East Slate Project; Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Shoshone County, ID

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

East Slate Project; Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Shoshone

County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

[[Page 54861]]

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National

Forest is considering vegetation activities in the East Slate Project.

The project area is located approximately one mile west of the town of

Avery on the St. Joe River.

The interdisciplinary team has reviewed the current conditions

which indicated the project area could benefit from treatment. The

purpose and need is summarized below.

1. Reduce the risk of blending genetic material from poorly

adapted, non-local ponderosa pine trees planted earlier this century

with that of the native ponderosa pine. Replace the poorly adapted

trees with more sustainable native species.

2. Speed development of larger stand structures with large trees

and reverse the trend toward increasing dominance by mid and late

succession species.

3. Maintain larch dominance where it is a significant stand

component.

4. Promote vegetation structures and compositions that are more

consistent with those which naturally occur under fire and pathogen

disturbance regimes.

5. Restore western white pine.

6. Contribute wood to the local timber supply when timber is

feasible and cost effective and can help achieve landscape objectives.

7. Improve big game wildlife habitat.

8. Promote conditions for safe and effective control of prescribed

fires and wildfires.

9. Provide a safer vehicle turn-around at gate on Road #1934.

The project consists of vegetation management, including timber

harvesting and associated road construction and prescribed burning. It

also plans for wildlife habitat improvement and natural fuels reduction

through burning.

DATES: Comments should be postmarked on or before November 8, 1999.

Please include your name and address and the name of the project you

are commenting on.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposed

management activities or request to be placed on Project mailing list

to George Bain, District Ranger, St. Joe Ranger District, PO Box 407,

St. Maries, ID 83802. George Bain is the Responsible Official.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pete Ratcliffe, Project Team Leader,

St. Joe Ranger District, (208) 245-4517.

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 or

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 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 resubmitted with or without name and address within 10

days.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Vegetation Management

Vegetation management under this proposal is designed to meet

several needs, including providing timber products to local markets,

protecting and enhancing wildlife forage and cover needs, providing for

long term growth and yield as directed in the Idaho Panhandle National

Forests Forest Plan, increasing fire resiliency, reducing fire hazards,

and moving the vegetation to the conditions the area historically had

in terms of tree species composition and density. Treatment include:

Approximately 406 acres of commercial timber harvesting including

commercial thinning, shelterwood preparation and seed cuttings,

liberation cuts, sanitation cuts and clearcuts. This would include an

estimated 235 acres of clearcuts with reserves, 86 acres of commercial

thimming, 18 acres of liberation cuts, 21 acres of sanitation salvage,

19 acres of seedtree harvest and 27 acres of shelterwood harvest with

reserves.

Approximately 240 acres of brush field burning for maintenance of

big game browse and wildlife habitat improvement.

Approximately 203 acres would be treated for natural fuels

reduction.

Approximately 1.6 miles of road construction to access timber

harvesting units.

Preliminary Issues

We expect issues and concerns with this project to include the

impacts on wildlife, fish, water quality, and recreation, as well as

road construction, clearcutting and economic feasibility. Issues will

be developed and analyzed based on public comment and the

interdisciplinary team's analysis of effects on reasoures. Alternatives

will be developed to modify or eliminate the impacts from proposed

activities and still meet the purpose for this project.

Additionally, some of the vegetation treatment may result in

opening of over 60 acres. While we would like comments that would

affect alternatives early, comments on the size of openings and their

effects will be accepted for 60 days after publication of this notice.

The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed

with the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public

review in December 1999. The final environmental impact statement is

expected to be completed in March 2000.

The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will

be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes

the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

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 environmental impact statements must structure their

participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is

meaningful an alerts and agency to the reviewer's position and

contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,

533 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the

draft environmental statement stage but that are not raised until after

completion of the final environmental 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 concern on the proposed action, comments on the 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.

[[Page 54862]]

Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft environmental

impact statement or the merits of the alternatives formulated and

discussed in the statement. Reviews 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 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits

discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, national

origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital

or familial status. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of

communication of program information (braille, large print, audiotape,

etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center ad (202) 720-2600 (voice and

TDD).

To file a complaint, write the Secretary of Agriculture, U.S.

Department of Agriculture, Washington, DC 20250, or call 1-800-245-6340

(voice) or 202-720-1127 (TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity

employer.

Dated: September 29, 1999.

George Bain,

St. Joe District Ranger.

[FR Doc. 99-26242 Filed 10-7-99; 8:45 am]

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