United States Forest Black Hills National Forest 1019 N. 5" Street

USDA Department of Service Supervisor’s Office Custer SD 57730-8214
MME Agriculture Tel. 605/673-9200
www.fs,usda.gov/blackhills FAX 605/673-9350

File Code: 1950-Mountain Pine
Beetle Response Project
Date: September 13, 2012

Greetings From the Black Hills National Forest:

Black Hills National Forest (BHNF) personnel recently completed a Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) for the Mountain Pine Beetle Response Project. The project includes portions of
stands at high risk for mountain pine beetle (MPB) and high/very high fire hazard scattered across
the roughly 1.2 million acres of National Forest System (NFS) lands managed by the BHNF, within
the proclaimed Forest Boundary. Any vegetation treatment decision(s) on the MPB Response
Project would not include project areas that are currently under National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) analysis, have NEPA Decisions, or are designated as a special area (Research Natural
Area, Botanical Area, etc.).

The project’s main focus is to help protect communities and resources by reducing the threat to
ecosystem components, including forest resources, from the existing MPB epidemic and by
reducing hazardous fuels. The Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 (H.R. 1904)
provides improved statutory processes for hazardous fuel reduction projects and healthy forest
restoration on NFS lands. Title I of the HFRA focuses primarily on expedited hazardous fuel
treatment projects on NFS lands that are at risk of wildland fire. The MPB Response Project
qualifies as an authorized hazardous fuel reduction project under HFRA Section 102(a)(4).

The purpose of and need for the MPB Response Project is io:

e Reduce the threat to ecosystem components, including forest resources, from the existing
MPB epidemic.
e Help protect local communities and resources from large-scale wildfire.

I have enclosed a copy of the MPB Response Project Final EIS. Chapters one and two provide
background and comparison of alternatives for many readers to judge the relative merits of the various
alternative approaches to reducing the rapidly expanding MPB epidemic and the potential for severe

ldfire. More detail on the effects of alternatives is presented in Chapter #
wildfire. More detail on the effects of alternatives is prescnicd in Chapter three.

My Preferred Action is Alternative C with modifications which would include reducing new system
road construction and focused treatments in portions of MA 4.2A located within Spearfish Canyon.

The analysis for this project was completed under the HFRA authority. The decision(s) based on the
Final EIS for this project will be made following the pre-decisional objection process, pursuant to
Forest Service regulations at 36 CFR 218.7. Only those who commented in writing at scoping or on
the DEIS are eligible to file an objection (36 CFR 218.7). The objection period will end 30-days
following publication of the legal notice in the Rapid City Journal, Rapid City, South Dakota;

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publication is expected to occur on September 22, 2012. The publication date of the legal notice of
availability of the FEIS is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection.

Any objections to this project must be filed in writing. Written objections may be submitted to:
USDA, Forest Service, Region 2 Reviewing Officer, Attn: John Rupe, 740 Simms Street, Golden,
Colorado 80401. Objections may be submitted in electronic form to: appeals-rocky-mountain-
regional-office @fs.fed.us. In electronic objections, the subject line should contain the name of the
project. An automated response will normally confirm receipt of an objection; however, if a person
filing an objection does not receive such a response it is the responsibility of the objector to ensure
their objection is received in a timely manner. Electronic objections must be readable in MS Word,
Rich Text Format (rtf), or portable document format (pdf). Any objection must meet the content
requirements of 36 CFR 218.8. Any decision on this project will not be appealable under 36 CFR
215 or any other authority.

I am the Responsible Official for this document. For more information on this project, contact me at
(605) 673-9200 or Katie Van Alstyne at (605) 343-1567. For information on the objection process,
contact Ed Fischer at (605) 673-9207.

Sincerely,

Sys
CRAIG BOBZIEN

Forest Supervisor

Enclosure: MPB Response Project FEIS