Sawtooth Ridge Trail and Improvement Project, Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forest, Okanogan County, WA

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Sawtooth Ridge Trail and Improvement Project, Okanogan and

Wenatchee National Forest, Okanogan County, WA

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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

statement (EIS) for the Sawtooth Ridge Trail and Improvement Project.

The proposed action is to develop new trails, improve existing trails,

and improve campgrounds and other areas to provide a diverse network of

trails for motorized and non-motorized trail use and protect resources

in the Sawtooth non-wilderness backcountry

The EIS will develop and evaluate a range of alternatives for

providing motorized and non-motorized trails and access within the

analysis area. The alternatives will include the no-action alternative,

involving no change in current management, and no construction of new

trails or improvement of existing trails, and additional alternatives

in response to issues identified during the scoping process.

To date, a number of issues have been identified. The major issues

focus on the following: on congestion at Horsehead Pass from Eagle Lake

to Boiling Lake; conflicts between specific user groups; intrusion of

recreationists into remote wildlife habitat within the late

successional reserve (LSR); damage to riparian areas, stream banks, wet

meadows, and other sensitive areas; lack of links between trailheads

for motorcycles; and lack of trailhead and campground facilities to

meet user needs.

This EIS will be consistent with and tier to the Okanogan and

Wenatchee National Forest Land and Resource Management Plans (Forest

Plan) and the Record of Decision for Amendments to Forest Service and

Bureau of Land Management Planning Documents Within the Range of the

Northern Spotted Owl (Northwest Forest Plan).

The agency invites written comments on 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 decision making process.

DATE: Comment concerning this proposal must be received by January 30,

1998.

ADDRESS: Submit written comments and suggestions to Margi Gromek,

Writer/Editor, Chelan Ranger District, 428 West Woodin Avenue, Chelan,

Washington 98816.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions concerning proposed action and environmental analysis

to Jim Archambeault, Project Coordinator, Methow Valley Ranger

District, P.O. Box 188, Twisp, Washington 98856, phone 509-997-9738, or

Margi Gromek, Writer/Editor, Chelan Ranger District, 428 West Woodin

Avenue, Chelan, Washington 98816, phone 509-682-2576.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this project is to provide

trails and facilities for diverse motorized and non-motorized use in a

mostly sub-alpine, semi-primitive recreation setting in the 77,000 acre

Sawtooth non-wilderness backcountry. The need for the project is shown

by: increasing use by all user groups in the area; conflicts between

motorized and non-motorized users; commitments made in the Forest Plan

to provide motorized, sub-alpine, semi-primitive recreation in the

area; and concerns about soil and aquatic resources, particularly in

LSRs and riparian areas.

The proposed action includes the following activities:

--Reduce congestion on Horsehead Pass from Eagle Lake to Boiling Lake

by widening the trail and/or constructing turnouts.

--Construct a non-motorized user trail from the end of the Summer

Blossom trail to the Lake Chelan-Sawtooth Widerness boundary near

Boiling Lake.

--Construct a motorized trail crossing Sawtooth Ridge near Bryan Butte

from Foggy Dew drainage to the Summer Blossom/South Navarra area.

--Provide legal access from Crater Creek and Foggy Dew trailhead to

Foggy Dew Campground and from Safety Harbor to South Navarre trailhead

on or adjacent to existing Forest Service roads.

--Improve Crater Creek trailhead and Foggy Dew Trailhead and campground

to meet the needs of trail users, including adding group sites and

possible closure on some sites not meeting the Northwest Forest Plan's

aquatic conservation strategy.

--Restrict travel to designated trails to protect interior and remote

habitats in LSRs, and Safety Harbor and Falls Creek areas; and

--Re-route trails, use educational signs and/or close trails in

riparian areas and around lakes.

This EIS will be consistent with and tier to the amended Forest

Plans which provide forest-wide and management area specific standards

and guidelines and desired future conditions for the various lands on

the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests.

