5602 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 22 / Thursday, February 3, 2005 / Notices 

Done in Washington, DC, this 28th day of 

January 2005. 

Elizabeth E. Gaston, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service.

[FR Doc. E5–409 Filed 2–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service 

Emerald Creek Garnet Area; Idaho 

Panhandle National Forests, Benewah 

and Latah Counties, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The St. Joe Ranger District of 

the Idaho Panhandle National forests is 

beginning analysis and preparation of 

an Environmental Impact Statement to 

address recreational gemstone digging of 

the garnet resource in the Emerald Creek 

drainage. 

The project area produces 

extraordinary quality and quantity of 

large garnets. Some of the drainages 

produce star garnets. The Forest Service 

currently manages a public digging area 

by fee permit in 281 Gulch, a tributary 

to Emerald Creek. 

The purpose and need for this project 

is based on the fact that the garnet 

resource is finite and valuable and there 

is considerable public interest in 

retaining the recreational digging area. 

Gemstone deposits within the current 

National Forest recreational digging area 

in 281 Gulch are being depleted. If the 

Forest Service is going to continue to 

provide this unique recreational digging 

opportunity another area needs to be 

identified and developed. Different 

operation methods are also needed to 

protect water quality and fish habitat 

while still providing a recreational 

gemstone collecting experience for the 

public. 

Responsible Official: Ranotta McNair, 

Forest Supervisor, Idaho Panhandle 

National Forests, 3815 Schreiber Way, 

Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815.

DATES: The Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement is expected to be filed by 

March 25, 2005. The Final 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

expected to be filed by September 30, 

2005. 

Proposed Action: The Forest Service 

would continue operating the public 

digging area. Several tributaries of the 

East Fork of Emerald Creek would be 

reserved for future opportunities for 

public recreational digging of gemstone 

garnets. These areas would not be 

available for commercial lease. A 

rehabilitation plan for PeeWee, No 

Name and 281 Gulch would be prepared 

to improve fish habitat and maintain 

water quality. These are streams where 

garnet digging has occurred or is 

currently active and where fish habitat 

can be enhanced. The public dig would 

remain in 281 Gulch as long as it is 

feasible or until the operations reach 

Forest Road 447 on the East Fork of 

Emerald Creek (two to three years). 

Continuing auger or trench exploration 

would be conducted to facilitate future 

dig planning. 

In two to three years the Forest 

Service would move the public dig from 

281 Gulch to Garnet Gulch. Forest 

Service operation of the public digging 

area would change to protect water 

quality and fish habitat. This would in 

turn change the recreational garnet 

collecting experience. Currently an area 

along the drainage is marked off and 

people can choose where to dig for 

garnet-bearing gravels. Gravels are then 

washed in a settling pond. This method 

would be phased out in the next two to 

three years. Equipment would be used 

to remove the overburden and stockpile 

garnet-bearing gravels. Recreational 

diggers would fill a bucket from the 

garnet-bearing stockpile and take it to a 

sluice for washing.

When operations move to Garnet 

Gulch the public would have a longer 

walk to the digging area. Currently 

recreational garnet diggers walk 

approximately one quarter mile to the 

dig site. When operations move to 

Garnet Gulch the walk would be 

approximately one mile. The walk 

would have some steeper pitches (up to 

20 percent) than the current walk. 

The operations plan for Garnet Gulch 

would include using equipment for 

stream channel work, rehabilitation, 

removing overburden, and stockpiling 

garnet-bearing gravels. The stream 

would only be disturbed once. The 

Forest Service would be able to 

rehabilitate the area immediately 

following overburden removal rather 

than at the end of the digging season. 

Water for the sluice would be put into 

a settling pond, recycled and then 

distributed over land. 

Issues: Maintaining fish and water 

quality are issues of primary 

importance. Whether or not to maintain 

recreational digging areas is likely to be 

an issue. Other issues will be identified 

through public involvement and 

environmental analysis. A likely 

alternative to the proposed action would 

include constructing a road that would 

allow people to drive all the way to the 

sluice site at Garnet Gulch. 

Public Involvement: A scoping letter 

was sent to garnet area visitors and 

other people who may be interested in 

the project to inform them about the 

project and solicit comments. News 

releases were sent to local and major 

newspapers in northern Idaho. This 

project is also listed on the Idaho 

Panhandle National Forest Web site 

(http://www.fs.fed.us/ipnf). Pertinent 

documents will be displayed on this 

site. In addition, the comment period on 

the draft environmental impact 

statement will be 45 days from the date 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes the notice of availability in 

the Federal Register. It is the reviewer’s 

obligation to comment during the 

scoping and/or DEIS review. 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, it is important to give 

reviewers notice 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 (1973). Also, 

environmental objections that could be 

raised at the draft environmental impact 

statement stage but that are not raised 

until after completion of the final 

environmental impact statement may be 

waived or dismissed by the courts. City 

of Amgoon 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.

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 22 / Thursday, February 3, 2005 / Notices 5603

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent 

to: Emerald Creek Garnet Area EIS, St. 

Joe Ranger District, 222 S 7th Street 

Suite 1, St. Maries, ID 83861.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Tracy Gravelle, St. Joe Ranger District, 

Avery Office, HC Box 1, Avery, ID 

83861, 208–245–6207. 

Other Agency Permits: Project 

implementation within floodplains 

would require Corps of Engineers 

Permits (404 permits).

Dated: January 28, 2005. 

Ranotta K. McNair, 

Forest Supervisor, Idaho Panhandle National 

Forests.

[FR Doc. 05–2046 Filed 2–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service 

Warren County, PA; Notice of Intent

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service, Allegheny 

National Forest, Bradford Ranger 

District, will prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement to 

disclose the environmental 

consequences of the proposed West 

Branch of Tionesta Project. The Forest 

Service is proposing actions that would 

move the West Branch of Tionesta 

Project Area from the existing condition 

towards the Desired Future Condition 

(DFC) and would maintain the DFC in 

situations where it has been attained. 

