Young'n Timber Sales, Willamette National Forest, Lane County, OR

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Young'n Timber Sales, Willamette National Forest, Lane County, OR

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 Proposed Action to harvest and regenerate timber,

and thin young stands created by past regeneration harvest. This EIS

was triggered during an environmental analysis (EA) which discovered a

potential for significant impacts as defined under NEPA 1508.27. The

proposed action also calls for the construction, reconstruction,

decommissioning of roads, restoration of degraded stream channels,

improvement of big game forage, and other habitat restoration projects

within the Middle Fork drainage of the Willamette River watershed. The

planning area is bisected by the Middle Fork of the Willamette River.

The west side of the planning area is bounded by Forest Road 5850,

Forest Road 2125 forms the south boundary, and Snow Creek forms the

north boundary. On the east side of the planning area, Warner Mountain,

Logger Butte, and Joe's Prairie border the east and north side of the

planning area, and the Young's Rock Trail borders the southern end of

the planning area. The area is approximately 57 air miles southeast of

the City of Eugene and 12 air miles south of the City of Oakridge. The

Forest Service proposal will be in compliance with the 1990 Willamette

National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan as amended by the

1994 Northwest Forest Plan, which provides the overall guidance for

management of this area. These proposals are tentatively planned for

implementation in fiscal years 1999-2001.

The Willamette National Forest invites written comments and

suggestions on the scope of the analysis in addition to those comments

already received as a result of local public participation activities.

The agency will also give notice of the full environmental analysis and

decision-making process so that interested and affected people are made

aware as to how they may participate and contribute to the final

decision.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope and implementation of the analysis

should be received in writing by March 1, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning the

management of this area to Rick Scott, District Ranger, Rigdon Ranger

District, Willamette National Forest, P.O. Box 1410, Oakridge, Oregon

97463.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Direct questions about the proposed action and the scope of analysis to

Kristie Miller, Planning Resource Management Assistant or John Agar,

Project Coordinator, Rigdon Ranger District, phone 541-782-2283.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Young'n Planning area is entirely within

the Middle Fork of the Willamette River watershed. A Watershed Analysis

was completed for the Middle Fork of the Willamette River in August,

1995, titled; the Middle Fork Willamette River Downstream Tributaries

Watershed Analysis Report.

The purpose of this project is to harvest timber in a manner that

implements the Forest Plan management objectives and Watershed Analysis

recommendations.

The proposal includes harvesting timber in four to five separate

timber sales, over the next three years. Up to four sales would involve

regeneration harvest and one sale would involve commercial thinning.

Both thinning and regeneration harvest timber sale proposals would

involve road construction, reconstruction, and decommissioning. This

analysis will evaluate a range of alternatives addressing the Forest

Service proposals to harvest approximately 20.5 million board feet;

approximately 1.1 million board feet would be generated from thinning

some 218 acres of young managed stands created by past clearcut

harvest, and approximately 19.4 million board feet would be generated

by regeneration harvest on approximately 580 acres. All the above

proposed harvest would require a total of 2.7 miles of temporary road

construction and 40 miles of road reconstruction.

[[Page 6150]]

The Young'n planning area comprises about 38,000 acres; of this

total, 4,122 (11%) acres are private land. Of the 33,878 acres of

Forest Service land, about 15,313 acres (45%) have been previously

harvested and regenerated. Of the remaining acres, approximately 1,850

(5.4%) acres is in a mature stand condition, ranging in ages from 70 to

170 years, and 16,700 acres is in an old-growth stand condition, stand

ages exceeding 200 years. The planning area contains about 1,536 acres

(4%) of non-forested vegetation types and rock outcrops. Management

areas that provide for programmed timber harvest are Scenic (11a, 11c,

11d) and General Forest (14a). Other land allocations in this planning

area are Late-Successional Reserves (16A, 16B), Riparian Reserves

(15A), Wild and Scenic River Corridor, and the Moon Point Special

Interest Area (5A).

The project area does not include any inventoried roadless area.

Preliminary issues identified in this analysis are potential

impacts to habitat of plant and animal communities, landscape

connectivity and wildlife dispersal corridors, watershed restoration

opportunities, cumulative watershed effects, scenic quality along the

Middle Fork of the Willamette River, forest growth and yield, and

economics.

Scoping was initiated again in April of 1996. Alternatives were

developed and preliminary analysis was completed during the summer and

fall of 1997. The developed alternatives consisted of: (A) optimization

of growth and yield while meeting Forest Plan Standard and Guidelines

Thresholds, (B) conservation of habitat while exceeding current Forest

Plan Standard and Guidelines (C) blend alternative; optimization of

growth and yield and conserve the most functional habitats while

meeting Forest Plan Standard and Guidelines (D) No Action. Alternative

A would treat 902 acres and generate 24.5 MMBF of timber volume,

Alternative B would treat 709 acres and generate 18.1 MMBF of timber

volume, Alternative C would treat 790 acres and generate 20.5 MMBF of

timber volume, and Alternative D No Action would defer harvest in this

planning area. All action alternatives were developed to avoid forest

fragmentation and system road construction. Results of the above

actions, documented in an environmental analysis, indicated a potential

for significant effects to the human environment, hence the need for

documentation with an Environmental Impact Statement.

The Forest Service will be seeking additional information, comments

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

individuals or organizations who may be interested or affected by the

proposed project. Additional input will be used to help verify the

existing analysis and determine if additional issues and alternatives

should be developed. This input will be used in preparation of the

draft EIS.

The scoping process will include the following:

Identification of potential issues;

Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth;

Elimination of insignificant issues or those which have

been covered by a relevant previous environmental process;

Exploration of additional alternatives based on the issues

identified during the scoping process; and

Identification of potential environmental effects of the

proposed action and alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect, and cumulative

effects and connected actions).

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review by March,

1998. The comment period on the draft EIS will be for a 45 day period,

following 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, a reviewer 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

objectives 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 in June, 1998. 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. Rick Scott, District Ranger, is the

responsible official and as responsible official, he will document the

Young'n Timber Sales and connected actions and rational in a Record of

Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal

Regulations (36 CFR Part 215).

Dated: January 28, 1998.

Rick Scott,

District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 98-2975 Filed 2-5-98; 8:45 am]

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