20624 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2001 / Notices

that those interested in this proposed

action participate by the close of the 45-

day comment period of the draft EIS in

order that substantive comments and

objections are 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 should

be as specific as possible. 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, including names

and addresses of those who comment,

are part of the public record for this

project and are available for public

inspection.

Decision Space: The primary decision

will be whether or not to implement the

proposed projects or alternatives of the

projects within the project area that

respond to the purpose and need. The

decision may also include additional

resource protection measures,

monitoring, and whether Forest Plan

amendments are needed to implement

the decision.

Responsible Official: The responsible

official for this decision is Bob Hennes,

District Ranger, Medford/Park Falls

Ranger District, Chequamegon-Nicolet

National Forest.

(Authority: Forest Service Handbook

1909.15, 21.1; Forest Service Manual

1013.04e)

Dated: April 17, 2001.

Lynn Roberts,

Forest Supervisor, Chequamegon-Nicolet

National Forest.

[FR Doc. 01–10054 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Northwest Howell Project;

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest,

Forest and Florence Counties,

Wisconsin

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will

prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) to document the

analysis and disclose the environmental

impacts of proposed land management

activities, and corresponding

alternatives, within the Northwest

Howell project area.

The purpose of the Northwest Howell

project is to implement land

management activities that are

consistent with direction in the Nicolet

National Forest Land and Resource

Management Plan (Forest Plan) and

respond to specific needs identified in

the project area. The project-specific

needs include addressing: forest age,

structure and composition,

reforestation, providing wood fiber and

forest products, road closures, Pine

River Wild River Corridor

enhancements, and fish and wildlife

habitat maintenance and improvement.

The Northwest Howell project area is

located primarily on National Forest

System lands, administered by the Eagle

River-Florence Ranger District,

surrounding Alvin, Wisconsin. The

majority of the project area encompasses

several management areas that

emphasize maintaining a mix of forest

types including early successional

species, uneven-aged hardwoods and

upland pines. Additionally, the project

includes a management area that

emphasizes protecting and enhancing

the qualities of certain rivers that could

be eligible for consideration as Federally

designated Wild and Scenic Rivers. The

Northwest Howell project contains a

portion of the Pine River, which is

designated by the State of Wisconsin as

a State Wild River. The legal description

for the project area is: Township 39

North, Range 14 East, Sections 2–4;

Township 40 North, Range 12 East,

Sections 11–14, 23–24; Township 40

North, Range 13E Sections 1–26;

Township 40 North, Range 14 East,

Sections 1–35; Township 41 North,

Range 13 East, Sections 14, 15, 21–29,

32–36; and Township 41 North, Range

14 East, Sections 17–36, Township 40

North, Range 15 East, Section 6; and

Township 41 North, Range 15 East,

Sections 30–32 Fourth Principal

Meridian.

DATES: Comments concerning the

proposed land management activities

should be received by June 15, 2001, to

receive timely consideration in the

preparation of the draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments

concerning the proposed land

management activities or requests to be

placed on the project mailing list to:

E.B. Fitzpatrick III, District Ranger,

Eagle River-Florence Ranger District, HC

1 Box 83, Florence, Wisconsin 54121.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shirley Frank, Northwest Howell Project

Leader, Eagle River-Florence Ranger

District, HC 1 Box 83, Florence,

Wisconsin 54121, phone (715) 528–4464

ext. 27.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

information presented in this notice is

included to help the reviewer determine

if they are interested in or potentially

affected by the proposed land

management activities. The information

presented in this notice is summarized.

Those who wish to provide comments,

or are otherwise interested in or affected

by the project, are encouraged to obtain

additional information from the contact

identified in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section.

Proposed Actions—The proposed

land management activities (proposed

actions) include the following, with

approximate acreage and mileage

values: Forest age, structure, and

composition—selection harvest 6,108

acres, thin 800 acres, clearcut harvest

513 acres, overstory removal harvest 367

acres, and shelterwood harvest 127

acres (other actions needed include 1.9

miles of road construction and 23.6

miles of road reconstruction;

Reforestation—prescribe burn 47 acres

for natural regeneration of jack pine,

hand-scalp and under-plant 200 acres of

white pine, eastern hemlock, cedar and

other species in the understories of

existing stands, mechanical site

preparation and planting of 68 acres of

jack pine, temporarily fence 20 acres of

under-planted areas, manual site

preparation of 416 acres within aspen

clearcuts and 147 acres of canopy gaps

within selection harvests; Road

Closures—close, allow to re-vegetate

and remove from the Forest’s

inventoried road system 19.3 miles of

roads; Fish and Wildlife Habitat

Maintenance and Improvement—place

approximately 75 whole tree structures

along the shoreline and place about 40

crib structures near the shoreline of

Steven’s Lake, place approximately 50

whole tree structures along the shore

line of Quartz Lake, place about 20 crib

structures and 30 half-log structures

within Quartz Lake, maintain 375 acres

in existing permanent upland openings

using by hand-cutting, mowing or

burning, and plant fruit-bearing shrubs

on approximately fifty percent of these

sites.

Responsible Official—The District

Ranger of the Eagle River-Florence

Ranger District, E.B. Fitzpatrick III, is

the Responsible Official for making

project-level decisions from the project.

