North Fork St. Joe River Project; Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Shoshone County, Idaho

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

North Fork St. Joe River Project; Idaho Panhandle National

Forests, Shoshone County, Idaho

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National

Forest, USDA Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of vegetation,

road and trail, and watershed restoration activities on National Forest

lands within the North Fork St. Joe River drainage. The project area is

located immediately north of the town of Avery, Idaho. Based on an

inter-disciplinary assessment of resource conditions within the area,

the purpose and need for this proposal is summarized as:

1. Maintain or improve long term water quality within the project

area. Where water quality is currently limited, work towards restoring

properly functioning hydrologic condition. 2. Maintain or improve

habitat for native fish. 3. Maintain or develop habitat conditions

(including forest structure, habitat connectivity, security habitat and

limited road densities) to contribute to the conservation of forest

dwelling species. 4. Forest structure: Where conditions permit,

maintain or begin restoration of large diameter trees and forest

structures once more common within the North Fork St. Joe area. 5.

Forest composition: Where conditions permit, maintain or begin

restoration of large, potentially long lived seral species (western

white pine, western larch, ponderosa pine, white bark pine) which once

dominated the forested landscape of the St. Joe River basin. 6. Promote

fire use and control strategies for safety and efficiency of

suppression and protection and maintenance of resource values. Trend

toward allowing fire to play its natural role as a forest disturbance

mechanism. Reduce the risk of very large stand replacing fires through

vegetation management and restore beneficial fire effects. 7. Maintain

or improve the unique and diverse recreational opportunities available

within the area. Provide dispersed and developed campsites for the

increasing recreational use. Mitigate, where feasible and necessary,

effects of the increasing recreational use and supporting

infrastructure (trails, campsites, access routes) on other resource

values. 8. Reduce the risk of blending genetic material from the poorly

adapted, non-local ponderosa pine trees planted earlier this century

with that of the native ponderosa pine. Replace the poorly adapted

trees with more sustainable native species. 9. Timber harvest, when

feasible and cost effective, will be used when it can help achieve the

other landscape objectives so as to also contribute wood to the local

timber supply. In as much as it is compatible with other objectives,

harvest activities will maintain or improve the long term growth and

production of commercially valuable wood products from the sites.

DATES: Comments should be postmarked on or before January 21, 1998.

Please include your name and address and the name of the project you

are commenting on.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed

management activities or requests to be placed on project mailing list

to Brad Gilbert, District Ranger, St. Joe Ranger District, P.O. Box

407, St. Maries, ID 83861. Brad Gilbert is the Responsible Official.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pete Zimmerman, Project Team Leader,

St. Joe Ranger District, (208) 245-2531.

Comments received in response to this solicitation, 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 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.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The decision area contains approximately

75,000 acres within the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in Shoshone

County, Idaho. All the proposed projects would occur on National Forest

lands in the N. Fork St. Joe River drainage immediately north of Avery,

Idaho. The legal location of the decision area is as follows: all or

portions of

Township 45 North, Range 5 East; Township 45 North, Range 6 East;

Township 46 North, Range 5 East; Township 46 North, Range 6 East;

Township 46 North, Range 7 East; Township 47 North, Range 5 East;

Township 47 North, Range 6 East; Township 47 North, Range 7 East;

The proposed action is designed to achieve the purpose and need for

action as described above. The proposed activities would be initiated

over the next ten years. While many of the proposed management

activities may work towards achieving more than one of the project

objectives, they have been grouped here into four basic categories to

simplify the description.

Vegetation

The St. Joe District proposes to use prescribed fire, timber

harvest, planting, and other methods to achieve the desired vegetation

conditions described above in the purpose and need. Proposed individual

treatments by method are as follows (please note that acreage values

are gross and would generally include 10 to 25 percent untreated area

within the gross area).

Prescribed burning would be the primary treatment on approximately

3,420 acres. (1) Approximately 310 acres of decadent shrubfields within

primary big game winter range would be burned to stimulate fresh browse

production.

[[Page 66847]]

(2) Approximately 2720 acres would be burned to reintroduce the

beneficial effects of fire into this ecosystem, reduce fuel loads, and

create fuel breaks to reduce the risk of larger, more destructive

conflagrations within the landscape. About 1,140 of these acres consist

of decadent shrubfields outside of primary big game winter range.

Another 740 acres consist of subalpine balds along the northern divide

where conifers have begun encroaching after seventy plus years of

successful fire suppression. The remaining 840 acres consist of lodge-

pole pine stands within the unroaded portions of the North Fork St. Joe

River landscape. (3) Approximately 270 acres of poorly adapted

ponderosa pine planted early in this century would be burned to kill

these ``off-site'' trees. The purpose is to prevent these trees from

cross pollinating with the native ponderosa pine (genetic

contamination). These acres would be replanted with better adapted

local stock of ponderosa pine, western white pine, and/or western

larch. An additional 970 acres of similar non-local ponderosa pine

would be treated in this manner if the trees prove uneconomical to

harvest prior to burning (see harvest of non-local ponderosa pine

below). (4) Approximately 34 acres in and around white bark pine stands

would be burned and/or treated mechanically to limit encroachment by

other tree species and facilitate natural and planted regeneration.

