Morrison Creek, Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest, Routt County, Colorado

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Morrison Creek, Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest, Routt County,

Colorado

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Medicine

Bow/Routt National Forest, Yampa Ranger District will prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to assess and disclose the

environmental effects on a proposal to prepare and sell timber within

the Morrison Creek Geographic area on the Yampa Ranger District.

Estimated date for filing of the draft EIS is June 1999, followed by

the final decision in September 1999. The proposal area is

approximately 20 miles south of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, in

sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of T.2N. R84 W.; sections 2,

3, 4, 6, 7, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28 and 29 of T.2N. R.83W., and

sections 28, 33 and 34 of T.3N. R.84W, Routt County, Colorado.

National Forest System (NFS) lands within the analysis area are

allocated for multiple uses in the Revised Forest Land Management and

Resource Plan (forest plan) for the Routt National Forest, approved in

1998. Lands affected by the proposed project are allocated as 5.11,

5.13 and 7.1 Management Areas. Forested lands within these

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management areas are designated as suitable for timber production by

the forest plan. Following is a summary of the themes for these

management areas:

Management Area 5.11--General Forest and Rangelands--Forest

Vegetation Emphasis: Areas are managed to provide wildlife habitat

along with forest products, livestock forage, and recreation.

Management Area 5.13--Forest Products: Areas are managed to produce

commercial wood products.

Management Area 7.1--Residential/Forest Interface: Area

characterized by an interface between private lands and National Forest

System lands in cooperative relationship landowners and other

governments with jurisdiction.

Other management areas exist within the analysis area boundary

(1.12, 1.32, 2.2, 5.41), but no forest management activities are

proposed in these areas.

The Forest Service invites comments and suggestions on the scope of

the analysis to be included in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement

(DEIS). In addition, the Forest Service gives notice that it is

beginning a full environmental analysis of this proposal and that

interested or affected people may participate and contribute to the

final decision. A public ``scoping'' meeting will be scheduled for

early February, 1999 at the Yampa Ranger District office, 300 Roselawn,

Yampa, Colorado. Contact the District Office for exact date and time

for the meeting (970)-638-4516. The purpose of this meeting is to

describe and discuss the proposed action and provide an opportunity for

the public and agencies to raise issues that should be considered in

the environmental analysis. Issues raised will help establish the scope

of the environmental analysis and develop the range of alternatives to

be considered. The Forest Service welcomes any public or agency

comments on this proposal.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions on the Draft Environmental

Impact Statement should be received on or before the 45 day period from

the date of publication 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

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 be raised at the

draft environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised

until after completion of the final environmental impact statement 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 environmental impact statement.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed action, comments on this Draft

Environmental Impact Statement 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

environmental impact statement 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.) Please note that comments

you make on this Draft Environmental Impact Statement will be regarded

as public information.

ADDRESSES: The Responsible Official will be Jerry E. Schmidt, Forest

Supervisor, Medicine Bow/Routt National Forest, 2468 Jackson Street,

Laramie, Wyoming, 82070. Send written comments to Norman Wagoner,

District Ranger, Yampa Ranger District, P.O. Box 7, Yampa, Colorado,

80483. Oral comments will be considered as well and can be made by

calling (970) 638-4516.

Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names

and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the

public record on this proposed action and will be available for public

inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and

considered, however, those who submit anonymous comments will not have

standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR Parts 215 and

217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request

the agency to withhold a submission from the public record by showing

how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality.