The Okanogan Forest Plan primarily allocates the analysis area to

Management Area 4M, which emphasizes year round semiprimitive motorized

recreation opportunities in a generally unroaded setting. The remaining

part of the project area on the Okanogan National Forest side is

allocated to Management Area 5, which provides recreation and scenic

viewing opportunities in a roaded natural setting; Management Area 25,

which emphasizes intensive timber and range management; Management Area

14, which emphasizes wildlife habitat diversity, including deer winter

range, while producing merchantable wood fiber; Management Area 26

which emphasizes deer winter range; and Management Area 26 which

emphasize deer winter range; and Management Area 17, which emphasizes

developed recreation opportunities in a roaded, extensively modified

setting.

The Wenatchee Forest Plan allocates its portions of the analysis

area to RM-1, ST-2, Re-2a, and GF:

--RM-1 emphasizes intensive range management;

--ST-2 provides for near natural appearing foreground and middle ground

along scenic travel corridors;

[[Page 67617]]

--RE-2a emphasizes dispersed, unroaded recreation in a semi-primitive

setting having existing or potential trails for motorbikes, hikers and

horseback riders;

--GF emphasizes long-term growth and production of commercially

valuable wood products at a high level of investment in silvicultural

practices.

The Northwest Forest Plan primarily allocates the area to late

successional reserve, which is managed to protect and enhance

conditions of late-successional and old-growth forest ecosystems. Other

lands in the project area are allocated to matrix and administratively

withdrawn in the Northwest Forest Plan. Matrix is designed to provide

connectivity between the LSRs, and habitat for species needing both

late successions and younger forests. Administratively withdrawn areas

are areas identified in the current Forest Plans where management

emphasis precludes scheduled timber harvest. All allocations in the

Northwest Forest Plan are overlayed with Riparian Reserve direction

designed to maintain and restore riparian structures and functions,

benefit riparian dependent and other species, enhance habitat

conservation for species dependent on transition zones between upland

and riparian areas, improve travel and dispersal corridors for many

terrestrial animals and plants, and provide for greater watershed

connectivity.

Most of the lands affected lie within the Sawtooth Roadless Area,

inventoried in Appendix C of the Okanogan Land and Resource Management

Plan, final EIS.

The analysis will develop a range of alternatives to address the

significant issues, from the no-action alternative which would not

construct or improve any facilities and would not change current

management of the trail network, to alternatives that address the

significant issues to varying degrees.

Public participation will be especially important at several points

during the analysis. The Forest Service is seeking information,

comments and assistance from Federal, State, Indian Tribes, local

agencies, 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. The scoping process began in April, 1996,

and resulted in significant issues being raised that could relate to

significant impacts to the environment. The scoping process includes:

1. Identifying potential issues;

2. Identifying significant issues to be analyzed in depth;

3. Identifying issues which have been covered by a relevant

previous environmental analysis;

4. Exploring additional alternatives based on themes which will be

derived from issues recognized during scoping activities;

5. Identifying potential environmental effects (i.e., direct,

indirect and cumulative effects, and connected actions);

6. Determining potential cooperating agencies and task assignments;

7. Notifying interested members of the public of opportunities to

participate in the process. Public involvement includes keeping the

public informed through the media and/or written material.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency 9EPA) and to be available for public review by July,

1998. Your comments and suggestions are encouraged and should be in

writing. The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the

date the EPA publishes the notice of availability 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

a draft EIS 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

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 them and respond to them in the final EIS.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, 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 statement. Comments may also

address the adequacy of the draft EIS 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.)

The final EIS is scheduled to be completed by January, 1999. In the

final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to comments and

responses received during the comment period that pertain to the

environmental consequences discussed in the draft EIS and applicable

laws, regulations, and policies considered in making a decision

regarding the proposal. Sam Gehr, Forest Supervisor for the Okanogan

National Forest, and Sonny O'Neal, Forest Supervisor for the Wenatchee

National Forest are the responsible officials. The responsible

officials will document the decision and rationale for the Sawtooth

Ridge Trail and Improvement Project decision in the Record of Decision,

which will be subject to Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR Part

215).

Dated: December 16, 1997.

Allen N. Garr,

Acting Forest Supervisor, Okanogan National Forest.

Dated: December 18, 1997.

Paul Hart,

Acting Forest Supervisor, Wenatchee National Forest.

[FR Doc. 97-33664 Filed 12-24-97; 8:45 am]

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