area. The SAA, however, will not be a ``decision document''

and it will not involve the NEPA process. As broad-scale issues are

identified and addressed at the sub-regional level in the Assessment,

the individual National Forest's role in resolving those broad-scale

issues will become a part of the ``need for change'' at the Forest

level.

6. Issuing the Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS

The National Forests identified above will issue their NOIs when

enough information from the SAA is available for them to develop the

``Need for Change'' section of their Draft AMS. The Draft AMSs are

scheduled to be completed between October 1995 and January 1996. Their

NOIs are also scheduled to be issued during this same time period.

Each NOI will include a description of a preliminary ``Proposed

Action'' and of some preliminary alternatives. Scoping to receive

public comments on the preliminary proposed action and preliminary

alternatives will begin following the publication of the NOIs. These

public comments will be used to further refine the ``Proposed Action''

and the preliminary alternatives, to possibly identify additional

alternatives, and to finalize the AMS and the ``Need for Change''.

7. Status of the Jefferson, George Washington, and Nantahala-Pisgah

National Forests

The Jefferson National Forest, which is also currently working on

its Revised LRMP, previously issued a Notice of Intent to Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement for its Revised LRMP on June 28, 1993. A

Revised NOI for the Forest will be issued between October 1995 and

January 1996, to coincide with the NOIs issued for the other National

Forests in the Southern Appalachians.

The George Washington National Forest completed its Final Revised

Forest Plan on January 21, 1993, and the Nantahala-Pisgah National

Forests completed a significant amendment, Amendment 5 to their Land

and [[Page 9324]] Resource Management Plan on March 18, 1994. These two

forests are not currently involved in the revision process. However, if

information from the Southern Appalachian Assessment identifies

conditions requiring additions or changes to these plans to ensure

consistency between the National Forests in the Southern Appalachians,

then amendments to these plans could be considered.

8. The Responsible Official

The Responsible Official for the Revised Land and Resource

Management Plans for the National Forests in the Southern Appalachians

is Robert C. Joslin, Regional Forester, Southern Region, 1720 Peachtree

Road NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30367.

Dated: February 13, 1995.

R. Gary Pierson,

Acting Deputy Regional Forester.

[FR Doc. 95-4000 Filed 2-16-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M