Fry-Zim EIS; Kootenai National Forest; Lincoln County, MT

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Fry-Zim EIS; Kootenai National Forest; Lincoln County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the environmental impacts of

fire recovery and salvage activities. The project is located on the

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

Montana, in the Northeast Yaak Phsiographic Area located about 34 air

miles northeast of Troy, Montana. Part of the proposed activities lie

within an Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA), Mt. Henry # 666.

The Proposed Action was developed in response to the major fire

events that burned over 2,200 acres in the Fish Lakes and Zimmerman

Hill areas in August 1994, and mortality caused by mountain pine beetle

infestations in Basin Creek Compartment #29. The proposal is to salvage

timber, construct and reconstruct roads, reduce fuel concentrations,

revegetate with trees/native shrubs/grasses, and obliterate roads.

These actions 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 purpose of the Proposed

Action's activities are to harvest fire- and insect-killed timber in a

timely manner, manage road systems, reduce future potential for

catastrophic fire, sustain site productivity, improve wildlife and

riparian habitat (specifically for Threatened, Endangered, or Sensitive

(TES) species), and accelerate watershed recovery.

Overall guidance of land management activities on the Kootenai

National Forest, including timber harvest and road management, are

regulated by the Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management

Plan (Forest Plan, September, 1987). The Proposed Action was developed

using various principles of Ecosystem Management. In doing so, the

post-fire conditions are characterized at a broad scale with

consideration to natural processes that historically shaped this

ecosystem. Based on this analysis we developed a Proposed Action that

would require a Forest Plan amendment to allow timber harvest in

Management Area 2 (semi-primitive, non-motorized recreation). In

addition, some areas previously designated as old growth which, due to

the intensity of the fires no longer exhibit old growth

characteristics, will be redesignated to other areas. Some of these

burned areas will be harvested, meeting objectives of surrounding

management areas.

DATES: Written comments should be received within 30 days following

publication of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Send 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 North Highway 2, Troy, Montana

59935.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jack Zearfoss, Fry-Zim EIS Team Leader, Three Rivers Ranger District

(406) 295-4693.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The timber salvage activities under

consideration would occur within the 89,687 acre Northeast Yaak

Physiographic Area. The general areas considered are the Fish Lakes,

Windy Creek, and Basin Creek areas. Primary salvage activities would

occur in two specific fire-affected areas: the Fish Fry Fire (1470

acres) located within all or portions of Sections 18 and 19, T36N,

R30W, and Sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 23 and 24, T36N, R31W, PMM, Lincoln

County, Montana: the Zimmerman Fire (733 acres) located within portions

of Sections 3, and 4, T36N, R31W, and Sections 26 and 35, T37N, R31W,

PMM, Lincoln County, Montana. Previous planning efforts (Boppin Basin

Environmental Impact Statement) have identified other salvage

opportunities outside of the fire-affected areas which have been

incorporated into this proposal and are located within all or portions

of Sections 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 33, and 34, T36N, R30W,

PMM, Lincoln County, Montana.

Salvage harvest of dead and dying trees is proposed on 2536 acres

of forested land within the two fire areas and the Basin Creek

drainage. [[Page 12912]] Helicopter, conventional cable, and ground-

based logging systems would be utilized for harvest operations. This

includes 480 acres within the 733 acre Zimmerman fire, 798 acres within

the 1470 acre Fish Fry fire, and 1,258 acres within the 11,521 acre

Basin Creek Compartment #29. Openings of greater than 40 acres in size

would result from this Proposed Action. Fuel reduction accomplished in

conjunction with harvest includes grapple piling and prescribed

burning. Watershed restoration activities are proposed within and in

the vicinity adjacent to the harvest areas. This includes road

obliteration with an estimated 2.90 miles of recontouring, 11.80 miles

of ripping and seeding, and 8.70 miles of seeding, plus the removal of

approximately 21 in-stream culverts. Placement of woody debris would

occur along about 1.0 mile of stream channel, and approximately 11

acres of riparian revegetation is proposed. Replanting would occur on

approximately 2694 acres of land (of which 96 acres are burned

plantations), including both conifer seedlings for reforestation and

native shrubs and herbaceous plants for wildlife habitat (approximately

187 acres). The timber harvest operations would require approximately

3.88 miles of new road construction, 6.58 miles of reconstruction, and

an estimated 1.70 miles of temporary road construction. Road

maintenance would occur on about 13.73 miles of existing road.

