Scenery Fire Recovery; Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, MT

SUMMARY: The Scenery Face Fire burned approximately 4700 acres of

Kootenai National Forest system lands in the late summer of 1994. The

Libby Ranger District on the Kootenai National Forest intends to

prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess and disclose

the environmental effects of opportunities designed to recover economic

value of burned timber, reduce fuel accumulations, rehabilitate

existing sediment sources and protect long-term soil productivity.

These objectives would be accomplished through salvage harvest of fire-

killed trees; reforestation of some harvested and severely burned

areas; fuels reduction in harvested areas and restoration of non-

essential roads. The Scenery decision area is located approximately 1

air mile west of Libby, Montana.

The proposal's actions to salvage fire-killed trees and reforest

burned areas, reduce fuels, and restore roads are being considered

together because they represent either connected or cumulative actions

as defined by the Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1508.25).

The EIS will tier to the Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource

Management Plan and Final EIS of September 1987, which provides overall

guidance for achieving the desired forest condition of the area.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by no later

than March 24, 1995.

ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is Lawrence A. Froberg, District

Ranger, Libby Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest. Written

comments and suggestions concerning the scope of the analysis should be

sent to Lawrence A. Froberg, District Ranger, Libby Ranger District,

12557 US Hwy 37 N, Libby, Montana, 59923.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Leanne Marten, NEPA Coordinator, Libby Ranger District. Phone: (406)

293-7773.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: During the night of August 14-15, 1994, a

lightning storm started 207 fires on the Kootenai National Forest in

northwest Montana. Several of these fires occurred on the Libby Ranger

District. The Scenery Fire Recovery EIS is being prepared in response

to conditions resulting from one of the largest of these fires, the

4700 acre Scenery Face Fire. An interdisciplinary landscape analysis

team is using an ecosystem based approach to assess the fires affects

and identify management opportunities that could be implemented to move

the postfire landscapes toward a desired ecological condition.

Burn intensities in the Scenery wildfire varied considerably.

Within the fire perimeters approximately 2200 acres burned at moderate

intensity (average 55% tree mortality) and approximately 2500 acres

burned at low intensity (average 25% mortality). The fire burned within

the Cabinet Face East Roadless Area #671.

The Scenery decision area contains approximately 3,300 acres within

the Kootenai National Forest in Lincoln County, Montana. The legal

location of the decision area is as follows: Sections or portions of

Sections 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30

and Township 31 North, Range 32 West; Sections or portions of Sections

24 and 25 of Township 31 North, Range 33 West; Principle Meridian. The

land in and adjacent to the decision area is primarily federal

ownership under the jurisdiction of the Forest Service with some

intermixed private ownership.

Proposed Action

The primary purpose of the project is to recover valuable timber

products from trees burned by the Scenery Face wildfire that occurred

in 1994 (while maintaining ecological processes), with the secondary

benefit of reducing fuel loads. Actions are also proposed to enhance

watershed recovery and improve grizzly bear habitat security. The

Forest Service proposes to harvest approximately 2.1 million board feet

of timber by salvaging fire-killed trees and dying trees on

approximately 350 acres of forest land outside riparian protection

areas. Only trees that were killed, or are expected to die as a result

of the fires, would be harvested. The proposal includes prescribed

burning of about 67 acres to reduce fuel loads in harvested areas. An

estimated 263 acres of proposed salvage units would be planted with

conifer seedlings to help meet desired conditions for species

diversity. The Forest Service also proposes to scarify and revegetate

an estimated 4 miles of existing non-essential roads to reduce sediment

and water yields, and improve grizzly bear habitat security. Non-

essential roads are those that are no longer considered a necessary

part of the permanent transportation system. Additional road access

restrictions may be needed to provide adequate security areas for

grizzly bears, however identification of specific road closure

proposals is pending further analysis.

The decision area includes a portion of the Cabinet Face East

Roadless Area #671. Approximately 330 acres of timber salvage and

approximately 250 acres of reforestation would occur within the

roadless area. No road construction is proposed within the roadless

area. No proposed activities are located in areas considered for

inclusion to the National Wilderness System as recommended by the

Kootenai National Forest Plan.

Due to the high level of tree mortality in proposed harvest units,

most harvested areas would resemble clearcut or seed-tree silvicultural

methods. Only those live trees which must be cut to facilitate logging

fire-killed trees would be harvested. Timber harvest would be done by

skyline and helicopter yarding, designed to result in minimal ground

disturbance, risk of erosion, and compaction.

