Motorized Vehicular Access to the Private Property Within the Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Siskiyou National Forest, Curry County, OR

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Motorized Vehicular Access to the Private Property Within the

Kalmiopsis Wilderness, Siskiyou National Forest, Curry County, OR

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare and environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service (Agency) will prepare an Environmental

Impact Statement (EIS) to disclose the

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environmental impacts for a site-specific Proposed Action to permit,

with stipulations, motorized vehicular access over an existing 12 miles

of road, to private in-holdings inside the Kalmiopsis Wilderness,

Chetco River drainage, of the Illinois Valley Ranger District, Siskiyou

National Forest, Curry County, Oregon. The Agency gives notice of the

full environmental analysis and decision-making process that will occur

on the Proposed Actions, so that interested and affected persons are

aware of how they may participate and contribute to the analysis.

DATE: Issues with the Proposed Action must be received in writing by

January 17, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Submit written issues with the Proposed Action to Mary

Zuschlag, District Ranger, Illinois Valley Ranger District, 26568

Redwood Highway, Cave Junction, Oregon, 97523.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions about the Proposed Action and EIS to Don McLennan,

Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Illinois Valley Ranger District, 26568

Redwood Highway, Cave Junction, Oregon, 97523 or by calling (541) 592-

2166.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Wilderness Act of 1964 states that

privately owned land completely surrounded by National Forest System

lands designated by this Act as wilderness, shall be given such rights

as may be necessary to assure adequate access to the landowner and

their successors and that where valid occupancies are wholly within a

designated wilderness area, the Secretary of Agriculture shall permit

ingress and egress by means which have been or are being customarily

enjoyed with respect to other such areas similarly situated.

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act states that

subject to terms and conditions as the Secretary of Agriculture may

prescribe, the Secretary shall provide such access to non-federally

owned lands within the boundaries of the National Forest System as the

Secretary deems adequate to secure to the owner the reasonable use and

enjoyment thereof.

In preparing the EIS, the Agency will tier to the Amended Land and

Resource Management Plan for the Siskiyou National Forest, consider

submitted written issues with Proposed Action, and develop alternatives

that respond to the significant issues with the Proposed Action. In

addition, the agency will analyze a no-action alternative.

Public participation will be important at several times during the

analysis. The first time is during the scoping period [Reviewer may

wish to refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for

implementing the procedural provisions of the National Environment

Policy Act (CFR) at 40 CFR 1501.7]. The Agency will be seeking written

issues with the Proposed Action from Federal, State, and local

agencies, any affected Indian tribes, the permit applicant, and other

individuals who may be interested in or affected by the Proposed

Action. This input will be used to develop alternatives. The scoping

process includes:

1. Contacting Federal, State, and local agencies, any affected

Indian tribes, the permit applicant, and other individuals who may be

interested in or affected by the Proposed Action.

2. Identifying potential issues.

3. Selecting significant issues with the Proposed Action, needing

in-depth analysis.

4. Eliminating insignificant issues; issues that have been analyzed

and documented in a previous EIS, issues that controvert the need for

the Proposed Action, or issues that are outside the authority of the

Responsible Official to decide.

5. Identifying resources that have a potential for being effected

by the Proposed Action.

The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and be available for review in May 1997. At

that time, EPA will publish a Notice of Availability for the Draft EIS

in the Federal Register.

A 45-day comment period for the Draft EIS will be from the date the

EPA's Notice of Availability appears in the Federal Register. To assist

the Agency, comments on the Draft EIS will need to be written, be as

specific as possible, refer to specific pages and chapters of the Draft

EIS, and address either the adequacy of the Draft EIS or the merits of

the alternatives discussed in the Draft EIS (40 CFR 1503.3).

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 a Draft EIS must

structure their participation in the environmental review process of

the Proposed Action so that it is specific, 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 early-on in the

environmental review process, 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. versus 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 are available to

the Agency at a time when the Agency can meaningfully consider and

respond to them in the Final EIS.

After the 45-day comment period ends on the Draft EIS, comments

will be considered and analyzed by the Agency in preparing the Final

EIS. The Final EIS is scheduled to be completed in September 1997. In

the Final EIS, the Agency is required to respond to the comments

received (40 CFR 1503.4). The Responsible Official will be Mike Lunn,

Forest Supervisor, who will consider the Final EIS, applicable laws,

regulations, policies, and analysis files in making a decision

regarding this Proposed Action. The Responsible Official will document

the decision and rationale in the Record of Decision. That decision

will be subject to appeal under 36 CFR 215.

Dated: November 7, 1996.

J. Michael Lunn,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 96-29526 Filed 11-18-96; 8:45 am]

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