Approximately 498 acres proposed for harvest lie within the Mt.

Henry #666 IRA. An estimated 3.60 miles (of the 3.88 miles) of road

construction would occur within this area.

The decision to be made is, what action (if any) should be taken in

the Northeast Yaak Physiographic Area to:

(1) Recover the fire-affected areas and move the area towards the

desired conditions of the physiographic areas involved.

(2) Provide goods and services to the local economy and U.S.

citizens

(3) Reduce the risk for high-intensity wildfire in the future

(4) Develop and manage the road system to facilitate the removal of

timber, post-harvest treatments, reduce sedimentation, restore stream

channel equilibrium, and maintain or improve wildlife habitat.

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 areas of proposed activities would occur within Management Areas 2,

12, 13, 14, and 19. Timber harvest would occur in all Management Areas

except Management Area 13, which would be redesignated. Road

construction would occur in Management Areas 13 and 14. Below is a

brief description of the applicable management direction.

Management Area 2--These areas are characterized by a natural

appearing environment offering roadless recreation opportunities and

are within an unsuitable timber base.

Management Area 12--These are areas that contain productive timber

lands which are suitable for timber harvest, provided that big game

summer habitat objectives are met.

Management Area 13--These are areas that contain special habitat

characteristics which are allocated as Old-Growth. Local road

construction is permitted, provided that they are restricted following

use to protect snag characteristics.

Management Area 14--These are areas that contain productive timber

lands which are suitable for timber harvest, provided that grizzly bear

habitat objectives are met.

Management Area 19--These are areas that contain steep slopes

requiring only activities which minimize surface disturbance and

maintain a healthy vegetative cover.

For Management Area 2, which is classified as unsuitable for timber

production, an amendment to the Forest Plan would be required to

implement the ecosystem management-based proposal or any alternative

which would harvest timber in these management areas.

The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives. One of

these will be the ``No Action'' alternative, in which none of the

proposed activities will be implemented. Additional alternatives will

examine varying levels and locations for the proposed activities to

achieve the desired conditions, as well as to respond to the issues and

other resource values identified by the public.

The principle issues identified to date are related to:

1. The effects of the Proposed Action on the characteristics of

Inventoried Roadless Areas and Management Areas designated as

unsuitable for timber production.

2. The effects of the Proposed Action on water quality and fish

habitat.

3. The effects of the Proposed Action on ecosystem health and the

risk of catastrophic wildfires and insect or disease outbreaks.

4. The effects of the Proposed Action on Threatened, Endangered,

and Sensitive (TES) species.

5. The effects of the Proposed Action on the socio-economics of the

area.

Other issues commonly associated with salvage harvesting and road

construction include: heritage resources, soils, and scenery

management. This list may be verified, expanded, or modified based on

public scoping for this proposal.

The EIS will analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative

environmental effects of the alternatives. Past, present, and projected

activities on National Forest Lands will be considered. The EIS will

disclose the analysis of site-specific mitigation measures and their

effectiveness.

Public participation is an important part of the analysis. It will

start with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7) which will begin

with the publication of this notice. 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. 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

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.

Consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been

ongoing with regard to listed species. The Montana Department of Health

and Welfare-Division of Environmental Quality, Montana Department of

Fish and Game, and the Kootenai Salish Indian Tribe will also be

consulted.

While public participation in this analysis is welcome at any time,

comments received within 30 days of the publication of this notice will

be especially useful in the preparation of the Draft EIS, which is

expected to be filed with the EPA and available for public review in

July, 1995. A 45-day comment period will follow publication of a Notice

of Availability of the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The final

[[Page 12913]] EIS is expected to be completed in November, 1995.

The Forest Service believes it is important at this early stage to

give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public

participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of

draft EIS's 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, 513 (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 30 day comment period so that substantive comments and objections

are 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 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.

Responsible Official: Robert L. Schrenk, Forest Supervisor,

Kootenai National Forest, Supervisor's Office, 506 Hwy 2 West, Libby,

MT 59923 is the Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official I

will decide which, if any, of the proposed projects will be

implemented. That decision will be documented in a Record of Decision.

I have delegated the responsibility to prepare the Fry-Zim

Environmental Impact Statement to Michael L. Balboni, District Ranger,

Three Rivers Ranger District.

Dated: February 28, 1995.

Robert L. Schrenk,

Forest Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest.

[FR Doc. 95-5696 Filed 3-8-95; 8:45 am]

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