[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10347-10348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4570]



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Notice of the Preparation of the Southern Appalachian Assessment, 
and the Beginning of the Forest Plan Revision Efforts for the National 
Forests in Alabama, Chattahoochee-Oconee, Cherokee, and Sumter National 
Forests

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice is to announce the U.S. Forest Service's 
participation in the preparation of the Southern Appalachian Assessment 
(SAA). This Assessment is being prepared by the U.S. Forest Service 
(the Southern Region of the National Forest System and the Southeastern 
Forest Experiment Station) in cooperation with the other Federal 
agencies that are members of SAMAB (Southern Appalachian Man and the 
Biosphere Cooperative). It will include national forest lands of the 
George Washington, Jefferson, Nantahala-Pisgah, Cherokee, and 
Chattahoochee National Forests; and parts of the Sumter and Talladega 
National Forests. Also involved will be National Park Service lands in 
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shenandoah National Park, and 
the Blue Ridge Parkway.
    This notice also announces the beginning of the efforts to revise 
the Land and Resource Management Plans (Forest Plans) for the National 
Forests in Alabama, the Chattahoochee-Oconee, the Cherokee, and the 
Sumter National Forests. This is not the ``Notice of Intent'' (NOI) for 
the Environmental Impact Statements that will accompany the Revised 
Forest Plans. Those NOIs will be issued at a later date.
    The Southern Appalachian Assessment will support and facilitate 
ecosystem management decisions to be made in Forest Plan revisions. As 
the National Forests in the Southern Appalachians are conducting their 
local efforts to describe their ``Analysis of the Management 
Situation'' (AMS), they will also be providing information for the 
larger scale Southern Appalachian Assessment.
    The Assessment will be used to help determine each National 
Forests' ``Need for Change'' section of their AMS. This information 
will then be used to publish the Notices of Intent to prepare the 
Environmental Impact Statements, which will begin the NEPA (National 
Environmental Policy Act) processes associated with each Forest Plan 
revision.
    Public involvement is critical throughout these processes and it 
will be requested and accepted continually throughout these efforts. 
Formal public involvement with the Forest Plan revision efforts will 
also be conducted through ``Scoping'', following the issuance of the 
National Forests NOIs.

DATES: The Southern Appalachian Assessment is scheduled to be completed 
by January 1996.
    The National Forests in Alabama, the Chattahoochee-Oconee National 
Forests, the Cherokee National Forest, and the Sumter National Forest 
are scheduled to complete the drafts of their Analysis of the 
Management Situation between October 1995 and January 1996. During this 
same time period, these Forests are scheduled to issue their Notices of 
Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (NOI) for their 
Revised Land and Resource Management Plans. A Revised NOI for the 
Jefferson National Forest will also be issued during this time period.

ADDRESSES: Requests for information, and comments concerning this 
notice can be sent to:

Director, Planning and Budget, USDA-Forest Service, 1720 Peachtree Rd. 
NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30367-9102.
Co-Team Leader, Southern Appalachian Assessment, USDA-Forest Service, 
1720 Peachtree Rd. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30367-9102.
Forest Supervisor, National Forests in Alabama, 2946 Chestnut, 
Montgomery, Alabama 36107-3010.
Forest Supervisor, Chattahoochee-Oconee NFs, 508 Oak Street NW, 
Gainesville, Georgia 30501.
Forest Supervisor, Cherokee NF, 2800 N. Oconee St. NE., P.O. Box 2010, 
Cleveland, Tennessee 37320-2010.
Forest Supervisor, Francis Marion-Sumter NFs, 4931 Broad River, 
Columbia, South Carolina 29210-4021.
Forest Supervisor, George Washington NF, P.O. Box 233, Harrison Plaza, 
Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801.
Forest Supervisor, Jefferson NF, 5162 Valley Pointe Parkway, Roanoke, 
Virginia 24019-3050.
Forest Supervisor, National Forests in North Carolina, 100 Post and 
Otis Streets, P.O. Box 2750, Asheville, North Carolina 28802.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
For more information concerning this notice contact: Gary Pierson, 
Director of Planning and Budget, Southern Region. For more information 
on the Southern Appalachian Assessment contact: Forrest Carpenter, Co-
Team Leader, Southern Region. For more information from the individual 
National Forests contact: Rick Morgan, Planning Team Leader, National 
Forests in Alabama; Caren Briscoe, Planning Staff Officer, 
Chattahoochee-Oconee NF; Red Anderson, Planning Team Leader, Cherokee 
NF; Dave Plunkett, NEPA Coordinator, George Washington NF; Nancy Ross, 
Planning Team Leader, Jefferson NF; Larry Hayden, Planning Team Leader, 
Nantahala-Pisgah NF; Richard Shelfer, Planning Team Leader, Sumter NF.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Preparation of the Southern Appalachian Assessment