Timber harvest, in combination with prescribed fire and tree

planting, would be the primary treatment on approximately 2,580 acres.

(1) Regeneration harvest treatments (harvest methods designed to

establish a new stand of more desirable tree species) would occur on

approximately 2,030 acres. Prescribed fire would be used to reduce

fuels and prepare the sites for planting. About 1,060 of these acres

consist primarily of lodgepole pine, a short lived seral tree specie.

The remaining 970 acres consist of poorly adapted ponderosa pine

planted early in this century. The purpose of removing these ponderosa

pine is to prevent these trees from cross pollinating with the better

adapted native ponderosa pine (genetic contamination). As noted above,

if any or all of these ``off-site'' ponderosa pine stands prove

uneconomical to harvest (they occur primarily in unroaded areas and

would require the more expensive helicopter logging) they would still

be burned to kill the trees prior to planting to better adapted

species.

(2) Commercial thinning (harvesting excess and less desirable trees

from a stand to provide more growing room for the remaining trees)

would occur on approximately 550 acres.

Access

The St. Joe District proposes to manage the transportation network

(roads and trails) in the following ways: (1) Maintain existing access

(motorized and non-motorized) on approximately 145 miles of road and 72

miles of trail within the area. (2) Approximately 5.7 miles of new road

would be constructed to provide access for timber harvest activities

noted above. All but 0.3 miles of these new roads would be either

obliterated or stabilized for long term storage following use. The 0.3

miles that would be kept drivable would provide new access for an

existing mining claim, thereby allowing obliteration of an additional

mile of existing road currently accessing the claim. (3) Approximately

36 miles of existing road would be either obliterated or stabilized for

long term storage. (4) Approximately 1 mile of new trail would be

constructed to replace trail access currently served by one of these

roads which are proposed to be obliterated.

Recreation

The St. Joe District proposes to make improvements to several

campsites as follows: (1) Additional campsites and facilities would be

constructed at the Squaw Creek Campground. (2) Several dispersed camp

sites would be hardened within the Loop Creek meadows and toilet

facilities added to protect adjacent resources.

Aquatic Restoration

The St. Joe District proposes the following aquatic restoration

activities in addition to those identified above (e.g. road

stabilization, etc.). (1) Complete exploratory core drilling on three

old railroad grade through-fills to determine and evaluate their

condition and structural integrity. Based on the results, develop an

action plan to mitigate potential risks. (2) Plant trees within 140

acres of riparian areas adjacent to the North Fork St. Joe River and

Clear Creek. (3) Develop and implement a stream restoration plan for

Loop Creek downstream from the mouth of Moss Creek. (4) Construct

baffles to facilitate fish passage through the Loop Creek water bypass

tunnel.

Preliminary Issues

We expect issues and concerns with this project to include the

effects on wildlife, fish, water quality, roadless, visual quality/

aesthetics and recreation as well as the effects of road construction,

clearcutting, size of openings, and economic feasibility. Final issues

will be developed and analyzed based on your comments and the

interdisciplinary team's analysis of potential effects of the proposed

action on the various resource values. These issues will be used to

develop alternatives to the proposed action and guide the type and

detail of analysis conducted.

Additionally, some of the vegetation treatment may result in

openings of over 60 acres. While we would like comments that would

affect alternatives early, comments on the size of openings and their

effects will be accepted for 60 days after publication of this notice.

This 60 day public review period and approval of the Regional Forester

for exceeding the 40 acre limitation for regeneration harvest would be

required prior to the signing of the Record of Decision.

The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives to this

proposed action. One of these will be the ``No Action'' alternative.

Additional alternatives will examine varying levels and locations for

the proposed activities to achieve the proposal's purpose, as well as

to respond to the issues and other resource values.

Public participation is an important part of the analysis and will

play an important role in developing the alternatives. The mailing list

for public scoping will be developed from responses to this NOI and

responses to the Forest's ``Quarterly Schedule of Proposed Actions.''

In addition, the public is encouraged to visit with Forest Service

officials during the analysis and prior to the decision. The Forest

Service will also 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. Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in

preparation of the Draft EIS.

The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed

with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public

review in March 1998. The final environmental impact statement is

expected to be completed in May 1998.

The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will

be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes

the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important

to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public

participation in the environmental review process. First,

[[Page 66848]]

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). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the

draft environmental statement stage but that are not raised until after

completion of the final environmental statement 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 them and respond to them in the final

environmental impact statement.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concern on the proposed action, comments on the draft environmental

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

if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the draft statement.

Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft environmental

impact statement or the merits of the alternatives formulated and

discussed in the statement. Reviews 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 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits

discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national

origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital

or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)

Persons with disabilities who require alternatives means of

communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape,

etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center ad (202) 720-2600 (voice and

TDD).

To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or call 1-800-245-6340

(voice) or 202-720-1127 (TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity

employer.

Dated: December 11, 1997.

Bradley Burmark,

Deputy District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 97-33346 Filed 12-19-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M