Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Navajo Ten-Year Forest Management Plan Alternatives, Navajo Nation, Arizona/New Mexico

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the

Proposed Navajo Ten-Year Forest Management Plan Alternatives, Navajo

Nation, Arizona/New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Draft Programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS) for the proposed Navajo Nation

Ten-Year Forest Management Plan Alternatives is now available for

public review and comment. The DPEIS, prepared by the Bureau of Indian

Affairs in cooperation with the Navajo Nation Forestry Department,

describes alternative ways to promote the protection and sustained use

of forest resources and guide the development of multi-year

implementation programs for the Navajo Nation Forestry Department. A

description of the proposed project location and of the environmental

issues addressed in the DPEIS follow as supplementary information. This

notice also announces a series of public hearings to receive public

comments on the DPEIS.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 20, 1999. The

dates and locations of the public hearings are listed below. All of

these public hearings will begin at 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

September 21, 1999, Fort Defiance Chapter House, Fort Defiance, AZ.

September 22, 1999, Chinle Chapter House, Chinle, AZ.

[[Page 46706]]

September 23, 1999, Shiprock Chapter House, Shiprock, NM.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any

one of several methods. You may mail or hand-deliver comments to Harold

D. Russell, Area Forester, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Area

Office, Federal Building, 301 West Hill, P.O. Box 1060, Gallup, New

Mexico 87305. You may also comment via the Internet to:

R[email protected]. Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file

avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption.

Include your name and return address in your Internet message. If you

do not receive a confirmation from the system that we have received

your Internet message, contact the Navajo Area Office directly at (520)

729-7228. Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents,

will be available for public review at the above address during regular

business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), Monday through Friday,

excluding Federal holidays. Individual respondents may request

confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name and/or address from

public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act,

you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written

comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law.

However, we will not consider anonymous comments. All submissions from

organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying

themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or

businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their

entirety.

The public hearings will be held at the locations listed in the

DATES section.

The DPEIS is available for review at two locations: (1) The Branch

of Environmental Services, Navajo Area Office, Federal Building, 301

West Hill, Gallup, New Mexico; and (2) the Branch of Forestry, Bureau

of Indian Affairs, 1 mile north on Route 12, Fort Defiance, Arizona. To

obtain a copy of the DPEIS, please write to the Navajo Nation Forestry

Department, P.O. Box 230, Fort Defiance, Arizona 86504, or call (520)

729-4007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold D. Russell, (520) 729-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is to adopt a ten-year

management plan for the Navajo Forest. The Navajo Forest lies in the

Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau areas of the Navajo Nation, along

the Arizona-New Mexico border. The area encompasses nearly 600,000

acres.

The DPEIS presents a preferred alternative, the no action

alternative and three other action alternatives. Under the preferred

alternative, approximately 79,500 acres out of 253,754 acres designated

as commercial timberland would be harvested over the next ten years.

Individual treatment areas would be limited to 100 acres or less, and

harvesting would incorporate a combination of even-aged and uneven-aged

management systems designed to promote more diversity in the vegetative

structure. This alternative also designates 74,735 acres as Special

Management Areas (SMA's), which would be excluded from commercial

timberland in order to protect critical wildlife habitat and vital

watershed areas, even where these SMA's are located within the most

productive areas of the forest.

Timber protection activities under the preferred alternative

include, where needed, fire prevention, prescribed burns, trespass

control and insect and disease control. An estimated 680 acres per year

would be subjected to prescribed burns, and 75 acres per year treated

for insects and disease. Additional activities include monitoring and

mitigation in accordance with published plans, guidelines or handbooks

referenced in the DPEIS.

The no action alternative continues current levels of production--

approximately 88,000 acres over the next ten years, with even-aged

management and without SMA's. The three other action alternatives

include: (1) No timber harvesting and no SMA's; (2) even-aged

management, with a lower rate of harvest--approximately 79,000 acres

over the next ten years--than the no action alternative, and with

SMA's; and (3) uneven-aged management, with approximately 84,400 acres

to be harvested over the next ten years and without SMA's. All of the

alternatives include timber protection plus monitoring and/or

mitigation measures.

The DPEIS addresses the environmental issues identified during

public scoping. These include timber resources, other forest resources,

water resources, biological resources, air quality, cultural resources

and socio-economics.

This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the

Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through

1508), implementing the procedural requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),

and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the

exercise of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian

Affairs by 209 DM 8.

Dated: August 20, 1999.

Kevin Gover,

Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 99-22130 Filed 8-25-99; 8:45 am]

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