Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 230 / Wednesday, November 29, 2000 / Notices 71087

The name, mailing address, telephone

number and interest of the person filing

the protest.

A statement of the issue or issues

being protested;

A statement of the part or parts of the

amendment being protested;

A copy of all documents addressing

the issue or issues that were submitted

during the planning process by the

protesting party or an indication of the

date the issue or issues were discussed

for the record; and

A concise statement explaining why

the responsible officials’ decision is

believed to be wrong.

The BLM Director and Forest Service

Chief will promptly render a joint

decision on the protest. The decision

will be in writing and will set forth the

reasons for the decision. The decision

will be sent to the protesting party by

certified mail, return receipt requested.

The joint decision of the Director and

Chief shall be the final decision of the

Department of the Interior and the

Department of Agriculture. Reviewers

who do not request administrative

review of the proposed decision may

not preserve their standing to litigate the

final decision.

Dated: November 20, 2000.

Dale Bosworth,

Regional Forester, Northern Region, Forest

Service.

Dated: November 17, 2000.

Martha Hahn,

State Director, Idaho, Bureau of Land

Management.

[FR Doc. 00–30393 Filed 11–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–66–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Comet Administrative Study EIS—

Klamath National Forest

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will

prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) on a proposal to conduct

an administrative study on 1,880 acres

of National Forest System land (Matrix

land allocation only) in the Salmon

River watershed near the towns of

Sawyers Bar and Forks of Salmon in

Siskiyou County, California. The

purpose of the proposal is to conduct

the Comet Administrative Study that

will examine the cause and effect of

Klamath National Forest Land and

Resource Management Plan (Forest

Plan) modeled silvicultural

prescriptions and associated harvest

techniques on presence and relative

abundance of Survey and Manage (SM)

mollusks (special survey and manage

requirements for species that are rare or

uncommon).

DATES: Comments concerning the scope

of the analysis should be received on or

before December 29, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to

Jan Ford, Acting District Ranger, Salmon

River Ranger District, 11263 N. Highway

3, Fort Jones, CA 96032. Electronic mail

may be sent to

r5lklamathlComment@fs.fed.us. See

the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section

for additional information about

electronic filing.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sue

Stresser, EIS Team Leader, (530) 468–

5351.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

Administrative Study will be

accomplished through the following

actions:

1. Collect pre-treatment information

and data on mollusks using the

approved survey strategy for the study.

2. Test stand treatments as follows:

(a) Green Tree Retention Prescription

(GTR): Thirty-two stands with an

average size of 15 acres have been

chosen. The range of stand sizes varies

from 4 to 32 acres. Half of these are

north facing aspects (cool/moist). The

remainder are south facing stands

(warmer/drier). The treatments will be

randomly applied with equal frequency

(four treated and four as control for

north aspects and the same for south

aspects).

(b) Commercial Thin Prescription:

Thirty-two stands with an average size

of 18 acres have been chosen. The range

of stand sizes varies from 6 to 69 acres.

Half of these are north facing aspects

(cool/moist). The remainder are south

facing stands (warmer/drier). The

treatments will be randomly applied

with equal frequency (four treated and

four as control for north aspects and the

same for south aspects).

(c) Group Selection Prescription:

Thirty-two stands with an average size

of 26 acres have been chosen. The range

of stand sizes varies from 8 to 50 acres.

Half of these will be north facing aspects

(cool/moist). The remainder will be

south facing stands (warmer/drier). The

treatments will be randomly applied

with equal frequency (four treated and

four as control for north aspects and the

same for south aspects).

(d) No treatments will occur in

control stands. Control stands will

remain untreated through the life of the

project (up to 10 years).

3. Apply logging systems to treatment

stands in Item 2 above (see Table 1) as

follows:

a. Conventional cable systems on half

of the stands (24 total omitting the

controls), including an equal number of

group selection, GTR, and commercial

thinning stands (half of each on north

slopes and half on south slopes); and

b. Helicopter systems on the other

half of the stands (24 total omitting

controls), including an equal number of

group selection, GTR, and commercial

thinning stands (half of each on north

slopes and half on south slopes).

4. Apply fuels treatment/site

preparation methods to treatment stands

in Item 2 above, using a combination of

the following: hand pile and burn, lop/

scatter, yard unutilized material, jackpot

(burning concentrations of slash), and

underburn.

5. Implement a combination of

reforestation treatments, including

planting, gopher baiting, and manual

release.

6. Pre-commercial thin natural

regeneration within treatment stands.

7. Implement the following

transportation system improvements,

including construction of temporary

spur roads and landings, reconstruct

portions of existing roads, and conduct

road maintenance on existing system

roads, as necessary for this

administrative study.

