Mill Project Timber Sales, Ochoco National Forest, Crook County, OR

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Mill Project Timber Sales, Ochoco National Forest, Crook 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 complete silvicultural

treatments, including commercial harvest, precommercial thinning, and

prescribed fire, to improve the health and diversity of forest stands

in the Mill Creek Watershed. The Mill Creek Watershed is located 12-15

miles northeast of Prineville, Oregon and covers approximately 72

square miles (45,952 acres). Approximately 79% of the watershed is

public land. The alternatives will include the proposed action, no

action, and any additional alternatives that respond to issues

generated during the scoping process. The Proposed Action will require

non-significant amendments to the Ochoco National Forest Land and

Resource Management Plan (LRMP) to allow activities to occur in

allocated old growth and in late and old structure stands.

DATE: Send written comments and suggestions on the issues and

management of this area by April 3, 1998.

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 part 215.

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.

Request for confidentiality may be granted in only very limited

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

will inform the requester 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 requester that the

comments may be re-submitted with or without name and address within 10

days.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Art Currier, District Ranger,

Prineville Ranger District, P.O. Box 490, Prineville, OR 97754.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dave Owens, Project Leader, Prineville Ranger District, phone 541-416-

6425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service Proposed Action will

conduct management activities, including commercial timber harvest,

precommercial thinning, and prescribed fire, in the Mill Creek

Watershed, which includes portions of two inventoried roadless areas.

Based on an analysis of existing vegetation conditions in the Mill

Creek Watershed, opportunities were identified to conduct silvicultural

treatments to improve the health and diversity of forested stands.

Silvicultural treatments and timber harvest include 169 acres of

improvement cutting; 5,237 acres of individual tree selection cutting;

351 acres of group selection cutting; 3,758 acres of precommercial

thinning; and 1,933 acres of prescribed fire. The Proposed Action also

includes construction of 5.4 miles of new roads and surfacing or

restoration of 9.65 miles of existing roads. No roads are proposed in

inventoried roadless areas. The proposed action does not include any

activities in the Mill Creek Wilderness Area, which encompasses

approximately 13,000 acres of 28% of the watershed. The expected

harvest volume is approximately 25 million board feet. Five potential

sale areas have been identified, including two helicopter sales. These

sales would be sold over the next 3 years.

The Ochoco National Forest LRMP allocates lands within the project

area to various management emphasis areas. These allocations include

General Forest, General Forest Winter Range, Old Growth, Steins Pillar

recreation Area, Dispersed Recreation, Developed Recreation, Riparian,

and Mill Creek Wilderness. The emphasis for each of the management

allocations is briefly described below.

MA-F3 Mill Creek Wilderness--Protect wilderness ecosystems. Manage

use to maintain a natural setting and preserve solitude.

MA-F6 Old Growth--Habitat will be provided for wildlife species

dependent upon old growth stands.

MA-F13 Developed Recreation--Provide safe, healthful, and

aesthetic facilities for people to utilize while they are pursuing a

variety of recreation experiences within a relatively natural outdoor

setting.

MA-F14 Dispersed Recreation--provide and maintain a near-natural

setting for people to utilize while pursuing outdoor recreation

experiences.

MA-F15 Riparian--Manage streamside vegetation and habitat to

maintain or improve water quality. Meet temperature and turbidity

levels as required by State standards under the clean Water Act.

MA-F17 Stein's Pillar Recreation Area--maintain a scenic, natural,

or natural-appearing setting associated with unique geologic

formations, particularly Stein's Pillar. Provide roadless nonmotorized

recreation, with various opportunities to enjoy nature.

MA-F21 General Forest Winter Range--The area will be managed for

timber production with management activities designed and implemented

to recognize big game habitat needs.

MA-F22 General Forest--The area will produce timber and forage

while meeting the Forest-wide standards and guidelines for all

resources.

In 1997, a watershed analysis was completed for the Mill Creek

Watershed. The watershed analysis identified management activities

which may improve the health and diversity of forested stands by

encouraging late and old structure conditions, reducing competition,

reducing stress, and reducing risk of stand replacement fires.

An initial scoping letter was mailed in February 1998.

To date, issues identified include: inventoried roadless area,

water quality, late successional stands, and visual quality.

[[Page 12077]]

The EIS will analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative

environmental effects of the alternatives. Past, present, and projected

activities on both private and National Forest System lands will be

considered.

Public participation is important. Comments from the public will be

used to:

Identify, and/or confirm key issues and other potential

issues.

Eliminate minor issues or those which have been covered by

a previous environmental analysis, such as the Ochoco LRMP.

Identify alternatives to the proposed action.

Identify, and/or confirm potential environmental effects

of the proposed action and other alternatives (i.e. direct, indirect,

and cumulative effects).

Determine potential cooperating agencies and task

assignments.

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in May 1998.

The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the

EPA publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register. At

the same time, 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.

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

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, 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 these

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 August 1998. In the

final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to comments

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 decisions on this

proposal. Thomas Schmidt, Forest Supervisor, is the responsible

official. As responsible official he will document the selected

alternative for the Mill Project Timber Sales EIS and his rationale in

a Record of Decision.

The decision for the Mill Project Timber Sales will be subject to

Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR part 215).

Dated: February 26, 1998.

Thomas A. Schmidt,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 98-6367 Filed 3-11-98; 8:45 am]

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