[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 200 (Tuesday, October 18, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60488-60489]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-20788]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Fuel Reduction Activities Within the City of Bozeman's Municipal 
Watershed on the Gallatin National Forest and City of Bozeman Lands, 
Montana; Gallatin National Forest; Gallatin County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to disclose the environmental effects of a proposed 
fuels reduction project that will help maintain the water supply to the 
City of Bozeman. The project's purpose and need is to begin reducing 
the potential severity and extent and future wildland fires in the 
Bozeman and Hyalite Municipal Watersheds, begin creating vegetation and 
fuel conditions that will reduce the risk of excess sediment and ash 
reaching the municipal water treatment plant in the event of a sever 
wildland fire, begin creating vegetation and fuel conditions that will 
provide for firefighter and public safety by modifying potential fire 
behavior, and reduce fuel conditions in the wildland/urban interface 
(WUI). A range of 3 to 5 alternatives are targeted for consideration in 
this planning process.

DATES: Initial comments on this proposal should be received by November 
11, 2005.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Jim Devitt, Gallatin 
National Forest Supervisors Office, P.O. Box 130, Bozeman, Montana 
59771-0130.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Devitt, Bozeman Municipal 
Watershed Project Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Gallatin National 
Forest Supervisors Office, (406) 587-6749.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of this project, as identified 
by the Gallatin National Forest and the City of Bozeman, is to maintain 
a high-quality, long term, and predictable water supply for Bozeman 
area residents. The Bozeman Municipal Watershed analysis area is a 
landscape dominated by steep canyons and timbered slopes. The two 
drainages are very popular and receive heavy use for outdoor recreation 
activities such as pleasure driving, hiking, biking, camping, 
picnicking, fishing, and hunting, to name a few. The Bozeman Municipal 
Water project will apply to portions of National Forest System Lands 
and City of Bozeman land within the Bozeman and Hyalite Watersheds. 
There are several homes and sub-divisions within one half mile of the 
forest boundary or within the WUI. Fire simulation models showed that a 
large fire started in either Bozeman Creek or Hyalite Creek could 
easily burn into the adjacent drainage, resulting in a situation where 
both major sources of city water supply are simultaneously impacted. 
The Forest Service and City of Bozeman believe it is timely to begin 
addressing this project's purpose. The purpose and need for this 
project would be achieved by (1) Maintaining low fire severity 
conditions through prescribed burning. (2) Maintaining the 
effectiveness of the riparian filtration zone by removing or cutting 
conifers to invigorate shrub communities. (3) Treating invasive weed 
species to maintain native communities and allow the riparian area to 
function as efficiently as possible.
    The Forest Service is looking for ways to do innovative treatments 
to address this project's purpose and need. Potential fuel activities 
being considered include treating up to 6,000 total acres, including a 
small portion of the Gallatin Divide Inventoried Roadless Area in the 
Bozeman Creek watershed, and treating up to 3,000 acres in the Hyalite 
Creek watershed with a combination of prescribed burning, thinning, 
brush cutting, and commercial tree harvest.
    To facilitate public comment, the Forest Service has prepared a 
scoping document. This document identifies a one possible set of 
treatment options and can be viewed on the Gallatin National Forest Web 
site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin. A copy can be also be 
obtained by calling or writing the contact person identified above. The 
scooping comment period will end November 11, 2005.
    Comments on the scoping document from the public and other agencies 
will be used in preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS). More specifically, comments will be used to modify and refine 
the alternatives and identify potential resources issues (environmental 
effects) that should be considered in analysis.
    The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in June of 
2006. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of Availability of 
the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the Draft 
EIS is estimated to be 45 days from the date the EPA's notice of 
availability appears in the Federal Register. The Final EIS is 
scheduled for completion in the spring of 2007.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues, 
comments should be specific to concerns associated with the fuel 
reduction activities within a municipal watershed. 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 structuring comments.
    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, 
533 (1978). 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 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 during comment periods provided so that substantive 
comments and objections are made available to the Forest Service at a 
time when they can meaningfully consider them. To assist the Forest 
Service in identifying and considering issues, comments should be 
specific to concerns associated with the management of roads and trails 
on the Gallatin National Forest. 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 structuring comments.
    I am the responsible official for this Environmental Impact 
Statement and

[[Page 60489]]

the ultimate decision for a Bozeman Watershed Project. My address is 
Forest Supervisor, Gallatin National Forest, P.O. Box 130, Federal 
Building, Bozeman, MT 59771.

    Dated: October 7, 2005.
Rebecca Heath,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 05-20788 Filed 10-17-05; 8:45 am]
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