    The Southern Region of the National Forest System and the 
Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, in cooperation with the other 
Federal agencies that are members of the Southern Appalachian Man and 
the Biosphere Cooperative (SAMAB, i.e., the Environmental Protection 
Agency, the Forest Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the National 
Park Service, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Geological Survey, 
the Department of Energy Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Economic 
Development Administration, and the National Biological Survey) have 
begun conducting a Southern Appalachian Assessment (SAA). The 
Assessment will include the national forest lands of the George 
Washington, Jefferson, Nantahala-Pisgah, Cherokee, and Chattahoochee 
National Forests, and parts of the Sumter and Talladega National 
Forests. The Assessment will also include National Park Service lands 
in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Shenandoah National Park, 
and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
    The Assessment will facilitate an interagency ecological approach 
to management in the Southern Appalachian area by collecting and 
analyzing broad-scale biological, physical, social and economic data to 
serve as a foundation for more local natural resource management 
decisions. The Assessment will be organized around four ``themes''--(1) 
Terrestrial (which includes the Health of Forest Ecosystems, and Plant 
and Animal Resources); (2) Aquatic Resources; (3) Air Quality and (4) 
the Human Dimension of Ecosystems (which includes Communities and Human 
Influences; Roadless Areas and Wilderness; Recreation, Wildlife and 
Fish Supply and Demand; and the [[Page 10348]] Timber Economy of the 
Southern Appalachians).
    Public comment on the SAA process began with a series of open town 
hall meetings held in Asheville, NC; Gainesville, GA; and Roanoke, VA 
in August 1994. In addition, interested members of the public were 
asked for further written comments to be received by September 15. As 
the Assessment progresses, continued public involvement will be 
facilitated through additional meetings and newsletters.

2. Beginning of the Forest Plan Revision Efforts for the National 
Forests in Alabama, the Chattahoochee-Oconee, the Cherokee, and the 
Sumter National Forests

    This notice announces that the National Forests in Alabama, the 
Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, the Cherokee National Forest, 
and the Sumter National Forest either have already started or are 
beginning efforts to revise their Land and Resource Management Plans 
(LRMP). These Forests are each in the process of preparing their 
Analysis of the Management Situation (AMS), one of the first steps in 
the revision process. This step includes updating resource inventories, 
defining the current situation, estimating supply capabilities and 
resource demands, and determining the ``Need for Change'' (36 CFR 
219.12(e)(5)).

3. Public Involvement in Developing the ``Need for Change'' in an 
AMS

    Determining the concerns and expectations of National Forests 
constituents and getting public input on how well current forest plans 
are working, or not working, are critical elements of describing the 
``need to change'' a forest plan. An integral part of determining the 
need for change is public involvement. Each of the National Forests 
described above either have already, or will soon contact their 
interested public to solicit their participation in this step of the 
forest plan revision process.

4. Relationship Between the AMS and a Notice of Intent to Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement

    In the past, a ``Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement'' (NOI) was issued at the beginning of the forest 
planning process, including before the development of the AMS.
    This time, we are first defining the current situation and an 
initial ``need for change''in a Draft AMS, and then issuing a NOI prior 
to developing alternatives. This will allow us to incorporate a more 
definable ``Proposed Action'' and ``Purpose and Need'' into our NOIs, 
which will begin the formal NEPA process of preparing the Environmental 
Impact Statements (EIS) that will accompany the Revised Land and 
Resource Management Plans.

5. Relationship Between the Southern Appalachian Assessment and the 
Process for Revising the Southern Appalachian National Forests' LRMPs

    The public has expressed concern that the Southern Appalachian 
Assessment will ``delay'' revising National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plans in the Southern Appalachians. However, the SAA is 
being conducted concurrently, and in support of, the forest plan 
revisions.
    Many of the information needs for the Forest AMSs and for the SAA 
are the same. The Assessment will support the revision of the LRMPs by 
determining how the lands, resources, people and management of the 
National Forests interrelate within the larger context of the Southern 
Appalachian area. The SAA, however, will not be a ``decision document'' 
and it will not involve the NEPA process. As broad-scale issues are 
identified and addressed at the sub-regional level in the Assessment, 
the individual National Forest's role in resolving those broad-scale 
issues will become a part of the ``need for change'' at the Forest 
level.

6. Issuing the Notice of Intent To Prepare an EIS

    The National Forests identified above will issue their NOIs when 
enough information from the SAA is available for them to develop the 
``Need for Change'' section of their Draft AMS. The Draft AMSs are 
scheduled to be completed between October 1995 and January 1996. Their 
NOIs are also scheduled to be issued during this same time period.
    Each NOI will include a description of a preliminary ``Proposed 
Action'' and of some preliminary alternatives. Scoping to receive 
public comments on the preliminary proposed action and preliminary 
alternatives will begin following the publication of the NOIs. These 
public comments will be used to further refine the ``Proposed Action'' 
and the preliminary alternatives, to possibly identify additional 
alternatives, and to finalize the AMS and the ``Need for Change.''

7. Status of the Jefferson, George Washington, and Nantahala-Pisgah 
National Forests

    The Jefferson National Forest, which is also currently working on 
its Revised LRMP, previously issued a Notice of Intent to Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement for its Revised LRMP on June 28, 1993. A 
Revised NOI for the Forest will be issued between October 1995 and 
January 1996, to coincide with the NOIs issued for the other National 
Forests in the Southern Appalachians.
    The George Washington National Forest completed its Final Revised 
Forest Plan on January 21, 1993, and the Nantahala-Pisgah National 
Forests completed a significant amendment, Amendment 5 to their Land 
and Resource Management Plan on March 18, 1994. These two forests are 
not currently involved in the revision process. However, if information 
from the Southern Appalachian Assessment identifies conditions 
requiring additions or changes to these plans to ensure consistency 
between the National Forests in the Southern Appalachians, then 
amendments to these plans could be considered.

8. The Responsible Official

    The Responsible Official for the Revised Land and Resource 
Management Plans for the National Forests in the Southern Appalachians 
is Robert C. Joslin, Regional Forester, Southern Region, 1720 Peachtree 
Road NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30367.

    Dated: January 18, 1995.
Lynn C. Neff,
Acting Regional Forester.
[FR Doc. 95-4570 Filed 2-23-95; 8:45 am]
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