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contains documents other than rules or

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Notices Federal Register

60617 

Vol. 72, No. 206 

Thursday, October 25, 2007 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Black Hills National Forest, Mystic 

Ranger District, South Dakota, Upper 

Spring Creek Project Area 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement on a proposal to use multiple 

vegetation treatments focused on 

creating a landscape condition more 

adapted to fire and that reduces 

potential for high severity wildfire near 

at-risk communities and in the 

wildland-urban interface, and reduce 

the threat to ecosystem components 

including forest resources from an 

existing insect epidemic. The proposal 

is being planned for the 44,100 acre 

Upper Spring Creek Project Area that 

includes about 39,700 acres of National 

Forest System land and about 4,300 

acres of interspersed private land. The 

project area generally extends westward 

from west of Hill City, South Dakota 

encompassing the Upper Spring Creek 

watershed. This project will be 

conducted as an authorized project 

under section 102 of the Healthy Forests 

Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA). Actions 

proposed for the Upper Spring Creek 

Project Area include the following: 

• Remove conifers from hardwood 

stands such as aspen and birch and by 

restoring meadows (est. 3,800 acres). 

• Reduce the amount of fuel that 

currently exists and that created by 

vegetation treatment activities. 

Treatment could include lopping, 

crushing, piling and burning; creating 

fuel breaks along roads and adjacent to 

private property, particularly those 

properties with houses and 

subdivisions. Prescribed broadcast 

burning of up to 14,200 acres is also 

planned to not only reduce fuel levels, 

but also benefit big game and other 

wildlife resources. 

• Thin and harvest approximately 

23,500 acres of pine stands using a 

variety of treatments to reduce the 

overall density of pine trees and create 

a mosaic of structural stages across the 

landscape. Both commercial harvest and 

non-commercial thinning will be sued 

to reduce the stand density, associated 

fuel hazard conditions and 

susceptibility to Mountain Pine Beetle 

(MPB) infestations. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis would be most useful if 

received by 30-days following the date 

of this notice. The draft environmental 

impact statement is expected to be 

available for public review by February 

2008 and the final environmental 

impact statement is expected to be 

completed by May 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger, 

Black Hills National Forest, Mystic 

Ranger District, Upper Spring Creek 

Project Area, 8221 South Highway 16, 

Rapid City, South Dakota 57702. 

Telephone Number: (605) 343–1567. Email: comments-rocky-mountain-blackhills-mystic@fs.fed.us with ‘‘Upper 

Spring Creek’’ as the subject. Electronic 

comments must be readable in Word, 

Rich Text or PDF formats. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If 

you have any questions or need 

additional information please contact 

Katie Van Alstyne, Team Leader or 

Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger, at 

the Mystic Ranger District office in 

Rapid City at (605) 343–1567. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

actions proposed are in direct response 

to management direction provided by 

the Black Hills National Forest Land 

and Resource Management Plan (Forest 

Plan). The site specific actions are 

designed, based on Forest Plan 

Standards and Guidelines, to move 

existing resource conditions in the 

Upper Spring Creek Project Area toward 

meeting Forest Plan Goals and 

Objectives. Anticipate issues include: 

Wildlife and fuels hazards, MPB effects, 

prescribed fire, activity fuels reduction, 

vegetation and wildlife habitat diversity, 

and socioeconomic issues. The range of 

alternatives analyzed in the EIS is 

expected to be consistent with Sec. 104 

of the HFRA. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose of the Upper Spring 

Creek Project is to: 

• Move toward achieving desired 

land and resource conditions, as 

provided by the Forest Plan, as 

amended. 

• Restore resource conditions to a 

healthy, resilient fire-adapted 

ecosystem. 

• Reduce the threat to ecosystem 

components including forest resources, 

from the existing insect (mountain pine 

beetle) epidemic. 

• Help protect local communities and 

resources from catastrophic wildlife. 

This project is focused on 

implementing management actions that 

move toward achieving: 

• Desired conditions and objectives 

embodied in Goals 2, 3, 7, and 10 of the 

Forest Plan (as amended). 

• Goals and objectives applicable to 

Forest Plan Management Area (MA) 

4.1—Limited Motorized Use and Forest 

Product Emphasis; MA 5.1—Resource 

Production Emphasis; and MA 5.4—Big 

Game Winter Range Emphasis, that lie 

within U.S.C., described in Chapter III 

of the Forest Plan (Phase II 

Amendment). 

• Goals of the Healthy Forest 

Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 (HR 

1904) and other National level 

initiatives and policy that provide 

procedural tools to hasten process 

focused on reducing the probability and 

occurrence of severe wildlife in the fire 

adapted ecosystems, especially near at 

risk communities (ARC) and in the 

wildland-urban interface (WUI). 