8. Collect information and data on

presence and relative abundance of SM

mollusk species post-project, and for up

to ten years after the completion of the

project, according to the approved

survey strategy.

9. Report findings after analysis is

completed for each data collection.

This Administrative Study will

include a one-time, site-specific Forest

Plan amendment. Management

Recommendations for SM mollusks and

Del Norte Salamander will be waived in

order to examine the effects of stand

treatments, as described above, on

mollusk species.

Purpose and Need

An important component of the

Northwest Forest Plan Record of

Decision for Amendments to Forest

Service and Bureau of Land

Management Planning Documents

Within the Range of the Northern

Spotted Owl (ROD, 1994) is the

facilitation of research activities to

gather information and test hypotheses

in a range of environmental conditions.

Where appropriate, some research

activities were expected to be exempted

from the Standards and Guidelines of

the ROD (ROD, page 15). The Northwest

Forest Plan requires, through Standards

71088 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 230 / Wednesday, November 29, 2000 / Notices

and Guidelines, the management of a

number of species of plants and animals

for which little information was

available at the time the plan was

authored.

The purpose of this study is to

determine the effects of implementing

Forest Plan modeled silvicultural

prescriptions and associated harvest

techniques on existing mollusk

populations. It will also analyze longterm impacts, if any, and will study the

recovery rate of these species if impacts

are caused by treatments.

Many SM mollusks have been found

in the Salmon River Watershed on the

Klamath National Forest as a result of

recent project-level and strategic

surveys. These forested areas have

experienced varying levels of human

and natural disturbance (e.g., timber

harvest, wildfire, roads). The

administrative study will be used to

gather information on the impacts of

various harvest techniques, logging

systems, and associated treatments on

mollusks where very little information

exists. Completion of this administrative

study may assist with the development

of long-term land management options

on the Klamath National Forest.

Decision To Be Made

Whether the U.S. Department of

Agriculture, Forest Service, Klamath

National Forest will implement this

project as proposed, including a projectspecific amendment to the Forest Plan.

Responsible Official

Margaret Boland, Forest Supervisor,

USDA Forest Service, 1312 Fairlane

Road, Yreka, California 96097 is the

Responsible Official for making the

recommendation whether to implement

this administrative study or not. She

will document her decision and

rationale in a Record of Decision.

Public Involvement, Rationale, and

Public Meetings

In October 2000, this administrative

study was included in the Klamath

National Forest’s Fall 2000 Schedule of

Proposed Actions (SOPA), which was

posted on the Klamath National Forest’s

internet website and mailed to the

SOPA mailing list. In November 2000, a

scoping letter of the proposed

administrative study was sent to

potentially affected individuals and

anyone who expressed interest in this

study. This notice will invite public

comment for a period of 90 days.

Comments received will be included in

the documentation for the EIS. The

public is encouraged to take part in the

process and is encouraged to visit with

Forest Service officials at any time

during the analysis and prior to the

decision. The Forest Service will be

seeking information, comments and

assistance from Federal, State, and local

agencies and other individuals or

organizations who may be interested in,

or affected by, the proposed

administrative study.

While public participation in this

analysis is welcome at any time,

comments received within 45 days of

the publication of this notice will be

especially useful in the preparation of

the Draft EIS. A public meeting

associated with the project will be held

to gain a better understanding of public

issues and concerns. This meeting will

be held in the late spring of 2001.

Information from the meetings will be

used in preparation of the draft and

final EIS. The scoping process will

include identifying: potential issues,

significant issues to be analyzed in

depth, alternatives to the proposed

action, and potential environmental

effects of the proposal and alternatives.

Electronic Access and Filing Addresses

Comments may be sent by electronic

mail (e-mail) to

r5lklamathlComment@fs.fed.us.

Please reference the Comet

Administrative Study on the subject

line. Also, include your name and

mailing address with your comments so

documents pertaining to this project

may be mailed to you.

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 November 2001. 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 of 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 February 2002. 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 EISs 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. 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 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.

Margaret J. Boland,

Forest Supervisor, Klamath National Forest.

[FR Doc. 00–30400 Filed 11–28–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Lassen National Forest, California;

Mineral Forest Recovery Project

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

SUMMARY: The Forest Service intends to

prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose

the environmental effects of

implementing resource management

activities that include fuelbreak

construction consisting of a strategic

system of defensible fuel profile zones

(DFPZs), group selection harvests, and

riparian restoration projects on the

Almanor Ranger District in the Lassen

National Forest. These activities are part