# Skranak Road Construction Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, Montana > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-29444 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Notice - **Published:** November 18, 1996 - **Citation:** 61 FR 58673 ## Text DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Skranak Road Construction Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, Montana AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: Henry Skranak of Libby, Montana is the owner of record of landlocked private property located in portions of Section 12 and 13, Township 26 North, Range 31 West, Principal Montana Meridian. The Forest Service has received from Skranak a special use permit application for the construction of a dry season road to his property. 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 road construction on National Forest. The Skranak decision area is located approximately 26 miles south of Libby, Montana. 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 forest management of the area. DATE: Written comments and suggestions should be received on or before December 18, 1996. ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official is Robert L. Schrenk, Forest Supervisor, 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: Jon Jeresek, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Libby Ranger District. Phone: (406) 293-7773. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The west side of the Skranak property is the common boundary of a portion of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. All of the Skranak property and proposed road construction is located within the Inventoried Roadless Area #671--Cabinet Face East. The decision area is occupied grizzly bear habitat. Proposed Action The Kootenai National Forest is proposing to issue a Special Use Permit to Henry Skranak to construct a 10 foot wide running surface road and use the [[Page 58674]] road to access private property. The construction is proposed to begin in 1997. The purpose of the project is to provide reasonable access to private land that is surrounded by National Forest as provided for under Public Law 96-487, the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA). No proposed activities are located in areas considered for inclusion to the National Wilderness Preservation System as recommended by the Kootenai National Forest Plan. The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan provides overall management objectives in individual delineated management areas (MA's). The decision area is allocated to MA-2, Semi- Primitive Non-Motorized Recreation. Briefly described, MA-2 is managed to provide for the protection and enhancement of areas for roadless recreation use, and to provide for wildlife management where specific values are high. Within grizzly bear habitat, the goal of MA-2 is to provide habitat that will contribute to the recovery of the grizzly bear. Special Uses may be permitted in a case by case basis. Preliminary Issues Several preliminary issues of concern have been identified by the Forest Service. These issues are briefly described below: Water Quality--How would the proposed action affect sediment production? Roadless Areas--The proposed road construction lies entirely within the Cabinet Face East Inventoried Roadless Area #671. What effect would the proposal have on the character of this Roadless Area? Grizzly Bear--The decision area lies within the recovery area for the Cabinet/Yaak grizzly bear ecosystem. How would the proposal protect and enhance grizzly bear habitat, and contribute to recovery efforts? Fisheries--The proposed road construction would cross Bramlet and 4th of July Creeks which are priority bull trout streams. How would the proposed action affect sediment production and bull trout habitat? Heritage Resources--The road construction is proposed to occur over the existing historic 4th of July Trail #115. Can the loss of this resource and associated sites be mitigated? Forest Plan Amendment The Kootenai National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan has specific management direction for the Skranak decision area. 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 Kootenai Forest Supervisor will decide the following: Should road construction to the Skranak property be permitted and if so how and where; What mitigation measures would be required for protection of National Forest resources; 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 during the winter 1997, 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 proposed road construction may significantly affect the quality of the human environment. These potential effects prompted the decision to prepare an EIS for the Skranak Road Construction. 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 Skranak Road Construction EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review by March, 1997. 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 July, 1997. 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 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 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 Robert L. Schrenk, Forest Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest, 506 US Highway 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. I will document the decision and reasons for the decision in [[Page 58675]] the Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations. Dated: November 6, 1996. Robert L. Schrenk, Forest Supervisor. [FR Doc. 96-29444 Filed 11-15-96; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-11-M --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A96-29444. Public record. Not legal advice.