Decision Space—Decision-making

will be limited to specific activities

relating to the proposed actions. The

primary decision to be made will be

whether or not to implement the

proposed actions or another action

alternative that responds to the project’s

purpose and needs.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 24, 2001 / Notices 20625

Preliminary Issues—Comments from

Native American Indian tribes, the

public, and other agencies were

considered in identifying the following

preliminary issues: effects to threatened,

endangered, and sensitive species;

effects to management indicator species,

effects to wild and scenic river corridor

characteristics; effects from road

construction and road closures; effects

to motorized recreational access.

Public Participation—The Forest

Service is seeking comments from

Federal, State, and local agencies, as

well as local Native American tribes and

other individuals or organizations that

may be interested in or affected by the

proposed actions. Comments received in

response to this notice will become a

matter of public record. While public

participation is welcome at any time,

comments on the proposed actions

received by June 15, 2001, will be

especially useful in the preparation of

the draft EIS. Timely comments will be

used to identify: potential issues with

the proposed actions, alternatives to the

proposed actions that respond to the

identified needs and significant issues,

and potential environmental effects of

the proposed actions and alternatives

considered in detail. In addition, the

public is encouraged to contact and/or

visit Forest Service officials at any time

during the planning process.

Relation to Forest Plan Revision—The

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest is

in the process of revising and combining

the existing Land and Resource

Management Plans (Forest Plans) for the

Chequamegon National Forest and the

Nicolet National Forest, which were

administratively separate at the time the

Forest Plans were developed. A Notice

of Intent to revise and combine the

Forest Plans was issued in 1996. As part

of this process, various inventories and

evaluations are occurring. Additionally,

the Forest is in the process of

developing alternative land

management scenarios that could

change the desired future conditions

and management direction for the

Forest. A Draft Environmental Impact

Statement (DEIS) will be published in

the near future that will disclose the

consequences of the different land

management direction scenarios

considered in detail. As a result of the

Forest Plan revision effort, the Forest

has new and additional information

beyond that used to develop the existing

Forest Plans. This information will be

used where appropriate in the analysis

of this project to disclose the effects of

the proposed activities and any

alternatives developed in detail.

The decisions associated with the

analysis of this project will be

consistent with the existing Forest Plan,

unless amended, for the Nicolet. Under

regulations of the National

Environmental Policy Act (40 CFR

1506.1), the Forest Service can take

actions while work on a Forest Plan

revision is in progress because a

programmatic Environmental Impact

Statement—the existing Forest Plan

Final EIS, already supports the actions.

The relationship of this project to the

proposed FP revision will be considered

as appropriate as part of this planning

effort.

Estimated Dates for Filing—The draft

EIS is expected to be filed with the

Environmental Protection Agency and

available for public review in December,

2001. A 45-day comment period will

follow publication of a Notice of

Availability of the draft EIS in the

Federal Register. Comments received on

the draft EIS will be used in preparation

of the final EIS, expected in July, 2002.

A Record of Decision (ROD) will also be

issued at that time along with the

publication of a Notice of Availability of

the final EIS and ROD in the Federal

Register.

Reviewer’s Obligation to Comment—

The Forest Service believes it is

important at this early stage to give

reviewers notice of several court rulings

related to public participation in the

environmental review process. First,

reviewers of the draft EIS must structure

their participation in the environmental

review of the proposal in such a way

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, 513

(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 of the draft EIS in

order that substantive comments and

objections are 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 should

be as specific as possible. 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: April 18, 2001.

Lynn Roberts,

Forest Supervisor, Chequamegon-Nicolet

National Forest.

[FR Doc. 01–10058 Filed 4–23–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410–11–U

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Sunken Moose Project; Chequamegon/

Nicolet National Forest, Bayfield

County, Wisconsin

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice, intent to prepare an

environmental impact statement.

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will

prepare an environmental impact

statement (EIS) to document the

analysis and disclose the environmental

effects of proposed land management

activities, and corresponding

alternatives, within the Sunken Moose

Project Area.

The purpose of the Sunken Moose

project is to implement land

management activities that are

consistent with direction in the

Chequamegon Nation Forest Land and

Resource Management Plan (Forest

Plan) and to respond to specific needs,

identified during Watershed Analysis,

within the project area. The project

specific needs include addressing: forest

vegetation composition, age, ecological

structure and processes; stand tending;

transportation management; erosion

control; access to lakes; and wildfire

prevention.

The project area is located on

National Forest System lands within the

Bayfield Peninsula Southeast, Bayfield

Peninsula Northwest, Iron River, and

Fish Creek Watersheds west of

Washburn, Wisconsin. A general legal

description of the area follows: Land

lying within the National Forest

Boundary within Township 47 North,

Range 6 West, Sections 2–8, 17, 18;

Township 47 North, Range 7 West,

Sections 1–18, 21,22; Township 47

North, Range 8 West, Section 1;

Township 48 North, Range 5 West,

Section 6; Township 48 North, Range 6

West; Township 48 North, Range 7

West; Township 48 North, Range 8

West, Sections 12, 13, 24, 25, 36;

Township 49 North, Range 5 West,

Sections 6–7,18–19,30–31; Township 49

North, Range 6 West; Township 49

North, Range 7 West, Sections 1, 11–17,

20–29, 32–36.