North Belts Travel Plan/Magpie-Confederate Vegetation Restoration Project; Including Timber Harvest, Prescribed Fire, Watershed Improvement, Road Reconstruction and Obliteration, Trail Relocation, and Travel Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

North Belts Travel Plan/Magpie-Confederate Vegetation Restoration

Project; Including Timber Harvest, Prescribed Fire, Watershed

Improvement, Road Reconstruction and Obliteration, Trail Relocation,

and Travel Management

Travel management will be addressed on both Forest Service and

Bureau of Land Management jurisdictions. Bureau of Land Management,

Butte District, Headwaters Resource Area, Helena National Forest,

Broadwater, Lewis & Clark, and Meagher Counties, Montana.

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA/Bureau of Land Management, USDI.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare Environmental Impact Statement and a

BLM Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management USDI

are gathering information and preparing an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) for the North Belts Travel Plan/Magpie-Confederate

Vegetation Restoration Project located approximately 25 air miles east

of Helena, Montana.

The Forest Service proposes to treat forested areas with

approximately 1480 acres of commercial timber harvest and 3725 acres of

prescribed fire. An estimated three miles of new construction and three

miles of road reconstruction will be needed to access the treatment

areas. All new construction will be obliterated following harvest,

Prescribed fire is also proposed for 6452 acres of grasslands (315

acres of which belong to the BLM). The Bureau of Land Management and

Forest Service propose to develop long-term travel management plans for

the northern Big Belt Mountains and Spokane Hills. The proposal

includes corrective measures to facilitate watershed improvement and

reduce or eliminate various problems on existing roads and trails. The

proposed action would implement new travel management plans that

identify designated routes which would be available for motorized

vehicle use with a mix of seasonal and vehicle type restrictions.

The proposal is designed to help achieve the goals and objectives

of the 1986 Helena National Forest Plan, move selected areas towards

the desired conditions identified from the Forest Plan, and BLM

Headwaters Resource Management Plan of 1984. These needs are supported

by the findings of the Big Belts Integrated Resource Analysis. The

purpose is to maintain healthy, sustainable ecosystems that (1) reduce

fire risk, (2) provide wildlife habitat similar to the habitat that

existed when fire was a natural component of the ecosystem, (3) enhance

soil and water, (4) provide recreation opportunities, and (5) provide

reasonable long-term travel management.

No Forest Plan amendments are proposed. Further analysis of the

proposed action and alternatives to the proposal may result in a

decision(s) that include amendments to the Forest Plan. Amendments to

the BLM Headwaters Resource Management Plan are expected to be

identified and therefore plan amendment procedures will be followed

from the onset.

DATES: Comments should be received in writing on or before March 31,

1998.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official for the USDA Forest Service is

Thomas J. Clifford, Forest Supervisor, Helena National Forest,

Supervisor's Office, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT 59601. Phone: (406)

449-5201. The responsible official for the USDI Bureau of Land

Management is Merle Good, Headwaters Resource Area Manager, Butte

District Office, P.O. Box 3388, Butte, Montana 59702.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

George Weldon, District Ranger, Townsend Ranger District, or Quinn

Carver, Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Townsend Ranger District, 415 S.

Front, Townsend, MT 59644. Phone: (406) 266-3425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project would occur on Bureau of Land

Management lands of the Butte District and National Forest lands of the

Helena and Townsend Ranger Districts. The activities would take place

within portions of T.11, T.12 and 13N., R.2W., T.9-13N., R.1W., T.10-

13N., R.1E., T.9-12N., R.2E., and T.9-11N., R.3E., Montana Principle

Meridian.

Portions of the timber harvest and prescribed fire treatment units

are within the Hellgate Gulch and Cayuse Mountain roadless areas. No

road construction is proposed within either roadless area.

The decisions to be made, based on this environmental analysis,

are:

1. Whether or not to treat the vegetation at this time, and if so,

how would the treatments be accomplished.

2. What type of transportation systems will be necessary to

accommodate the long-term needs of the public while considering other

resource needs and objectives.

This EIS will tier to the Helena Forest Plan Final EIS of April

1986 and the BLM Headwaters Resource Management Plan of 1984, which

provide program goals, objectives, and standards and

[[Page 9576]]

guidelines for conducting management activities in these areas. All

activities associated with the proposal will be designed to maintain or

enhance the resource objectives identified in the BLM Headwaters

Resource Management Plan and Helena Forest Plan further refined in the

Big Belts Integrated Resource Analysis.

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management are seeking

information and comments from Federal, State, and local agencies

together with organizations or individuals who may be interested in or

affected by the proposed action. The Forest Service and Bureau of Land

Management invite written comments and suggestions on the issues for

the proposal and the area being analyzed. Information received will be

used in preparation of the Draft EIS.

Preparation of the EIS will include the following steps:

1. Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth.

2. Identification of additional reasonable alternatives.

3. Identification of potential environmental effects of the

alternatives.

Timber harvest includes even-aged management treatments such as

clearcutting with reserves, seed tree with reserves, and shelterwood

with reserves. Intermediate treatments such as commercial thinning will

also be considered. Prescribed burning will be used to treat

nonforested and forested vegetation. Alternatives to this proposal will

include the ``no action'' alternative, in which none of the proposed

treatments would be implemented. Other alternatives will examine

variations in the location, amount and method of vegetative management.

The preliminary issues identified are:

1. The effects on forest health and sustaining ecosystems.

2. The effects on recreation and visual resources.

3. The effects on wildlife.

4. The effects on the roadless and wilderness character of the

Roadless Areas.

5. The effects on fish, water quality, and riparian areas.

6. The potential for increase in noxious weed populations or

distribution.

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management will jointly

analyze and disclose in the DEIS and FEIS the environmental effects of

the proposed action pertaining to each agency and a reasonable range of

alternatives. The DEIS and FEIS will disclose the direct, indirect and

cumulative environmental effects of each alternative and its associated

site specific mitigation measures.

Public participation is especially important at several points of

the analysis. Interested parties may visit with the Forest Service/

Bureau of Land Management officials at any time during the analysis.

However, two periods of time are specifically identified for the

receipt of comments. The first comment period is during the scoping

process when the public is invited to give written comments to the

Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. The second review period

is during the 90 day review of the DEIS when the public is invited to

comment on the DEIS

The DEIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and available for public review in March of 1999. At that

time, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of the DEIS in the

Federal Register.

The comment period on the DEIS will be 90 days from the date the

notice of availability is published in the Federal Register.

At this early stage in the scoping process, the Forest Service and

Bureau of Land Management believe it is important to give reviewers

notice of several court rulings related to public participation in the

environmental review process. First, reviews of DEIS 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). Secondly, environmental objections that could be raised at

the draft environmental impact statement stage, but that are not raised

until after completion of the FEIS 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. 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 90-

day comment period so that substantive comments and objections are made

available to the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management at a time

when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the FEIS.

To assist the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in

identifying and considering issues and concerns on the proposed action,

comments on the DEIS 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 DEIS 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.)

After the comment period ends on the DEIS, the comments will be

analyzed and considered by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land

Management in preparing the FEIS. The FEIS is expected to be filed in

February of 2000.

Dated: February 18, 1998.

Thomas J. Clifford,

Forest Supervisor.

Dated: February 18, 1998.

Merle Good,

Headwaters Resource Area Manager, Bureau of Land Management.

[FR Doc. 98-4708 Filed 2-24-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-11-M