This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

71120 

Vol. 71, No. 236 

Friday, December 8, 2006 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Thorn Fire Salvage Recovery Project, 

Malheur National Forest, Grant County, 

OR 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) to disclose 

environmental effects on a proposed 

action to recover the economic value of 

dead and dying tees damaged in the 

Shake Table Fire Complex, and remove 

potential hazard trees from open forest 

travel routes within the Todd, Duncan, 

Fields Creek and Dry Creek 

subwatersheds. Shake Table Fire 

Complex, located approximately 20 

miles southwest of John Day, Oregon, 

burned approximately 14,527 acres 

across mixed ownership in August 

2006, of that approximately 13,536 acres 

were on National Forest System Lands 

administered by the Blue Mountain 

Ranger District, Malheur National 

Forest. The proposed action is the 

Thorn Fire Salvage Recovery Project. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

January 8, 2007. The draft EIS is 

expected to be filed with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

and be available to the public for review 

by April 2007. The Final EIS is 

scheduled to be completed by June 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

the Responsible Official, Gary L. ‘‘Stan’’ 

Benes, Forest Supervisor, Malheur 

National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge 

Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day, Oregon 

97845. send electronic comments to: 

comments-pacificnorthwestmalheur@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry 

Hensley, Project Manager, Malheur 

National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge 

Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day, Oregon, 

telephone 541–575–3167, e-mail 

jhensley@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose and need of the Thorn 

Fire Salvage Recovery Project includes: 

(1) Recovery of the economic value of a 

portion of the dead and dying trees 

consistent with protection of other 

resource values; and (2) Improving 

public safety within the fire area by 

removing potentional hazard trees for 

public safety along open forest travel 

routes. 

Proposed Action 

This action includes salvage of fire 

killed trees from approximately 4,480 

acres and removal of potential hazard 

trees for public safety along open forest 

travel routes. Salvage harvest methods 

would include ground-based and 

helicopter logging systems. 

Approximately 80 percent of the harvest 

area would be salvaged by helicopter. 

No commercial harvest or road 

construction is proposed within 

Appendix C Inventoried Dry Cabin, 

Cedar Grove and Shake Table Roadless 

Areas. Road activities associated with 

salvage and restoration will be limited 

to reconstruction, opening and reclosing existing roads, and maintenance. 

No new roads would be built. Following 

site preparation, approximately 4,480 

acres would be planted with conifer 

seedlings. Forest Plan amendments 

would be included as needed. 

Possible Alternatives 

Alternatives will include the 

proposed action, no action, and 

additional alternatives that respond to 

issues generated during the scoping 

process. The agency will give notice of 

the full environmental analysis and 

decision-making process to interested 

and affected people may participate and 

contribute to the final decision. 

Responsible Official and Nature of 

Decision To Be Made 

The Responsible Official is Gary L. 

‘‘Stan’’ Benes, Forest Supervisor of the 

Malheur National Forest, 431 Patterson 

Bridge Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day, 

OR 97845. 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 Brooks Smith, Acting 

District Ranger, Blue Mountain Ranger 

District. 

Scoping Process 

Public participation will be especially 

important at several points during the 

analysis, beginning with the scoping 

process (40 CFR 1501.7). Initial scoping 

began with the project listed in the 2006 

Fall Edition of the Malheur National 

Forest’s Schedule of Proposed Actions. 

A Public meeting has been planned for 

January 2007 to discuss the project. 

Other meetings will be scheduled as 

needed. Also, correspondence with 

tribes, government agencies, 

organizations, and individuals who 

have indicated their interested will be 

conducted. 

Preliminary Issues 

Preliminary issues identified include 

the potential effect of the proposed 

action on: Soils, water quality and fish 

habitat, snags and down wood, 

disturbance to cultural resources, 

potential for noxious weed expansion, 

threatened, endangered and sensitive 

aquatic, terrestrial and plant species, 

potential loss of economic value of trees 

damaged by wildfire, and the safety and 

use of the area by public and land 

managers. 

Comment 

Public comments about this proposal 

are requested to identify issues and 

alternatives to the proposed action and 

to focus the scope of the analysis. 

Comments received in response to 

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 decisions 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 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 236 / Friday, December 8, 2006 / Notices 71121 

Information Act (FOIA) permits such 

confidentiality. Persons requesting such 

confidentiality should be aware that 

under the FOIA, 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 decisions 

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 a specified 

number of days. 

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 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. 

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 of 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: December 4, 2006. 

Gay L. Benes, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 06–9593 Filed 12–7–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Chrome Fire Salvage Recovery Project, 

Malheur National Forest, Grant County, 

OR 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) to disclose 

environmental effects on a proposed 

action to recover the economic value of 

dead and dying trees damaged in the 

Shake Table Fire Complex, and remove 

potential hazard trees from open forest 

travel routes within the Todd, Duncan, 

Fields Creek and Dry Creek 

subwatersheds. The Shake Table Fire 

Complex, located approximately 20 

miles south west of John Day, Oregon, 

burned approximately 14,527 acres 

across mixed ownership in August 

2006, of that approximately 13,536 acres 

were on National Forest System Lands 

administered by the Blue Mountain 

Ranger District, Malheur National 

Forest. The proposed action is the 

Chrome Fire Salvage Recovery Project. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

January 8, 2007. The Draft EIS is 

expected to be filed with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

and be available to the public for review 

by July 2007. The Final EIS is scheduled 

to be completed by September 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

the Responsible Official, Gary L. ‘‘Stan’’

Benes, Forest Supervisor, Malheur 

National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge 

Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day, Oregon 

97845. Send electronic comments to: 

comments-pacificnorthwestmalheur@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry 

Hensley, Project Manager, Malheur 

National Forest, 431 Patterson Bridge 

Road, P.O. Box 909, John Day, Oregon, 

telephone 541–575–3167, e-mail 

jhensley@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose and need of the Chrome 

Fire Salvage Recovery Project includes: 

(1) Recovery of the economic value of a 

portion of the dead and dying trees 

consistent with protection of other 

resource values; and (2) Improving 

public safety within the fire area by 

removing potential hazard trees for 

public safety along open forest travel 

routes. 

Proposed Action 

This action includes salvage of dead 

and dying trees from approximately 

3,472 acres and removal of potential 

hazard trees for public safety along open 

forest travel routes. Salvage harvest 

methods would include ground-based 

and helicopter logging systems. 

Approximately 70 percent of the harvest 

area would be salvaged by helicopter. 

No commercial harvest or road 

construction is proposed within 

Appendix C Inventoried Dry Cabin, 

Cedar Grove and Shake Table Roadless 

Areas. Road activities associated with 

salvage and restoration will be limited 

to reconstruction, opening and reclosing existing roads, and maintenance. 

No new roads would be built. Following 

site preparation, approximately 3,472 

acres would be planted with conifer 

seedlings. Forest Plan amendments, 

related to old growth replacement, snag 

levels, visuals, timber harvest within 

Semi-Primitive Non-Motorized 

Recreation Areas, etc. would be 

included as needed. 

Possible Alternatives 

Alternatives will include the 

proposed action, no action, and 

additional alternatives that respond to 

issues generated during the scoping 

process. The agency will give notice of 

the full environmental analysis and 

decision-making process to interested 

and affected people may participate and 

contribute to the final decision. 

Responsible Official and Nature of 

Decision To Be Made 

The Responsible Official is Gary L. 

‘‘Stan’’ Benes, Forest Supervisor of the 

Malheur National Forest, 431 Patterson 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES