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[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 12, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53650-53652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-7587]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Brick Trout Project, Clearwater National Forest, Idaho County, ID

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) to disclose the environmental effects of timber 
harvesting the Brick Creek, Panther Creek, Lunch Creek, Trout Creek, 
and Fan Creek drainages (herein referred to as the Brick Trout 
project). The project area is located 16 miles east of Kamiah, Idaho, 
north of U.S. Highway 12, mostly along or near Forest Roads 514 and 
5043. The project area is outside of inventoried roadless areas.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be postmarked 
within 45 days after this Notice of Intent appears in the Federal 
Register. The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be 
available in February, 2007 and the final environmental impact 
statement is expected to be completed in September of 2007.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice or a request to be 
placed on the project mailing list should be addressed to Chris 
Tootell, TEAMS, 200 East Broadway, Suite 251. Missoula, Montana, 59807. 
Comments may also be sent via e-mail to [email protected]. The subject 
line in the e-mail message should contain the title ``Brick Trout

[[Page 53651]]

Timber Sale Project.'' If you choose to comment by e-mail, please 
include your name and regular mailing address with the comment. 
Comments may also be sent via facsimile to (406) 329-3411, c/o Chris 
Tootell, Environmental Coordinator.
    All comments, including names and addresses when provided, are 
placed in the record and are available for public inspection and 
copying. The public may inspect comments received at the U.S. Forest 
Service, Lochsa District Office in Kooskia, Idaho.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Tootell, Environmental Resource 
Coordinator, TEAMS Enterprise unit, USDA Forest Service (406) 329-3459. 
Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may 
call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through 
Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed project is located in portions 
of Sections 8, 17, 18, 23-28, 33-36, T34N, R6E, and Section 3, T33N, 
R6E, Boise Meridian, Idaho County, Idaho. The analysis area encompasses 
approximately 7,000 acres.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose and need for the proposed action is to: (1) Improve 
forest health, reduce catastrophic wildfire risk, maintain and restore 
ecological processes and functions, and restore tree stands to 
structure and species composition that would be expected under natural 
disturbance regimes; (2) manage the landscape to provide for goods and 
services deemed important to society; (3) restore the aquatic ecosystem 
to more natural processes and functions.

Proposed Action

    The Forest Service proposes to harvest timber on 427 acres and then 
plan western white pine and western larch on most of the harvest area. 
Specifically, harvesting would include: 300 acres of clearcutting with 
reserves, 70 acres of seed tree harvest, 57 acres of final removal, 437 
acres of slash treatment and site preparation for tree planting, 437 
acres of tree planting. Cable yarding systems would be used for most of 
the area (350 acres). The rest of the area (77 acres) would use 
tractor-yarding methods. To access the harvest units, 3.5 miles of 
temporary road would be built. Upon project completion, all temporary 
roads would be decommissioned, which includes recontouring the road 
prism. Watershed restoration activities would consist of road 
reconstruction on 1.9 miles of road, road reconditioning (brushing, 
blading and ditch cleaning) on 43.7 miles of road, replacement of two 
undersized culverts to improve fish passage, road decommissioning on 
three miles of road, and placing about 7.7 miles of road into storage.

Possible Alternatives

    The Forest Service will consider alternatives to the proposed 
action including a ``no action'' alternative in which none of the 
proposed activities would be implemented. Additional alternatives being 
considered examine varying levels and locations for the proposed 
activities to achieve the proposal's purpose and need, as well as to 
respond to issues and other resource concerns.

Responsible Official

    The Responsible Official is the Forest Supervisor of the Clearwater 
National Forest, 12730 Highway 12, Orofino, ID 83544. The Responsible 
Official will decide if the proposed project will be implemented and 
will document the decision and reasons for the decision in a Record of 
Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service Appeal 
Regulations. The responsibility for preparing the DEIS and FEIS has 
been delegated to the District Ranger, Lochsa Ranger District, Rt. 1 
Box 398, Kooskia, ID 83539.

Scoping Process

    The Clearwater National Forest has developed a listing of 
individuals and organizations that have expressed an interest in being 
informed of and providing input to projects such as this. This list of 
individuals and organizations include Native American groups, private 
citizens, businesses, various organizations, and Federal, State and 
county agencies. All of these contacts will be sent the initial scoping 
document.

Preliminary Issues

    The following list of preliminary issues was developed for the 
project area by the Forest Service Interdisciplinary Team (ID Team). 
This list of issues will be amended and/or expanded after review of the 
Brick Trout Environmental Impact Statement project scoping comments. 
Preliminary issues include: effects of tree retention levels on 
ecosystem functions and processes, effects, of road decommissioning on 
future forest access, effects of mature forest harvest on sensitive 
species, and effects of proposed activities on old growth habitat.

Comment Requested

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the draft environmental impact statement, including 
the identification of the range of issues to be addressed and for 
identifying the significant issues related to the proposed action. The 
Forest Service believes that it is important to give reviewers notice 
that they must comment or otherwise notify the Forest Service of their 
interest in this project to have the right to appeal. To assist the 
Forest Service in identifying and considering issues, concerns and 
other relevant information on the project proposal, comments should be 
as specific as possible.
    Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review: A draft environmental impact statement will be 
prepared for comment. 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 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 environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised 
until after completion of the final environmental impact 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 concerns on the proposed actions, comments on the draft 
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is 
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or

[[Page 53652]]

chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy 
of the draft environmental impact statement 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. Comments 
received, including the names and addresses of those who comment, will 
be considered part of the public record on this proposal and will be 
available for public inspection.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 
1909.15, Section 21)

    Dated: September 5, 2006.
Thomas K. Reilly,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 06-7587 Filed 9-11-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
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