Persons requesting such a confidentiality should be aware that, under

the FOIA, confidentiality may be granted only in very limited

circumstances, such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service

will inform the requestor of the agency's decision regarding the

request for confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the

agency will return the submission and notify the reuqestor that the

comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within 10

days.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kent Foster, Project Coordinator,

Yampa Ranger District, Phone: (970) 638-4516.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Proposed Action--The proposal is to manage

approximately 1150 areas of mature sawtimber stands within the analysis

area. The proposal includes the following activities: treatment of

approximately 1150 acres by commercial timber sale including the

following: 223 acres of clearcutting or overstory removal lodgepole

pine; 609 acres of shelterwood and group selection treatments in

lodgepole pine and spruce/fir stands; 128 acres of sanitation/salvage

cutting in lodgepole pine and spruce fir; 190 areas of selection cuts

in spruce/fir. Construction of approximately 14 miles of specified

road, and approximately 2.0 miles of road reconstruction will be needed

to access stands for treatments. In addition, treatment of

approximately 50 areas to reduce fuel loading in areas close to private

property of varied fuel types is proposed. These treatments may or may

not be accomplished via commercial timber sale.

The timber sale(s) are intended to promote healthy stands of timber

by reducing the risk of widespread mountain pine beatle outbreak,

salvage dead and dying trees, maintain the aspen forest component,

reduce risk of spruce bark beetle outbreak in the area, provide

commercial wood products to industry, increase vegetative diversity in

the area and will benefit wildlife species that use forested stands in

an early successional stage. Clearcutting and/or overstory removal in

lodgepole pine stands may create openings of larger than 40 acres in

size. If this occurs, approval by the Regional Forester will be

necessary after a 60-day public review.

Other Opportunities: Reduce sediment production on FDR 227.1 at the

crossing of Morrison Creek; reduce fuel loading in areas near private

lands and improvements; cooperatively

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reduce infestations of noxious and undesirable weeds; prescribed

burning to reduce fuel loading, regenerate aspen stands to maintain

tree species diversity, and overall vegetative diversity.

Decisions to be Made: The Medicine Bow-Routt Supervisor will need

to make an informed decision about the selection of one alternative

among several. The issues and alternatives developed by the Forest

Service interdisciplinary team members and public commentors must be

analyzed and displayed clearly. From the project record alone, the

Forest Supervisor and others who review the decision, must be able to

fully understand the consequences of implementing the selected

alternative.

Preliminary Issues: Roads constructed in support of the proposed

timber sale(s) will reduce the current roadless character by

approximately 2,600 acres within the Morrison Creek Geographic Area.

The Morrison Creek Roadless Area (8,314 acres) will be reduced by

approximately 700 acres to 7,614 acres. The Bushy Creek Roadless Area

(11,443 acres) will be reduced by approximately 1,900 acres to 9,543

acres.

Options to road construction in these roadless areas include aerial

skidding through the use of cable logging systems, helicopters and/or

ground based forwarders. Acres treated using either of these methods

could change based on the feasibility of each method.

This project is exempt from the proposed interim rule for roadless

areas of the USDA Forest Service draft Forest Road Policy. The draft

Forest Road Policy states ``where forest plan revisions are complet but

not yet through the appeals process, the issue of roadless area

management will be addressed through the forest planning and appeals

process.'' The Record of Decision for the Routt National Forest Land

and Resource Management Plan was signed on February 17, 1998.

Other Issues: Effects of timber harvest on wildlife habitat;

effects of mountain pine beetle (MPB) on lodgepole pine stands

moderately to highly susceptible to infestation; effects of drastic

increase in lodgepole pine mortality as a result of MPB attack; public

safety and health as a result of increased fuel loading due to MPB

caused mortality of lodgepole pine; effects of increased motality of

englemann spruce due to increased spruce bark beetle activity in stands

of moderate to high risk to attack; conversion of the aspen cover type

to mixed conifer forests due to succession and lack of natural

disturbances such as fire; effects of timber harvest and road

construction on watershed condition, including water quality and soil

productivity.

Scope of the Analysis: This environmental analysis shall consider

the environmental consequences of the proposed action, as well as

alternatives reasonably implemented, while meeting the purpose and need

for the action.

Date: November 9, 1998.

Jerry E. Schmidt,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 98-34459 Filed 12-29-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M