Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Comprehensive Management Plan, Wallowa-Whitman, Nez Perce, and Payette National Forests, Baker and Wallowa Counties in Oregon and Nez Perce, Idaho, and Adams Counties in Idaho

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Comprehensive Management

Plan, Wallowa-Whitman, Nez Perce, and Payette National Forests, Baker

and Wallowa Counties in Oregon and Nez Perce, Idaho, and Adams Counties

in Idaho

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Revised Environmental Impact

Statement.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the USDA, Forest Service will

prepare a revised draft environmental impact statement for the Hells

Canyon National Recreation Area Comprehensive Management Plan. The

decision to revise the draft environmental impact statement is based on

two factors: (1) Over two years have passed since the release of the

draft environmental impact statement and new information has been

released from the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project

that may affect the project area, thus warranting a review. This new

information will be evaluated in the context of the affected

environment to determine if proposed management direction should be

modified; and (2) an additional alternative should be analyzed in

detail that was submitted by interest groups in 1995 and was never

fully analyzed in the February 1996 draft environmental impact

statement. This alternative proposes management direction to manage the

Hells Canyon National Recreation Area to thrive as a healthy native

ecosystem that is an integral component of a larger bioregion. The

proposed action is unchanged from that described in the November 16,

1994 issue of Federal Register (59 FR 59203).

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

in writing, no later than June 30, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Wallowa-Whitman National Forest,

P.O. Box 907, Baker City, Oregon 97814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions regarding this notice of intent and its modification

to Kurt Wiedenmann, Ecosystem Planning Staff Officer at 541-523-1296 or

e-mail at: kwiedenmann/[email protected].

[[Page 33319]]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest proposes

to amend the Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) to

modify management direction for the Hells Canyon National Recreation

Area (HCNRA) and affirm continuation of other existing management

direction. The planning process will be guided by the National

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with implementation scheduled for

January 2000.

This modified or affirmed direction will provide programmatic

management direction for the next 10 to 15 years. The changes will

reflect the intent of the HCNRA Act (Pub. L. 94-199), public and

private land use regulations (36 CFR Part 292), Forest Service

directives, changing social values, agency emphasis on ecosystem

sustainability, new information and research findings, and results from

the monitoring and evaluation process.

The proposed action would integrate management direction from the

HCNRA within the framework of Forest Plan decisions and would

establish: management goals; management objectives; standards and

guidelines; management area direction; and monitoring and evaluation.

Management goals, objectives, standards, and guidelines will be

developed for the following resource areas: recreation; access and

facilities; wild and scenic rivers; wilderness; heritage resources;

scientific; vegetation; biologically unique habitat; soil; air; fire;

fish habitat; wildlife habitat; heritage resources/pre-historic sites;

heritage resources/historic sites; minerals; landownership; and tribal

trust responsibilities.

The HCNRA consists of an estimated 652,488 acres. The HCNRA is

comprised of the following management areas: wilderness, wild and

scenic rivers, dispersed recreation/native vegetation, forage,

dispersed recreation/timber management, research natural areas, and

developed recreation and administrative facilities.

The analysis will consider a range of alternatives, including no-

action.

Public participation will be especially important at several points

during the analysis, beginning with the scoping process (40 CFR

1501.7). The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and

assistance from Federal, State, local agencies and other individuals,

organizations, or governments 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 includes:

1. Identifying potential issues.

2. Identifying major 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 of this project and

alternatives (i.e., direct, indirect, and cumulative effects and

connected actions).

6. Determining potential cooperating agencies and task assignments.

7. Notifying interested publics of opportunities to participate

through meetings, personal contacts, or written comment. Keeping the

public informed through the media and/or written material (i.e.,

newsletters, correspondence, etc.).

The draft EIS will be filed with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and is expected to be available for public review by

January 1999. 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 final EIS is expected to be available for public review

by June 1999.

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, 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 Corp.

v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that

could have been raised at the draft stage may be waived or dismissed by

the court if not raised until after completion of the final EIS. 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 the proposed action participate by the close of the 30-

day comment period so that substantive comments and objections are made

available to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully be

considered and responded to in the final EIS.

To be most helpful, comments on the draft EIS should be as specific

as possible and may address the adequacy of the statement or the merit

of the alternatives discussed. 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.

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 the

decision regarding the proposal. Karyn L. Wood, Forest Supervisor, is

the Responsible Official. As the Responsible Official, she will decide

whether to implement the proposal or a different alternative. The

Responsible Official will document the decision and reasons for the

decision in the Record of Decision. That decision will be subject to

Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR 217).

Dated: June 18, 1998.

William R. Gast, Jr.,

Deputy Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 98-16199 Filed 6-17-98; 8:45 am]

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