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Notices Federal Register

67346

Vol. 65, No. 218

Thursday, November 9, 2000

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Jasper Fire Value Recovery EIS—Black

Hills National Forest

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Black Hills National

Forest will prepare an environmental

impact statement on a proposal to

recover value from fire-killed timber

within the Jasper Fire perimeter. The

Jasper Fire burned approximately

83,500 acres in August and September

2000. Fire-killed ponderosa pine in the

Black Hills is highly susceptible to

damage from insects and fungus.

Expectations are that wood quality

within the fire area will decline at a

moderate rate until mid-summer 2001.

Wood quality is expected to decline

rapidly after that point. The Forest Plan

goals and objectives that will be met

include minimizing public safety

hazards through hazard tree removal,

maintaining soil productivity and

minimizing soil erosion, managing fuel

loading, and capturing economic values

associated with restoration treatments.

The EIS will be designed to satisfy the

requirements of the National

Environmental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C.

Sections 4321–4370a, and the National

Forest Management Act, 16 U.S.C.

1600–1614, and their respective

implementing regulations.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope

of the analysis should be received on or

before 30 days after publication of this

notice in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to

Mike Lloyd, District Ranger, Hell

Canyon Ranger District, Black Hills

National Forest, 330 Mt. Rushmore

Road, Custer, SD 57730.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kelly Honors, EIS Team Leader, (605)

673–4853.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

proposed action is to recover value from

timber killed by the Jasper Fire.

Specifically this includes removing up

to 60 million board feet of timber,

concentrating in areas with high volume

per acre; removing timber in areas with

high and moderate intensity burns only

(trees 100% scorched or totally devoid

of needles) except incidental removal of

green trees where necessary to access

harvest units; no new specified road

construction (temporary roads may be

utilized for access but would be closed

post-harvest); and lastly, concentrating

value recovery from areas with low

susceptibility to soil erosion,

compaction and water runoff. Resource

protection measures are included as part

of the proposed action. Mitigation

measures will be included to protect

resources such as mountain grasslands,

snags, soils, heritage resources, water

quality and wildlife.

Decision To Be Made

The Forest Service will prepare an

EIS. The Forest Supervisor of the Black

Hills National Forest will decide

whether or not to implement this

project, and if so, in what manner.

Responsible Official

John Twiss, Forest Supervisor, Black

Hills National Forest, North Highway

385, Custer, South Dakota 57730 is the

Responsible Official for this decision.

He will document his decision in a

Record of Decision.

Estimated Dates for Filing

The Draft EIS is expected to be filed

with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and to be available for

public review by December 15, 2000. At

that time EPA will publish a Notice of

Availability of the draft EIS in the

Federal Register. The comment period

on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the

date the EPA publishes the Notice of

Availability in the Federal Register. It is

very important that those interested in

the management of this area participate

at that time.

The final EIS is scheduled to be

completed by March 2001. In the final

EIS, the Forest Service is required to

respond to comments and responses

received during the comment period

that pertain to the environmental

consequences discussed in the draft EIS

and applicable laws, regulations, and

policies considered in making a

decision regarding the proposal.

The Reviewers Obligation To Comment

The Forest Service believes it is

important to give reviewers notice at

this early stage 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 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 at 40

CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.

Dated: November 3, 2000.

John C. Twiss,

Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest.

[FR Doc. 00–28766 Filed 11–8–00; 8:45 am]

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