Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 249 / Thursday, December 28, 2006 / Notices 78135 

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: December 20, 2006. 

Elizabeth M. Schuppert, 

Acting Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 06–9904 Filed 12–27–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Tripod Fire Salvage Project, Okanogan 

and Wenatchee National Forests, 

Okanogan County, WA 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the USDA Forest Service will prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for a proposal to recover the economic 

value through salvage harvest of dead 

and dying trees damaged in the Tripod 

Complex Fire, to remove potential 

hazard trees from open roads, and to 

reforest salvage harvest units within 

specified drainages of the Methow 

Valley and Tonasket Ranger Districts, 

Okanogan and Wenatchee National 

Forests. Details of the proposal are 

further described in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below. 

Approximately 2,800 acres would be 

treated in the proposed project area. 

The analysis area encompasses a 

portion of the burned area in the Middle 

Fork Beaver Creek, Lightning Creek, 

Chewuch River, Ramsey Creek, Boulder 

Creek, North Fork Boulder Cree, Bromas 

Creek, Brevucinus Creek, Twentymile 

Creek, Pelican Creek, McCay Creek, 

Granite Creek, Cedar Creek, and Cabin 

Creek drainages, along Road 37 and 

Road 39 within the fire boundary, and 

includes parts of the following 

townships: T34N, R23E; T34N, R24E; 

T35N, R22E; T35N, R23E; T35N, R24E; 

T36N, R22E; T36N, R23E; T36N, R24E; 

T37N, R22E; T37N, R23E; T38N, R23E; 

and T39N, R23E; Williamette Meridian. 

The Tripod Complex Fire, located five 

miles northeast of Winthrop, 

Washington, burned approximately 

175,000 acres across mixed ownership 

in July to September 2006. 

Approximately 164,000 acres were on 

National Forest System lands 

administered by the Methow Valley 

Ranger District and the Tonasket Ranger 

District, Okanogan and Wenatchee 

National Forests. 

The purpose of the EIS will be to 

evaluate a range of reasonable 

alternatives for this proposal and take 

public comment on the analysis. The 

direction in the amended Okanogan 

National Forest Land and Resource 

Management Plan (Forest Plan) provides 

the overall guidance for management of 

National Forest System lands included 

in this proposal. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

January 29, 2007. The draft DEIS is 

expected to be available to the public for 

review by March 2007. The final EIS is 

scheduled to be completed by June 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

to John Newcom, Methow Valley 

District Ranger, 24 West Chewuch Road, 

Winthrop, Washington 98862, Attn: 

Tripod Fire Salvage Project. Comments 

may be mailed electronically to 

comments-pacificnorthwest-okanoganmethowvalley@fs.fed.us. See the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below for the format and other 

information about electronic filing of 

comments. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob 

Stoehr, Tripod Fire Salvage Project 

Leader, USDA Forest Service, Methow 

Valley Ranger District, 24 West 

Chewuch Road, Winthrop, Washington 

98862; phone 509–996–4003. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose and need of the Tripod 

Fire Salvage Project includes: (1) 

Recovery of the economic value of a 

portion of dead and dying trees in the 

project areas; (2) Improving public 

safety within the fire area by removing 

potential hazard trees along open forest 

roads; and (3) Re-establishing trees in 

salvage harvest units where there are 

few or no green trees that can act as a 

seed source. 

Proposed Action 

The Forest Supervisor for the 

Okanogan and Wenatchee National 

Forests proposes to salvage dead and 

dying trees from approximately 2,800 

acres within a portion of the area 

burned by the Tripod Complex Fire. 

Salvage harvest methods would include 

ground based and skyline yarding 

systems. Ground-based yarding systems 

would not be used on sustained slopes 

greater than 35 percent. To facilitate 

haul, 6.5 miles of existing classified 

roads would be reconstructed and about 

3.5 miles of temporary roads would be 

constructed. No new classified road 

construction is proposed and all 

temporary roads would be closed or 

decommissioned after project activities 

are completed. No commercial harvest 

or road construction is proposed within 

the Granite Mountain, Long Swamp, 

and Tiffany Inventoried Roadless Areas. 

Roadside hazard trees and trees 

expected to become a hazard in the 

future within the project area along 

open roads and along any closed roads 

to be opened for implementation for this 

project, would be felled and removed to 

provide safe and adequate road access. 

Tree planting is proposed in salvage 

harvest units where there is insufficient 

seed source to ensure natural 

regeneration in a timely manner. The 

proposed action would require 

amendments of the Forest Plan to: (1) 

Allow harvest of green trees larger than 

21′ diameter breast height that are 

expected to die from fire effects, (2) 

Allow snowplowing and motorized use 

of designated, groomed snowmobile 

routes to facilitate salvage operations, 

(3) Allow motorized access in 

Management Area 26, which is deer 

winter range, during the winter season 

to facilitate salvage operations, and (4) 

Exceed open road density standards in 

discrete management areas as a result of 

salvage operations. 

Possible Alternatives 

A full range of alternatives will be 

considered, including the proposed 

action, no action, and additional 

alternatives that respond to issues 

generated during the scoping process. 

Responsible Official 

The Responsible Official is James L. 

