Salmon River Canyon Project; Nez Perce National Forest, Payette National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, Salmon/Challis National Forest, Idaho County, ID

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Salmon River Canyon Project; Nez Perce National Forest, Payette

National Forest, Bitterroot National Forest, Salmon/Challis National

Forest, Idaho County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the environmental effects of

fuels reduction within the Salmon River Canyon. The area is located

between Cottonwood, ID and North Fork, ID. Some activities are proposed

within the Gospel Hump and Frank Church--River of No Return

Wildernesses. This EIS will tier to the Nez Perce National Forest Land

and Resource Management Plan, the Bitterroot National Forest Forest

Plan, the Land and Resource Management Plan for the Salmon National

Forest, and the Payette National Forest Land and Resource Management

Plan which provide overall guidance for achieving the desired forest

condition of the area. The purpose of the proposed action is to reduce

fuels that have accumulated as a result of fire suppression in areas of

historic high frequency, low intensity fires.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received by August

24, 1998 to receive timely consideration in the preparation of the

Draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions on the proposed action

or requests for a map of the proposed action or to be placed on the

project mailing list to Coy Jemmett, Forest Supervisor, Nez Perce

National Forest, Route 2 Box 475, Grangeville, ID 83530.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Bill Shields, Planner, Nez Perce National Forest, Route 2 Box 475,

Grangeville, ID, 83530, Phone (208) 983-1950.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Activities are proposed on the following

Ranger Districts: Salmon River and Red River Districts, Nez Perce NF;

New Meadows, McCall, and Krassell, Payette NF; West Fork, Bitterroot

NF; and North Fork, Salmon NF. Activities are also proposed on the

Cottonwood Resource Area of the Bureau of Land Management. The proposed

activity is ignition of approximately 210,000 acres through the use of

helicopter and hand ignition over a ten-year period. This treatment is

expected to reduce fuels in the Salmon River Canyon area. The following

goals will be achieved:

1. Reintroduce fire as a primary ecological disturbance process in

ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir types, to initiate the restoration of

vegetation densities toward historic levels.

2. Increase the opportunities to allow lightning fires to play, as

nearly as possible, their natural ecological role within wilderness in

accordance with Wilderness Fire Management Plans.

3. Reduce the risk from wildland fire to private land and

structures within and adjacent to the Salmon River Canyon .

The Forest Service will consider a range of alternatives to the

proposed action. One of these will be the ``no action'' alternative, in

which none of the proposed actions will be implemented. Additional

alternatives will examine varying levels and locations for the proposed

activities, including entry into wilderness areas, to achieve the

proposal's purposes, as well as to respond to the issues and other

resource values.

Public participation is an important part of the project,

commencing with the initial scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7), which

starts with publication of this notice and continues for the next 30

days. In addition, the public is encouraged to visit with Forest

Service officials at any time during the analysis and prior to the

decision. The Forest Service will be seeking information, comments, and

assistance from Federal, State, and local agencies, the Nez Perce

Tribe, and other individuals or organizations who may be interested in

or affected by the proposed action.

Comments from the public and other agencies will be used in

preparation of the Draft EIS. The scoping process will be used to:

1. Identify potential issues.

2. Identify major issues to be analyzed in depth.

3. Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by a

relevant previous environmental analysis, such as the Nez Perce

National Forest Plan EIS.

4. Identify alternatives to the proposed action.

5. Identify potential environmental effects of the proposed action

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

While public participation in this analysis is welcome at any time,

comments received within 30 days of the publication of this notice will

be especially useful in the preparation of the draft EIS, which is

expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency and

available for public review

[[Page 39811]]

in January 1999. A 45-day comment period will follow publication of a

Notice of Availability of the draft EIS in the Federal Register. The

comments received will be analyzed and considered in preparation of a

final EIS, which is expected to be filed in June 1999. A Record of

Decision will be issued not less than 30 days after publication of a

Notice of Availability of the final EIS in the Federal Register.

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

give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public

participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of

draft EISs 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, 513 (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 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 should be as specific as

possible. 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.

Coy Jemmett is the responsible official for this environmental

impact statement.

Dated: July 17, 1998.

Philip N. Jahn,

Acting Forest Supervisor, Nez Perce National Forest.

[FR Doc. 98-19725 Filed 7-23-98; 8:45 am]

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