Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area, Mt. Hood National Forest, Hood River County, Oregon

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Supplement to the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the

Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area, Mt. Hood National Forest, Hood River County,

Oregon

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to supplement a final environmental impact

statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare a supplement to the

final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski

Area on the Hood River Ranger District of the Mt. Hood National Forest.

The final EIS and Record of Decision (ROD) for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski

Area were released in May 1991. The ROD was reversed by the Regional

Forester in November 1991, based on inadequate cultural analysis. In

May 1995, Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort submitted a revised application

for a new Master Plan. The revised application proposes to expand the

existing day use ski area to a full season ski/recreaction area with

increased capacity and permit area. It also withdraws their previous

proposal to establish the ski area as a year-round destination resort

with overnight housing. The alternatives will be revised based on the

new proposed action and additional analysis that is conducted. The

environmental analysis will be documented as a supplement to the

existing analysis. The decision on a new master plan will be a

conceptual decision that amends the Mt. Hood

[[Page 2482]]

National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (1991). The

construction of any improvements or new facilities authorized in the

new master plan will be dependent upon future site specific

environmental analysis and decisions.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has requested the Forest

Service analyze the improvements to the Mt. Hood Meadows access road

through the ski area EIS, rather than through a separate environmental

document. As a cooperating agency, FHWA will review the supplemental

EIS and sign a ROD for its approval and funding actions related to the

access road. The decision on the road improvements will be site-

specific, not conceptual, and would authorize construction of any

improvements. FHWA decisions would be implemented in accordance with 23

CFR Part 771.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Roberta Moltzen, Forest

Supervisor, Mt. Hood National Forest, 2955 NW Division Street, Gresham,

Oregon 97030.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ken Davis, Hood River Ranger District, Mt. Hood National Forest, 6780

Hwy. 35, Mt. Hood-Parkdale, Oregon 97041, Telephone: (541) 352-6002.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The original proposed action was to

establish Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area as a full-season destination resort

with: a capacity of 15,000 persons; 1,500 units of overnight housing on

National Forest System lands; 12 lifts and 1,166 developed acres of

skiing; 46.3 acres of parking; and miscellaneous winter and summer

uses. An expansion of the existing permit area by 855 acres was also

proposed.

The May 1995 Record of Decision would have authorized expansion of

Mt. Hood Meadows from a day-use ski area to a full-season regional

resort with: a maximum capacity of 15,000 persons; 500 units of

overnight housing on National Forest System lands; 14 lifts and 1,165

developed acres of skiing; parking based upon an average car occupancy

and transit ridership formula; and miscellaneous winter and summer

uses. An expansion of the permit area by 796 acres would have been

authorized.

Since the reversal of the May 1991 decision, additional cultural

resource analysis has been conducted; the Northwest Forest Plan has

designated portions of the proposed permit expansion area as Late

Successional Reserve and Tier II Watershed; and additional facilities

authorized under the ski area's 1978 Master plan (Gulch chairlift and

Hood River Meadows base area expansion) have been approved and

constructed. In May 1995, Mt. Hood Meadows resort submitted a revised

application for a new Master Plan. FHWA has also requested that

improvement of the Mt. Hood Meadows access road be analyzed in the ski

area EIS, rather than through a separate environmental document.

The new proposed action would expand the existing day-use ski area

to a full-season ski/recreation area with: a capacity of 15,210

persons; 15 chairlifts, an unspecified number of surface lifts and

associated ski terrain; 36.9 acres of parking; overnight use of skier

service facilities for ski/snowboard camps; miscellaneous winter uses;

and summer recreation facilities and uses. An expansion of the existing

permit area by 796 acres is proposed. The new proposed action includes

amending the Mt. Hood National Forest Land and resource Management Plan

to permit ski area expansion and adoption of a new master plan.

FHWA proposes to improve 0.7 mile of Oregon Highway 35 and 0.6 mile

of the Mt. Hood Meadows access road (Forest Road 3555) to improve

safety and to accommodate projected growth in traffic levels and

expansion of the ski area. These improvements will be analyzed through

the supplemental EIS. The FHWA will make a separate ROD for the road

improvements.

The supplement will be prepared and circulated in the same manner

as the draft and final EIS (40 CFR 1502.9). Comments received on the

draft supplemental EIS will be considered in the preparation of the

final supplement. The draft supplement is expected to be available for

public review and comment in April 1996. The comment period on the

draft supplement will be 45 days from the date the Environmental

Protection Agency's notice of availability appears in the Federal

Register.

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

the draft supplement to the EIS must structure their participation in

the environmental review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and

alerts an agency to the reviewer position and contentions. Vermont

Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519.533 (1978). Also

environmental objections that could be raised at the draft supplemental

stage but that are not raised until after completion of the final

Supplemental 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, 490f. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980).

Comments on the draft supplement should be as specific as possible.

It is also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of

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

supplement or the merits of the alternatives formulated and discussed

in the supplement. 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.

At the end of the comment period on the draft supplement, comments

will be analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing the

final Supplemental EIS. The final supplement is scheduled to be

completed by July 1996.

The Responsible Official, Forest Supervisor Roberta Moltzen will

consider the comments, responses, environmental consequences discussed

in the final Supplemental EIS, and applicable laws, regulations, and

policies. The responsible official will document the decision and

rationale for the Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Area in the Record of Decision.

The Forest Service decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal

Regulations (36 CFR Part 217).

Dated: January 19, 1996.

Roberta Moltzen,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 96-1383 Filed 1-25-96; 8:45 am]

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