Southwestern Region, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas and Oklahoma; Proposed Projects in the Agua/Caballos Analysis Area, Carson National Forest, Rio Arriba County, NM

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Southwestern Region, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas and

Oklahoma; Proposed Projects in the Agua/Caballos Analysis Area, Carson

National Forest, Rio Arriba County, NM

AGENCY: Forest Service.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a new draft environmental impact

statement.

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SUMMARY: The Carson National Forest, El Rito Ranger District will

prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to disclose the

environmental consequences of the Agua/Caballos Proposed Projects.

These projects include the allocation of old growth, harvesting of

trees for sawtimber and forest products, prescribed burning, thinning,

construction of new roads and closure of existing roads.

A Notice of Intent (NOI) was published for this project in December

1992, and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) was published

in April 1995. Since the DEIS was distributed to the public a Forest

Plan Amendment went into effect, which changed the standards and

guidelines of the Carson Forest Plan. This notice is to disclose the

Forest Service's intention to issue a new DEIS for Agua/Caballos by the

end of June 1997.

DATES: Comments in response to this NOI should be received by June 1,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Carson Forest Supervisor's Office,

112 Cruz Alta Road, Taos, NM 87571, Attn: Carson Core Team.

RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL: The Forest Supervisor, Carson National Forest,

will be the responsible official and will decide on what, where, how

and when projects will be implemented by the Forest Service in the

Agua/Caballos analysis area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Carson Core Team, Carson Forest Supervisor's Office (505) 758-6200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Proposed Action

The Forest Service is planning to manage the existing vegetation

through the allocation old growth, harvesting of trees for sawtimber

and forest products (e.g., fuelwood, vigas and latillas), prescribed

burning, and thinning of forested stands. The proposal also includes

the construction of new roads and the closure of existing roads.

Location

The Agua/Caballos analysis area is in Rio Arriba County in northern

New Mexico, northeast of the village of El Rito. It is 23,767 acres and

makes up one-third of the Vallecitos Federal Sustained Yield Unit

(VFSYU).

Purpose

The purpose of allocating old growth is to preserve large, old

vegetation structure for old growth dependent wildlife species. It is

also necessary to provide a regular, sustained flow of saw logs to the

Vallecitos sawmill and forest products, such as fuelwood, vigas and

latillas, to small, local operators to be consistent with the stated

purpose of the VFSYU and standards identified in the Carson Forest

Plan. Prescribed burning is needed to create openings and maintain

meadows as part of the natural variation and to support grasses and

forbs for wildlife. Burning is also needed to produce conditions

suitable for natural pine and aspen regeneration. In the pine/oak type,

prescribed fire is needed to stimulate the growth of oak and other

shrubs, which provide important habitat for turkey and browse for mule

deer. Prescribed fire is also needed to reduce unnatural fuel buildup

and decrease the possibility of a catastrophic fire in the analysis

area. The purpose of thinning dense, forested stands is to reduce tree

competition, therefore increasing the growth rate of trees left behind.

The construction of new roads will access stands to be harvested and

the closure of roads will move the analysis area to a desired density

of 1 mile per square mile (Carson Forest Plan).

Decisions

The decisions to be made are:

--Whether additional areas should be allocated to old growth. If so,

where and how much?

--Whether a timber sale(s) should be used to help achieve the desired

condition. If so, which stands in the Agua/Caballos analysis area

should be harvested and what vegetation conditions should be created in

the harvest areas?

--Whether forest products should be offered. If so, what type of

products (firewood, vigas, poles, etc.) and how much?

--Whether prescribed fire should be used. If so, where and how much

area should be burned?

--Whether areas should be thinned. If so, where?

--Whether new roads ought to be built. If so where and how much?

--Whether roads should be closed. If so, which ones and where should

the closures be?

Scoping

The Agua/Caballos project proposal has been through initial

analysis in a DEIS (4/96). Comments of the draft and its preferred

alternative (Alternative B) were received from the public and other

federal and state agencies. These comments will be used in the

development of new alternatives for a new draft document. Also, during

the period between the issuance of the first DEIS and the present, new

issues about the proposal have surfaced and will be incorporated into

the new DEIS. Issues include preserving old growth vegetation

structure, improving forest health through the cutting of trees and the

use of fire, providing sawtimber and forest products to sustain the

local economy, the use of prescribed burning close to communities, the

construction of more roads and the closure of existing roads.

Alternatives

Alternatives will include the no action alternative and Alternative

B from the first DEIS: Alternative B was the preferred alternative and

will be used to demonstrate how the analysis has changed since the

issuance of the first draft document. New alternatives will be

developed based on the issues that surfaced during the comment period

of the first DEIS and any new issues that have become apparent over the

past year. The new action alternatives will also comply with the

[[Page 19543]]

new Forest Plan Amendment (6/96) guidelines on managing habitat for the

Mexican spotted owl and northern goshawk.

Supplemental Information for Public Participation

There will be a 45 day comment period on the new draft

environmental impact statement beginning when the legal notice of

availability appears in The Taos News, the paper of record for the

Carson National Forest. Comments received in response to this NOI or

the DEIS, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be

considered part of the public record on this proposed action and will

be available for public inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will

be accepted and considered; however, those who submit anonymous

comments will not have standing to appeal the subsequent decision under

36 CFR Parts 215 or 217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any

person may request the agency to withhold a submission from the public

record by showing how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits

such confidentiality. Persons requesting such confidentiality should be

aware that, under the FOIA; confidentiality may be granted in only very

limited circumstances, such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest

Service will inform the requester of the agency's decision regarding

the request for confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the

agency will return the submission and notify the requester that the

comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within 10

days.

The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers

notice of several court rulings related to public participation in the

environmental review process. To be the most helpful, comments on the

DEIS should be as specific as possible and may address the adequacy of

the statement or the merits of the alternatives discussed (see Council

of Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the procedural

provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3).

In addition, Federal Court decisions have established that

reviewers of draft environmental impact statements 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. versus NRDC, 435 US

519, 533 (1978). Environmental objections that could have been raised

at the draft stage may be waived if not raised until after completion

of the final environmental impact statement. City of Angoon versus

Hodel (9th Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. versus Harris,

490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). The reason for this is to

ensure that substantive comments and objections are made available to

the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and

respond to them in the final environmental impact statement.

Dated: April 14, 1997.

Leonard L. Lucero,

Forest Supervisor, Carson National Forest.

[FR Doc. 97-10314 Filed 4-21-97; 8:45 am]

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