[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 238 (Monday, December 11, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77340-77341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-31368]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


North Elkhorns Project; Including Timber Harvest and Prescribed 
Fire. Helena National Forest, Jefferson County, Montana.

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service is gathering information and 
preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the North 
Elkhorns Vegetation Project located approximately 9 air miles southeast 
of Helena, Montana.
    The Forest Service proposes to thin, using commercial timber 
harvest, approximately 745 acres in the E-4 Management Area of the 
Elkhorn Wildlife Management Unit.
    The biggest and healthiest trees would remain on the site, and the 
many scattered aspen stands would be revitalized through a combination 
of treatments, including some fence construction. The thinning 
treatment would require construction of about 1 mile of temporary road 
and reconstruction of about 6.5 miles of existing road. Following 
thinning, the area would be treated with low intensity fire and the 
temporary and reconstructed road segments would be returned to contour 
and revegetated.
    The proposal is designed to help restore the full range of wildlife 
habitats in the Elkhorn Wildlife Management Unit. The project will have 
other benefits including the reduction of wildfire risk in the urban 
interface.
    The project also would authorize the construction of 1500 feet of 
non-motorized trail to connect two existing non-motorized trails and 
formally designate 3.5 miles of existing road which is currently closed 
to motorized use as part of the non-motorized trail system.

COMMENTS: Comments concerning the proposal should be submitted to the 
responsible official and received in writing on or before January 25, 
2001.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official is Thomas J. Clifford, Forest 
Supervisor, Helena National Forest, Supervisor's Office, 2880 Skyway 
Drive, Helena, MT. 59601. Phone: (406) 449-5201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jodie Canfield, Wildlife Biologist and 
Interagency Elkhorn Coordinator, Townsend Ranger District, 415 South 
Front, Townsend, MT 59644. Phone: (406) 266-3425.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project would occur on National Forest 
lands of the Helena Ranger District. The activities would take place 
within portions of Sections 1, 2 and 12 of T.8N., R.3W. and Sections 5, 
6 and 7 of T.8N., R.3W., and a portion of Section

[[Page 77341]]

31, T.9N., R.3W., Montana Principle Meridian.
    The proposed treatments are not within a roadless area, but are 
within the Elkhorns Wildlife management Unit (within Management Area 
(E-4) of the Helena Forest Plan). This management area features an 
emphasis on habitat management for moose, elk and mule deer. The 
management standards include the implementation of wildlife habitat 
improvement practices, including prescribed fire and timber 
manipulation to maintain and enhance aspen and willow regeneration and 
other forested areas for wildlife habitat. (Helena Forest Plan, page 
III-90). The decisions to be made, based on this environmental 
analysis, are whether or not to treat the vegetation at this time, and 
if so, how would the treatments be accomplished.
    This EIS will tier to the Helena Forest Plan Final EIS of April 
1986, that provides program goals, objectives, and standards and 
guidelines for conducting management activities in this area. All 
activities associated with the proposal will be designed to implement 
the resource goals and standards identified in the Forest Plan.
    The Forest Service is seeking information and comments from 
Federal, State, and local agencies together with organizations or 
individuals who may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
action. The Forest Service invites written comments and suggestions on 
the issues for the proposal and the area being analyzed. Information 
received will be used in preparation of the Draft EIS.
    Preparation of the EIS will include the following steps:

1. Identification of issues to be analyzed in depth.
2. Identification of additional reasonable alternatives.
3. Identification of potential environmental effects of the 
alternatives.

    Commercial timber harvest will be used to restore important habitat 
that is currently nonexistant in the Wildlife Management Unit by 
thinning of individual trees while leaving the largest and healthiest 
trees on site, and by opening the stand such that fire can be 
reintroduced with minimal risk of killing the overstory trees. 
Following harvest, forests will be underburned to stimulate the 
regeneration of grasses, forbs, aspen and willow.
    Alternatives to this proposal will include the ``no action'' 
alternative, in which none of the proposed treatments would be 
implemented. Other alternatives will examine variations in the 
location, amount and method of vegetative management.
    The preliminary issues identified are:
    1. What wildlife species are benefited? Are there any wildlife 
species at risk that would be affected?
    2. What is the effect of the project on recreation?
    3. What effect will be project have on reducing the risk of 
catastrophic wildfire in the urban interface?
    4. What are the risks to nearby landowners relative to logging and 
burning operations?
    The Forest Service will analyze and disclose in the DEIS and FEIS 
the environmental effects of the proposed action and a reasonable range 
of alternatives. The DEIS and FEIS will disclose the direct, indirect 
and cumulative environmental effects of each alternative and its 
associated site specific mitigation measures.
    Public participation is especially important at several points of 
the analysis. Interested parties may visit with Forest Service 
officials at any time during the analysis. However, two periods of time 
are specifically identified for the receipt of comments. The first 
comment period is during the scoping process when the public is invited 
to give written comments to the Forest Service within 45 days of the 
publication of the Notice of Intent. The second review period is during 
the 45 day review of the DEIS when the public is invited to comment on 
the DEIS.
    The DEIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) and available for public review in February 2001. At that 
time, the EPA will publish a notice of availability of the DEIS in the 
Federal Register.
    The comment period on the DEIS will be 45 days from the date the 
notice of availability is published in the Federal Register.
    At this early stage in the scoping process, the Forest Service 
believes it is important to give reviewers notice of several court 
rulings related to public participation in the environmental review 
process. First, reviews of DEIS 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). Secondly, 
environmental objections that could be raised at the draft 
environmental impact statement stage, but that are not raised until 
after completion of the FEIS 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. 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 FEIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the DEIS 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 DEIS 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.)
    After the comment period ends on the DEIS, the comments will be 
analyzed and considered by the Forest Service in preparing the FEIS. 
The FEIS is expected to be filed in July 2001.

    Dated: November 22, 2000.
Thomas J. Clifford,
Forest Supervisor, Helena National Forest.
[FR Doc. 00-31368 Filed 12-8-00; 8:45 am]
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