The DFC is described in the Allegheny 

National Forest Land and Resource 

Management Plan (Forest Plan). 

Proposed activities to meet the 

Desired Future Condition fall into four 

main categories. (1) Timber harvest and 

reforestation treatments consist of: 

shelterwood seedcut/removal cut, 

shelterwood removal cut, salvage 

removal cut, salvage shelterwood seed 

cut/removal cut, single tree selection, 

group selection, commercial thinning, 

intermediate thinning, pre-commercial 

thinning, improvement cutting, manual 

site preparation and release, herbicide 

application, fertilization, fencing, 

controlled burning, scarification, and 

tree planting. (2) Wildlife habitat 

improvement treatments consist of: 

noncommercial thinning, oak/hickory/

shrub underplanting, pruning and 

release of apple trees, release of white 

pine trees, hawthorn release, 

constructing new openings, opening 

maintenance, planting/fencing shrubs in 

openings, mowing, topdressing, seeding 

with wildflowers and grass, 

constructing nest/roost boxes. (3) 

Transportation treatments consist of: 

road decommissioning, road 

maintenance, road construction, road 

resurfacing, expanding and developing 

stone pits, and changing road access. (4) 

Watershed treatments consist of: Stream 

restoration and enhancement, obliterate 

and restore illegal stream crossings, 

enclose open top bridges, apply 

limestone surfacing within 300 feet of 

streams, and restore the natural flow of 

the stream.

DATES: Comments and suggestions 

concerning the scope of the analysis 

should be submitted (postmarked) by 

March 4, 2005 to ensure timely 

consideration.

ADDRESSES: Submit written, oral, or email comments by: (1) Mail: ‘‘West 

Branch of Tionesta Project,’’ ID Team 

Leader, 29 Forest Service Drive, 

Bradford, PA 16701; (2) phone: (814) 

362–4613; (3) e-mail: comments-easternallegheny-bradford@fs.fed.us (please 

note: when commenting by e-mail be 

sure to list West Branch of Tionesta EIS 

in the subject line and include a U.S. 

Postal Service address so we may add 

you to our mailing list). For further 

information contact O’Dell E. Tucker, 

project team leader, Bradford Ranger 

District, at (814) 362–4613 or mail/email correspondence to addresses listed 

above. The scoping letter and maps for 

the West Branch of Tionesta EIS are 

posted on the ANF Web site: http://

www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/allegheny.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Allegheny National Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan (Forest 

Plan) sets site-specific goals for the 

management of forest resources. The 

West Branch of Tionesta Project 

includes portions of Management Area 

(MA) 3.0, which emphasizes timber 

harvesting as a means to make desired 

changes to forest vegetation and satisfy 

the public demand for wood products. 

The project area also includes portions 

of MA 6.1, which emphasizes providing 

habitat for wildlife, attractive scenery, 

and opportunities for semi-primitive 

motorized recreation; and portions of 

MA 8.0, which emphasizes protection of 

unique ecosystems for scientific 

purposes and dispersed recreation. 

Finally, the project area contains 

portions of MA 9.1, which emphasizes 

forest area to be managed with minimal 

investments only to protect the 

environment and the incidental forest 

users. 

Preliminary Issues were identified 

based on past projects in the area 

(environmental assessments), issues 

developed for similar projects, and sitespecific concerns raised by the resource 

specialists. These issues, listed below, 

will provide a framework that the Forest 

Service will use to analyze a range of 

alternatives, including No Action for the 

Project Area. 

(1) Roads—The West Branch of 

Tionesta project area contains heavily 

roaded areas due to extensive oil and 

gas developments in the northwestern 

and eastern portions of the project area. 

Water quality and stream flow regimes 

are the primary concerns of heavy road 

densities. Sedimentation of streams and 

riparian areas is also a concern from 

roads due to impacts to stream channel 

morphology and aquatic habitat. The 

West Branch of Tionesta Roads Analysis 

Project (RAP) team will continue 

evaluating these and other road related 

issues, and will present their findings in 

a RAP document that will be available 

to the public. 

(2) Special Designation Waters—

Wildcat Run and Arnot Run are 

designated ‘‘Exceptional Value 

Watersheds’’ by the Pennsylvania 

Department of Environmental 

Protection. Slater Run, while not a State 

special designated water, flows directly 

into the Allegheny River where 

threatened, endangered, and sensitive 

species are located. The special status of 

waterways in these watersheds will 

increase sensitivity towards land 

disturbing activities such as vegetation 

and road management. 

(3) Biological Diversity and Wildlife 

Habitat—The area is dominated by fiftyone to one hundred and ten year ageclasses. There is a shortage of habitat 

provided by younger age classes and old 

growth. Existing younger age classes 

will develop into older age classes in 

the next decades as they mature. Certain 

wildlife species require different ages of 

vegetation. Other wildlife species need 

a variety of forest types positioned near 

each other or perhaps near water. 

Management practices should reflect a 

balance of activities that assure 

biological diversity is maintained or 

enhanced. Concepts of biological 

diversity suggest that land management 

should encourage a variety of habitats. 

(4) Proposed Special Emphasis 

Areas—There are proposed management 

activities within the project area 

identified by Allegheny Defense Project 

for special management. Proposed 

vegetation management activities in 

these areas follow current forest plan 

direction.

Project Area and Roads Analysis 

Project Public Meeting: The public 

meeting for the project area and the RAP 

for WBTPA has been scheduled for 

Saturday, February 19, 2005 at 10 a.m. 

to 2 p.m. We will meet at the Bradford