Fatty-Piper Access Requests Project, Flathead National Forest, Swan Lake Ranger District, Lake County, Montana

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Fatty-Piper Access Requests Project, Flathead National Forest,

Swan Lake Ranger District, Lake County, Montana

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Flathead National Forest, Swan Lake Ranger District, will

prepare an environmental impact statement on a proposal to grant

easements and authorize construction of roads across National Forest

System lands in the Cedar Creek, Fatty Creek, and Piper Creek

watersheds. The action is proposed in response to an applicant seeking

permanent, roaded access to approximately 1,760 acres of non-federal

land located within the Flathead National Forest boundary. The

requested easements are located roughly 20 miles south of Swan Lake,

Montana. The non-federal land to be accessed is located in sections 9,

15, and 23, Township 22 North, Range 18 West and section 35, Township

23 North, Range 18 West, Lake County, Montana. The easements are

requested on National Forest System lands in sections 4, 10, and 14,

Township 22 North, Range 18 West and section 34, Township 23 North,

Range 18 West. The proposed project will be in compliance with the

direction in the Flathead National Forest Land and Resource Management

Plan (December, 1985), which provides the overall guidance for

management of the area. The agency gives written notice of this

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

may participate and contribute to the final decision.

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

in writing at the address shown below by January 23, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to Charles E. Harris, District

Ranger, Swan Lake Ranger District, 200 Ranger Station Road, Bigfork,

Montana 59911.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Questions about this environmental impact statement should be directed

to Dennis McCarthy, Planning Team Leader, Swan Lake Ranger District,

200 Ranger Station Road, Bigfork, Montana 59911; phone (406) 837-7500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Swan Lake Ranger District is initiating

this action in response to four applications filed by Plum Creek Timber

Company, L.P. (Plum Creek). Plum Creek requested rights-of-way across

Forest Service lands for the purpose of establishing permanent, roaded

access to approximately 1,760 acres in four sections of Plum Creek

land. The applications involve requests for five segments of road

totaling approximately three miles across Forest Service land. Plum

Creek has stated that it intends to manage these sections of land for

long-term timber production using conventional ground-based logging

systems and build roads on the permitted rights-of-way, sufficient to

support timber production.

Plum Creek has no roaded access to two of the sections of land,

which are surrounded by National Forest System lands. Plum Creek has

limited access to the other two sections and has requested additional

roaded access to them. Plum Creek seeks permanent, roaded access

pursuant to federal regulations at 36 CFR part 251 (subpart D--Access

to Non-Federal Lands), 36 CFR part 212 (Ingress and Egress) and the

Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and its

implementing regulations.

Swan Lake Ranger District personnel invited comments on the

environmental analysis for this project in September, 1996, by sending

a scoping notice to people on the District's mailing list.

Subsequently, District personnel determined that they should prepare an

environmental impact statement. The comments received in response to

the September, 1996 scoping will be taken into consideration along with

comments received on the draft environmental impact statement. Some of

the issues identified include impacts to: Water quality; soils and

slope stability; air quality; proximity to the Mission Mountains

Wilderness; threatened, endangered, and sensitive animal, plant, and

fish species and habitat (i.e., grizzly bear, bull trout, water

howellia); old-growth forests; roadless area; and recreational

experiences.

Swan Lake Ranger District personnel will be seeking information,

comments, and assistance from Federal, State, and local agencies and

other individuals or organizations who may be interested in or affected

by the proposed actions. The scoping period for the draft environmental

impact statement will extend to January 23, 1998. This information will

be used in preparation of the draft environmental impact statement.

The draft environmental impact statement will be filed with the

Environmental Protection Agency and will be made available for public

review in February, 1998. At that time, copies of the draft

environmental impact statement will be distributed to interested and

affected agencies, organizations, and members of the public for their

review and comment. The Environmental Protection Agency will publish a

notice of availability of the draft environmental impact statement in

the Federal Register. The comment period will be no less than 45 days

from the date that appears in the Federal Register.

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

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 Corporation v. NRDC, 435 U.S.

519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at

the draft environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised

until after completion of the final environmental impact statement may

be waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d

1016, 1022 (8th Circuit, 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris,

490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wisconsin, 1980). Because of these court

rulings, it is very important that those interested in this proposed

action participate by the close of the comment period so 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.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the environmental

impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is also helpful

if comments refer to specific pages of chapters of the draft

environmental impact statement or the 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.

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The final environmental impact statement is scheduled to be

completed by May, 1998. In the final environmental impact statement,

the Swan Lake Ranger District is required to respond to comments and

responses received during the comment period that pertain to the

environmental consequences discussed in the draft environmental impact

statement and applicable laws, regulations and policies considered in

making the decision regarding this proposal. Charles E. Harris,

District Ranger, Swan Lake Ranger District, is the responsible official

and his decision and reasons for this decision will be documented in

the Record of Decision. The decision will be subject to Forest Service

appeal regulations (36 CFR 215).

Dated: December 8, 1997.

Charles E. Harris,

District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 97-33062 Filed 12-18-97; 8:45 am]

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