Wolfmann Projects, Willamette National Forest, Lane County, Oregon

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Wolfmann Projects, Willamette National Forest, Lane County,

Oregon

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) on a proposal to harvest trees, build roads, and

conduct prescribed burns within the Blue River drainage of the Blue

River Ranger District approximately 55 miles east of Springfield,

Oregon. Approximately 800 acres will be harvested and approximately 1

mile of road will be constructed. Prescribed fire will be used to treat

approximately 180 acres. The proposal results from an extensive

landscape design and watershed analysis conducted in the Blue River

watershed located entirely within the Central Cascades Adaptive

Management Area (AMA). The Blue River Landscape and Monitoring strategy

provides the framework for management of the area and is being

implemented through the Blue River Landscape Administrative Study. The

dominant theme of the study uses an interpreted range of ``natural''

variability of disturbance processes to guide landscape and watershed

objectives, designs, and prescriptions. The need for the proposed

action is to meet Willamette National Forest goals, objectives and

commitments outlined in the Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest

Plan). The proposed action includes testing an alternative approach to

achieve the Northwest Forest Plan objectives consistent with the AMA

emphasis; producing timber to support the local and national economy;

and using fire as a management tool to introduce mortality, reduce

fuels, and stimulate herb and shrub growth variability.

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

in writing on or before November 25, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments concerning this project to Lynn

Burditt, District Ranger, Blue River Ranger District, P.O. Box 199,

Blue River, Oregon 97413.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Please direct questions about the proposed action and environmental

impact statement to Karen Geary, Integrated Resources Assistant, phone

541-822-3317.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Blue River Landscape Management and

Monitoring strategy was developed as an alternative approach to

achieving the basic objectives underlying the Northwest Forest Plan.

The purpose of the strategy is to develop and test a landscape

management approach that approximates aspects of historical disturbance

regimes within the Blue River watershed which is approximately 57,000

acres. The primary goal is to sustain native habitat, species, and

ecological processes within historical ranges while providing a

sustained flow of wood fiber. The central concept of this project is

that we will be able to achieve these goals by approximating aspects of

historical disturbance regimes through forest management practices.

Timber harvest and prescribed fire will be planned to approximate

historical fires regimes to the degree feasible while still meeting the

underlying objectives of the Northwest Forest Plan. While this concept

is largely untested, various projects are exploring this approach in a

variety of settings across North America.

The Wolfmann Project is the second timber harvest proposal

resulting from the strategy. It is the first proposal to use prescribed

fire as a management tool in unharvested areas.

The strategy contains four major components:

1. Special area reserves allocated in the Willamette National

Forest Plan, as amended by the Northwest Forest Plan, were delineated.

The reserve boundaries and general management prescriptions described

in the Forest Plan were adopted for these areas.

2. Landscape areas--The remainder of the planning area was

subdivided into zones of similar ecological conditions and disturbance

regimes (landscape areas). Vegetation management prescriptions were

developed for each zone based on an interpreted range of historical

conditions. For each landscape area, timber harvest and fire

prescriptions were developed based upon the underlying fire regime, as

interpreted from tree ring records. Timber harvest frequency, and

rotation age (100-260 years) were based upon historical fire intensity,

and the spatial patterns of timber harvest were based upon the spatial

patterns of historical fires.

3. Aquatic reserves were then established to ensure that the full

range of objectives in the Northwest Forest Plan would be met.

Achievement of the Aquatic Conservation Strategy Objectives (ROD 1994)

was given particular attention. These reserves were based, in part, on

the type and intensity of upslope management in the local landscape

area, and were designed to reflect general patterns of disturbance

[[Page 55086]]

processes. These reserves generally take the form of entire small

subdrainages. They are strategically located to encompass areas of high

aquatic habitat diversity, source areas for organic and inorganic

material to streams, and to include habitat around the most productive

pairs of spotted owls. In addition, corridor reserves were established

on all fish-bearing streams. This network of reserves is considerably

different from the network provided on Matrix lands in the Northwest

Forest Plan.

4. Watershed restoration--this component of the project is intended

to reestablish a resilient, interconnected aquatic network that is able

to maintain aquatic habitats and processes with landscape disturbance

processes operating at historical frequencies and intensities.

The landscape management strategy was evaluated to ascertain

whether the approach would meet each of the nine Aquatic Conservation

Strategy Objectives in the Northwest Forest Plan. Results of the

evaluation concluded that these objectives would be met. In addition,

an evaluation of northern spotted owl habitat concluded that the owls

would find larger patches and less fragmented habitat under this

management strategy than would be found managing under the interim

guidelines for Matrix lands and Riparian Reserves in the Northwest

Forest Plan.

The Wolfmann Project includes regeneration harvest in five

``blocks'' for a total of approximately 200 acres. Regeneration harvest

means a new stand of trees will be started. The blocks are within

Landscape Area 3 and will have a prescription that results between 15%

and 50% of the canopy being retained following harvest. The blocks

selected for consideration were identified through a long term

scheduling exercise that identifies potential harvest for 200 years.

The project also includes commercial thinning harvest on approximately

600 acres in 21 blocks. The stands which will be thinned range in age

from 60 to 90 years old. Prescribed fire is proposed in three blocks

for a total of approximately 180 acres. The 29 blocks are located in T.

14 S., R. 5 E sections 25 through 36 and in T. 15 S., R. 5 E sections

1, 2, 4, 5, 11 smf 12. This area is approximately 15 to 20 miles north

of the town of Blue River, Oregon. The projects are located entirely

within the Blue River watershed. The regeneration harvest portion has

been called ``Mann Regen'' and the commercial thinning has been called

``Bear Thin'' in The Forest Focus (Willamette National Forest Schedule

of Proposed Actions (SOPA)).

Detailed ground review and alternative development will concentrate

on these 29 blocks. Decisions will include identification of the timing

and location of timber harvest and prescribed fire, silvicultural

prescriptions, levels of green and dead tree retention, and the spatial

patterns of retention trees. Actions connected to this proposal include

construction of roads, reconstruction of roads, construction of

landings for harvest units, prescribed burning to treat slash, tree

planting to reforest the site, and mitigation measures as deemed

necessary.

The analysis will consider a range of alternatives to the proposed

action, including a no-action alternative. The Forest Service is

seeking information and comments from Federal, State and local

agencies, as well as, other individuals or organizations who may be

interested in, or affected by, the proposed action. Information that

would be especially useful would be identification of issues,

exploration of additional alternatives based on the issues, and

identifying potential environmental effects of the proposed action and

alternatives to the proposal. Public involvement will include periodic

mailings to interested persons, as the project progresses; public

meetings will be held in Blue River, Oregon during October and November

1998. Information on time and locations will be announced at a later

date.

Preliminary scoping identified potential issues related to slope

stability, logging system economics, and spotted owl habitat.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review in

January 1999. EPA will publish a notice of availability of the draft

EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the draft EIS will

be 45 days from the date the EPA notice appears in the Federal

Register. Copies of the draft EIS will be distributed to interested and

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

their review and comment. It is very important that those interested in

the management of the Willamette National Forest participate at that

time.

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 of 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 in March 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 the decision

regarding this proposal. Lynn Burditt, Blue River District Ranger,

Willamette National Forest, is the responsible official. As the

responsible official she 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 Part 215.

Dated: October 6, 1998.

Lynn Burditt,

Blue River District Ranger, Willamette National Forest.

[FR Doc. 98-27486 Filed 10-13-98; 8:45 am]

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