Williams Mountain Project Area, Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest, Grand County, CO

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Williams Mountain Project Area, Medicine Bow/Routt National

Forest, Grand County, CO

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement on a proposal to manage forest vegetation within the Williams

Mountain Project Area on the Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest within

Grand County, Colorado.

The Forest Serve invites comments and suggestions on the scope of

the analysis to be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(DEIS). In addition, the Forest Service gives notice that it is

beginning a full environmental analysis of this proposal and that

interested or affected people may participate and contribute to the

final decision. Issues raised will help establish the scope of the

environmental analysis and develop the range of alternatives to be

considered. The Forest Service welcomes any public or agency comments

on this proposal.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis should be received

by June 24, 1996. Comments may be either written or oral.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Larry W. Ross, District Ranger,

Parks District, P.O. Box 158, Walden, Colorado 80480-0158. Oral

comments will be considered as well and can be made by calling (970)

723-8204.

[[Page 25843]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

John Natvig, Williams Mountain Project Area Interdisciplinary Team

Leader, (970) 723-8204.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Routt National Forest Land and Resource

Management Plan (Forest Plan) provides a blueprint for a Desired Future

Condition (DFC) on public lands administered by the Medicine Bow/Routt

National Forest. In addition the Forest Plan establishes resource goals

and outputs needed to manage the resources while achieving the DFC. The

nature and scope of the proposed action includes a combination of

prescribed fire and silvicultural treatments to create vegetation

patterns consistent with those created through natural process and

cycles in order to optimize habitat capability for a range of wildlife

management indicator species (Forest Plan, III-125). Treatments and

associated activities being considered include timber harvest, road

construction, and prescribed fire. Management activities would also be

implemented to maintain structural diversity (Forest Plan, III-12),

manage aspen for retention (Forest Plan, III-13), prevent or suppress

epidemic insect and disease populations (Forest Plan, III-79), and

decrease fuel conditions to permit fire suppression forces to meet fire

protection objectives for the area (Forest Plan, III-78).

The decision to be made is whether or not to proceed with the

vegetation treatments and associated road construction activities. A

range of alternative actions will be developed based on public and

agency issues raised during the scoping process.

The Forest Service manages the land within the analysis area under

``Management Prescriptions 2B, 4B, and 5B.'' The proposed action is

consistent with the Routt National Forest Plan.

The following are preliminary issues and concerns which have been

identified: (1) Prescribed fire and/or prescribed natural fire should

be considered as a tool to meet management needs. (2) Management

activities need to be analyzed in regard to effects on wildlife

management indicator species. (3) Management activities should emulate

natural processes, their function, and result in a landscape pattern

similar to natural disturbance. (4) Management activities may have

negative effects on adjacent private lands. (5) Management activities

may have a negative effect on visual quality. (6) The unroaded

character of the area should be maintained.

The Responsible Official will be Larry W. Ross, Parks District

Ranger, Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National

Grasslands, 612 5th Street, PO Box 158, Walden, Colorado, 80480.

The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be

available in October 1996 and the Final Environmental Impact Statement

available in January 1997.

A 45-day public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact

Statement will commence on the day the Environmental Protection Agency

publishes a ``Notice of Availability'' in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers

notice at this early stage 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

contents. 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 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 comment period so that

substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest

Service at a time when it can meaningful consider them and respond to

them in the final environmental impact statement.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on this Draft

Environmental Impact Statement should be as specific as possible. It is

also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the

draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft

environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives

formulated and discussed in the statement. (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.) Please note that comments

you make on this Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be regarded

as public information.

Dated: May 14, 1996.

Larry W. Ross,

Parks District Ranger, Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest.

[FR Doc. 96-12980 Filed 5-22-96; 8:45 am]

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