Beaver Creek Salvage Timber Sale and Other Restoration Projects, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Union County, Oregon

SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) for a set of proposals to implement a salvage timber

sale and several other related restoration and rehabilitation projects

within the Beaver Creek Project Area. The EIS will tier to the 1990

Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) for the Wallowa-Whitman

National Forest, which provides the overall management direction for

the area. The Forest Service proposed action will be consistent with

the Forest Plan.

The proposed projects are primarily located with the Beaver Creek

Municipal Watershed in the Beaver Creek, West Fork Beaver Creek, and

Beatty Creek drainages on the La Grande Ranger District, approximately

15 air miles south and west of La Grade, Oregon. The project area

consists of 16,000 acres. The following activities are proposed: (1)

Salvage of dead and down trees to reduce fuel loadings, harvest of

other trees to improve stand health and vigor; (2) development of

associated road systems; (3) construction of a reduced fuel corridor

system; (4) exchange of a low quality stand of allocated old growth for

another stand of high quality old growth; (5) completion of structure

protection measures; (6) implementation of bank and instream water

quality restoration practices in areas of known damage; and (7) re-

intoduction of fire in a portions of the project area to reduce fuel

loadings and enhance a ponderosa pine site.

The projects would be implemented from Fiscal Year 1998 into the

year 2000. The agency invites written comments and suggestions on the

scope of this project. In addition, the agency gives notice of this

analysis so that interested and affected people are aware of how they

may participate and contribute to the planning process and final

decision.

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

in writing by January 31, 1997.

ADDRESSES: Send written concerns and comments to Robert P. Rainville,

District Ranger, La Grande Ranger District, 3502 Highway 30, La Grande,

Oregon 97850.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions about the proposed action and EIS to Cindy Whitlock,

Project Coordinator, 3502 Highway 30, La Grande, Oregon 97850, phone

(541) 962-8501.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Forest Service proposal

is to maintain, protect and enhance water quality within the project

area through creation of a fuel reduction corridor network (18 miles of

fuel reduction corridors), reduction of fuel loadings through salvage

of the insect killed existing dead timber (5.0 million board feet

(MMBF) from 892 acres), proactive management of other high priority

stands to improve stand growth and vigor to meet long term desired

ecosystem and management goals (1.0 MMBF from 299 acres),

implementation of riparian restoration activities (5 miles of project

area streams), and improvement of the old growth network within the

area by replacing allocation of poor quality stands with ones of higher

quality. The proposed action will be consistent with the Forest Plan,

which provides goals, objectives, standards and guidelines of the

various activities and land allocations on the forest.

The Forest Plan allocates the project area into four management

areas (MAs): (MA1) Timber Production Emphasis, less than 1% (12 acres);

(MA3A) Wildlife/Timber, 86% (14,000 acres-Big game summer range); MA3)

wildlife/Timber, 2% (309 acres); (MA15) Old Growth Preservation, 9%

(1,400 acres). Private lands (320 acres) and also included within the

project area boundary (2% of the area). Although excluded from Forest

Service activities, project access and the condition of private lands

will be considered during alternative development and when analyzing

potential cumulative effects.

The Key issues identified to date include:

1. Wildlife Habitat--(short-term and long-term considerations, big

game and non-game habitat needs, road construction and densities, and

old growth effectiveness/availability).

2. Stand Health--(tree mortality, reduced tree stocking levels,

progression to the desired future condition)

3. Water Quality/Riparian Health, Fisheries--(water quality,

quantity, flow, temperature, and timing, and riparian vegetation

condition).

4. Economics

5. Roadless Area Character

A range of project alternatives will be considered, including a no-

action alternative. Based on the issues gathered through scoping, the

action alternatives will vary in (1) the amount and location of acres

considered for treatment, (2) the amount of road constructed for

access, (3) the silvicultural and post-harvest treatments prescribed,

(4) the number, type, and location of rehabilitation projects, and (5)

the amount of time needed to move the area toward its Desired Future

Condition.

Public participation will be especially important at several points

during the analysis, beginning with the scoping process (40 CFR

1501.7). The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and

assistance from Federal, State, local agencies, tribes and other

individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected by

the proposed project. This input will be used in preparation of the

draft EIS. Continued scoping and public participation efforts will be

used by the interdisciplinary team to identify new issues, determine

alternatives in response to the issues, and determine the level of

analysis needed to disclose potential biological, physical, economic,

and social impacts associated with this project. The scoping process

includes:

1. Identification of potential issues.

2. Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth.

3. Elimination of insignificant issues or those which have been

covered by a relevant previous environmental process.

[[Page 68705]]

4. Exploration of additional alternatives based on the issues

identified during the scoping process.

5. Identification of potential environmental effects of the

proposed action and alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative

effects and connected actions).

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review by

August,1997. The 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 notice appears in the Federal

Register. At that time, copies of the draft EIS will be distributed to

interested and affected agencies, organizations, and members of the

public for their review and comment. It is important that those

interested in the management of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest

participate at that time.

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

a draft EI must structure their participation in the environmental

review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts the 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 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 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 assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed actions, comments on the draft EIS should

be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to

specific pages or chapters of the draft EIS. Comments may also address

the adequacy of the draft EIS or 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.)

The final EIS is scheduled for completion by January, 1998. In the

final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to substantive

comments received during the comment period for the draft EIS. Robert

M. Richmond, Forest Supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest,

is the responsible official. He will decide which, if any, of the

proposed project alternatives will be implemented. His decision and

reason for the decisions will be documented in the Record of Decision.

That decision will be subject to Forest Service appeal regulations (36

CFR Part 217).

Dated: December 19, 1996.

R.M. Richmond,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 96-33192 Filed 12-27-96; 8:45 am]

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