# Fry-Zim EIS; Kootenai National Forest; Lincoln County, MT > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A95-5696 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Notice - **Published:** March 9, 1995 - **Citation:** 60 FR 12911 ## Text DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Fry-Zim EIS; Kootenai National Forest; Lincoln County, MT AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] BILLING CODE 3410-11-M --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A95-5696. Public record. Not legal advice.