The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan

provides overall management objectives in individual delineated

management areas (MA's). The decision area contains four MA's: 11, 12,

14 and 19. Briefly described, MA 11 is managed to maintain or enhance

the winter-range habitat effectiveness for big-game species and produce

a programmed yield of timber. MA 12 is managed to maintain or enhance

the summer-range [[Page 9819]] habitat effectiveness for big-game

species and produce a programmed yield of timber. MA 14 focuses on

maintaining or enhancing grizzly bear habitat, reducing grizzly/human

conflicts, assisting in the recovery of the grizzly bear, realizing a

programmed yield of timber production, and providing for the

maintenance or enhancement of other wildlife species, especially big

game. MA 19 is managed to protect soil stability and water quality by

maintaining the vegetation in a healthy condition and minimizing

surface disturbance. Timber salvage and fuels reduction is proposed in

MA 12.

Preliminary Issues

Several preliminary issues of concern have been identified by the

Forest Service. These issues are briefly described below:

Water Quality--Streams in the decision area have been

impacted by the Scenery Face wildfire. How would the proposed action

affect water yield, sediment production, stream stability, and recovery

from the wildfire?

Timber Supply--Much of the fire-killed timber will quickly

lose its commercial value due to rapid deterioration. To what extent

does the proposed action recover the commercial value of fire-killed

timber to help meet local and national needs?

Activity in Roadless Areas--What effect would the proposal

have on the roadless character of the Cabinet Face East Roadless Area

#671?

Grizzly Bear--The decision area lies within the recovery

area for the Cabinet/Taak grizzly bear ecosystem. How would the

proposal maintain and enhance grizzly bear habitat, and contribute to

recovery efforts?

Visual Quality--The units proposed can be viewed from

Highway 2, the Kootenai River Road or the Bighorn Trail. To what extent

will the viewshed be altered?

Forest Plan Amendment

The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan has

specific management direction for the Scenery decision area. The

Scenery proposed action is designed to maintain or improve resource

conditions and move towards achieving desired ecological conditions,

and is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Forest Plan.

Prior to making a NEPA decision, a thorough examination of all

standards and guidelines of the Forest Plan would be completed and, if

necessary, plan exceptions or amendments would be addressed in the EIS.

Decisions To Be Made

The Libby District Ranger will decide the following:

Should dead and imminent dead trees within fire areas be harvested

and if so how and where,

What amount, type, and distribution of watershed restoration

projects, including road restoration, would be implemented,

What burned areas need to be replanted, and

If Forest Plan exception or amendments are necessary to proceed

with the Proposed Action within the decision area.

Public Involvement and Scoping

An open house will be scheduled in March, to provide an opportunity

for the public to review the proposed action. Consultation with

appropriate State and Federal agencies will be initiated. Preliminary

effects analysis indicated that the wildfires may significantly affect

the quality of the human environment, and fire recovery activities have

the potential to both intensify and reduce effects. These potential

effects prompted the decision to prepare an EIS for the Scenery Fire

Salvage.

This environmental analysis and decision making process will enable

additional interested and affected people to participate and contribute

to the final decision. Public participation will be requested at

several points during the analysis. The Forest Service will be seeking

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

agencies, and other individuals or organizations who may be interested

in or affected by the proposed projects. This input will be used in

preparation of the draft and final EIS. The scoping process will

include:

Identifying potential issues.

Identifying major issues to be analyzed in depth.

Exploring additional alternatives which will be derived

from issues recognized during scoping activities.

Identifying potential environmental effects of this

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

and connected actions).

The analysis will consider a range of alternatives, including the

proposed action, no action, and other reasonable action alternatives.

Estimated Dates for Filing

The draft Scenery Fire Recovery EIS is expected to be filed with

the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for

public review by June, 1995. At that time 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 publishes

the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

The final EIS is scheduled to be completed by September, 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 a decision

regarding the proposal.

Reviewer's Obligations

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 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 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 and respond to them in the final EIS.

To be most helpful, comments on the draft EIS should be as specific

as possible and may address the adequacy of the statement or the merit

of the alternatives discussed. 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.

Responsible Official

Lawrence A. Froberg, District Ranger, Libby Ranger District,

Kootenai National Forest, 12557 US Highway 37 North, Libby, MT 59923 is

the Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official he will decide

which, if any, of the proposed projects will be implemented. He will

document the decision and reasons for the decision in the Record of

Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal

Regulations.

[[Page 9820]] Dated: February 10, 1995.

Lawrence A. Forberg,

District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 95-4222 Filed 2-21-95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M