Addressing the existence of insect or 

disease on public and adjacent private 

lands. Moreover, it is appropriate that 

proposed actions be designed in 

consideration of applicable fuels hazard 

reduction management 

recommendations and guidelines 

provided by the Pennington County 

Community Wildfire Protection Plan 

(CWPP) of 2007 and the Custer County 

CWPP of 2006. 

Proposed Action 

Proposed actions include the 

following: 

• Restore natural fuel breaks to help 

reduce the potential for large-scale, 

intense wildfire spread. Treatment 

includes removing conifers from 

hardwood stands such as aspen and 

birch and by restoring meadows (est. 

3,800 acres). 

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60618 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 206 / Thursday, October 25, 2007 / Notices 

• Reduce the amount of fuel that 

currently exists and that created by 

vegetation treatment activities. 

Treatment could include lopping, 

chipping, crushing, piling and burning; 

creating fuel breaks along roads and 

adjacent to private property, particularly 

those properties with houses and 

subdivisions. Prescribed broadcast 

burning of up to 14,200 acres is also 

planned to not only reduce fuel levels, 

but also benefit big game and other 

wildlife resources. 

• Thin and harvest approximately 

23,500 acres of pine stands using a 

variety of treatments to reduce the 

overall density of pine trees and create 

a mosaic of structural stages across the 

landscape. Both commercial and noncommercial sized trees would be 

removed utilizing multiple contracts 

including stewardship, timber sale, and 

service contracts. 

Responsible Official 

Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger, 

Mystic Ranger District, Black Hills 

National Forest, 8221 South Highway 

16, Rapid City, SD 57702. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The decision to be made is whether or 

not to implement the proposed action or 

possible alternative at this time. 

Scoping Process 

Comments and input regarding the 

proposal will be received via direct 

mailing from the public, other groups 

and agencies during the initial public 

comment period in October and 

November 2007. If you would like to be 

more involved, a public meeting is 

scheduled for Thursday November 8, 

2007 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the City 

Hall conference room in Hill City, South 

Dakota. Comments submitted based on 

this NOI will be most useful if received 

within 30 days from the date of this 

notice. Response to the draft EIS will be 

sought from the interested public 

beginning in February 2008. 

Comment Requested 

This NOI provides information that 

the agency will prepare an 

environmental impact statement in 

response to public comment and 

feedback during the October and 

November 2007 scoping period. 

Comments received will assist the 

planning team to identify key issues and 

opportunities used to refine the 

proposal or possible alternatives. 

Comments on the DEIS will be 

requested during the 45 day comment 

period following the Notice of 

Availability, expected to be published 

in the Federal Register in February 2008 

(See discussion below). 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental 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, 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 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. 

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, section 21) 

Dated: October 17, 2007. 

Craig Bobzien, 

Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest. 

[FR Doc. 07–5273 Filed 10–24–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Lassen National Forest, California, 

Lassen National Forest Public Wheeled 

Motorized Travel Management EIS 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Lassen National Forest 

(LNF) will prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement to disclose the 

impacts associated with the following 

proposed actions: 1. The prohibition of 

wheeled motorized vehicle travel off 

designated National Forest System 

(NFS) roads, NFS trails and areas by the 

public except as allowed by permit or 

other authorization. 2. The addition of 

approximately 37 miles of unauthorized 

routes to the NFS of roads and 

motorized trails. 3. The addition of 

approximately 26 acres for open riding 

(10 areas), where use of wheeled 

motorized vehicles by the public would 

be allowed anywhere within the 

specifically delineated area. 4. Allowing 

non-highway legal vehicle use on 

approximately 12 miles of existing NFS 

roads where such use is currently 

prohibited. 

DATES: The comment period on the 

proposed action will extend 30 days 

from the date the Notice of Intent is 

published in the Federal Register. 

Completion of the Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

is expected in March of 2008 and the 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

(FEIS) is expected in June of 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send electronic comments 

to: ltmrd@fs.fed.us. Send written 

comments to: Travel Management Team, 

Lassen National Forest, 2550 Riverside 

Drive, Susanville, CA 96130. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Allen Nosler, Lassen National Forest, 

2550 Riverside Drive, Susanville, CA 

96130. Phone: (530) 252–6637. E-mail: 

anosler@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

Over the past few decades, the 

availability and capability of motorized 

vehicles, particularly off-highway 

vehicles (OHVs) and sport utility 

vehicles (SUVs) has increased 

tremendously. Nationally, the number 

of OHV users has climbed sevenfold in 

the past 30 years, from approximately 5 

million in 1972 to 36 million in 2000. 

The ten states with the largest 

population also have the most OHV 

users. California has 4.35 million OHV 

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