Boynton, Forest Supervisor, Okanogan 

and Wenatchee National Forests, 215 

Melody Lane, Wenatchee, Washington 

98801. The Responsible Official will 

document the Tripod Fire Salvage 

Project decision and reasons for the 

decision in a Record of Decision. That 

decision will be subject to Forest 

Service appeal regulations (36 CFR Part 

215). 

Nature of the Decision To Be Made 

The Forest Supervisor for the 

Okanogan and Wenatchee National 

Forests will decide whether or not to 

salvage timber, remove potential hazard 

trees, and reforest salvage harvest units, 

and if so, the locations and extent of 

treatments. The decision will include 

whether or not to reconstruct classified 

roads and construct new temporary 

roads for access within the project area, 

and if so, how much. The Forest 

Supervisor will also decide how to 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
78136 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 249 / Thursday, December 28, 2006 / Notices 

mitigate effects of these actions and will 

determine when and how monitoring of 

effects will take place. In making his 

decision, the Forest Supervisor will 

consider how well each alternative 

meets the purpose and need, the manner 

in which each alternative responds to 

key issues raised and public comments 

received during the analysis, and the 

impacts of proposed project activities to 

National Forest System land and 

resources. 

Scoping Process 

Public participation will be sought at 

several points during the analysis, 

including listing of this project in the 

Winter 2006 and subsequent issues of 

the Okanogan and Wenatchee National 

Forests Schedule of Proposed Action; 

letters to Indian Tribes, agencies, 

organizations and individuals who may 

be intersted in or affected by the 

proposed activities; and a legal notice in 

The Wenatchee World newspaper. A 

public meeting will be scheduled in 

January 2007 to describe the proposed 

action and identify public issues. Other 

meetings will be scheduled as needed. 

The scoping process will also include 

identifying major issues to be analyzed 

in depth, exploring alternatives to the 

proposed actions, and identifying 

potential environmental effects of the 

proposed action and alternatives (i.e., 

direct, indirect and cumulative effects). 

Preliminary Issues 

Preliminary issues identified include 

the potential effect of the proposed 

action on soils, water quality and fish 

habitat, snags and down wood, and 

threatened, endangered and sensitive 

terrestrial and plant species; disturbance 

to cultural resources; potential for 

noxious week expansion; potential loss 

of economic value of trees damaged by 

the wildfire; and the safety and use of 

the area by the public. 

Comment Opportunity 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process which guides 

development of the EIS. The Forest 

Supervisor is seeking public and agency 

comment on the proposed action to 

determine if any additional issues arise. 

Additional issues may lead either to 

other alternatives, or additional 

mitigation measures and monitoring 

requirements. Comments and data may 

be submitted electronically by sending 

electronic mail (e-mail) to: commentspacificnorthwest-okanoganmethowvalley@fs.fed.us. Include the 

project name in the e-mail subject line 

and submit comments either as part of 

the e-mail message or an attachment in 

one of the following three formats: 

Microsoft Word, rich text format (rtf) or 

Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf). 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review 

A draft EIS will be prepared for 

comment. The comment period on the 

draft EIS will be 30 days fromt he date 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes the notice of availability in 

the Federal Register. The draft EIS is 

expected to be filed with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

and to be available for public review in 

March 2007 and the final EIS is 

expected to be completed by June 2007. 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, it is important to give 

reviewers notice of several court 

rulilngs 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 EIS stage but that are 

not raised until after completion of the 

final EIS may be waived or dismissed by 

the courts. City of Angoon v. Harris, 490 

F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.E. 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 meaningful 

consider them and respond to them in 

the final EIS. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft EIS 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 EIS 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 in response to 

this notice, including names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be consdiered part of the public record 

on this Proposed Action adn will be 

available for public inspection. 

Dated: December 21, 2006. 

Anita Spargur, 

Human Resources Officer and Acting Forest 

Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 06–9905 Filed 12–27–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3419–11–M 

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND 

COMMUNITY SERVICE 

Information Collection; Submission for 

OMB Review, Comment Request 

AGENCY: Corporation for National and 

Community Service. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Corporation for National 

and Community Service (hereinafter the 

‘‘Corporation’’), has submitted a public 

information collection request (ICR) 

entitled the President’s Volunteer 

Service Award (PVSA) application, 

Parts A, B, C, D, and E to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) for 

review and approval in accordance with 

the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 

Pub. L. 104–13, (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). 

Copies of this ICR, with applicable 

supporting documentation, may be 

obtained by calling the Corporation for 

National and Community Service, 

Shannon Maynard at 202–606–6713. 

Individuals who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TTY–TDD) may call (202) 565–2799 

between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern 

time, Monday through Friday. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted, identified by the title of the 

information collection activity, to the 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Attn: Ms. Katherine Astrich, 

OMB Desk Officer for the Corporation 

for National and Community Service, by 

any of the following two methods 

within 30 days from the date of 

publication in this Federal Register: 

(1) By fax to: (202) 395–6974, 

Attention: Ms. Katherine Astrich, OMB 

Desk Officer for the Corporation for 

National and Community Service; and 

(2) Electronically by e-mail to: 

Katherine_T._Astrich@omb.eop.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The OMB 

is particularly interested in comments 

which: 

• Evaluate whether the proposed 

collection of information is necessary 

for the proper performance of the 

functions of the Corporation, including 

whether the information will have 

practical utility; 

• Evaluate the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES