Southwestern Region, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas and Oklahoma; Proposed Projects in the Hopewell Analysis Area, Carson National Forest, Taos County, MN

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Southwestern Region, Arizona, New Mexico, West Texas and

Oklahoma; Proposed Projects in the Hopewell Analysis Area, Carson

National Forest, Taos County, MN

AGENCY: Forest Service.

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

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SUMMARY: The Carson National Forest, Tres Piedras Ranger District will

prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to disclose the

environmental consequences of the Hopewell Ridge proposed action. The

proposal includes the allocation of old growth, harvesting of trees for

sawtimber and forest products, prescribed burning, thinning, new road

construction, road reconstruction, closure of existing roads, and

designation of a cross-country ski trail.

An environmental assessment (EA) on the Hopewell Ridge proposed

projects and subsequent decision notice (DN) and finding of no

significant impact (FONSI) was completed and signed on December 20,

1996. The decision was appealed and later remanded back to me by the

Appeal Deciding Officer (3/97). I have decided to prepare an

environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Hopewell Ridge proposal and

incorporate additional information related to the proposed action and

alternatives to that action and their direct, indirect and cumulative

environmental effects. This notice is to disclose the Forest Service's

intention to issue a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for

Hopewell Ridge proposed projects by the end of May, 1997.

DATES: Comments in response to this NOI should be received by May 15,

1997.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Tres Piedras Ranger District, PO

38, Tres Piedras NM 87556, ATTN: Dan Rael, District Ranger.

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

Hopewell Ridge analysis area.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Rael (505) 758-8678.

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

reconstruction and closure of existing roads.

Location: The Hopewell Ridge analysis area (13,011 acres) is

located in Taos County in northern New Mexico, nine miles west of Tres

Piedras.

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 saw logs to local sawmills and forest

products, such as fuelwood, vigas and latillas, to small, local

operators from nearby communities. 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

and maintain watershed integrity. The regeneration of aspen will

restore and sustain an aesthetically pleasing landscape. 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. 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 one mile per square mile (Carson Forest Plan).

Decisions: The decisions to be made are:

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--Whether or not to allocate 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 Hopewell Ridge 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 reconstructed. If so where and to what

extent?

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

the closures be?

Scoping: The Hopewell Ridge project proposal has been through

initial analysis through an environmental assessment and decision (12/

96). Comments on the EA and its preferred alternative (Alternative F)

were received from the public and other federal and state agencies.

These comments will be used and tracked through the EIS process. Issues

include the effects of allocating old growth, the effects of roads on

wildlife, water quality and access into the National Forest, the

effects of providing saw logs and forest products on the local

community's stability and economy, and the effects of harvesting,

burning and road building on wildlife and vegetation diversity.

Alternatives: Alternatives in the DEIS will be the same as those

developed for the environmental assessment.

Supplemental Information for Public Participation: There will be a

45-day comment period on the 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. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 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 v. Hodel (9th

Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. 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. 97-10315 Filed 4-21-97; 8:45 am]

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