Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Notices 1587 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Medford-Park Falls Ranger District, 

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, 

Park Falls Hardwoods Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service, 

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, 

Medford-Park Falls Ranger District 

intends to 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 Park Falls 

Hardwoods project area. The primary 

purpose of this proposal is to implement 

activities consistent with direction in 

the Chequamegon-Nicolet National 

Forests Land and Resource Management 

Plan (Forest Plan) and respond to 

specific needs identified in the project 

area. The project area is located on the 

Park Falls unit of the Medford-Park 

Falls Ranger District, ChequamegonNicolet National Forest, approximately 

13–15 miles northeast of Phillips, 

Wisconsin. The legal description for the 

area is: Portions of the eastern Sections 

of Township 37 North, Range 3 East; 

Township 38 North, Range 3 East; and 

Township 39 North, Range 3 East; 

Fourth Principal Meridian. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received within 

30 days of publication of this notice to 

receive timely consideration in 

preparation of the draft Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS). The draft EIS is 

expected May 2010 and the final EIS is 

expected November 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

District Ranger Bob Heimes, c/o Jane 

Darnell, Medford-Park Falls Ranger 

District, 850 N. 8th St., Medford, 

Wisconsin 54451. Comments may also 

be sent via e-mail to 

jdarnell01@fs.fed.us with a subject line 

that reads ‘‘Park Falls Hardwoods 

Project’’, or via facsimile to 715–748– 

5675. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane 

Darnell, NEPA Coordinator, Medford– 

Park Falls Ranger District, 

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, 

USDA Forest Service; telephone: 715– 

748–4875 (individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf, 

TDD, may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday). For a 

mailing address, see above under 

ADDRESSES. Copies of documents may 

be requested at the same address. 

Another means of obtaining information 

is to visit the Forest Web page at 

http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/cnnf/natres/ 

index.html. Click on ‘‘Park Falls 

Hardwoods Project’’ under the ‘‘Current 

Proposed Actions’’ heading. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

information presented in this notice is 

included to help the reviewer determine 

if they are interested in or potentially 

affected by this proposed project. The 

information presented in this notice is 

summarized. Those who wish to 

comment on this proposal or are 

otherwise interested in or potentially 

affected by it are encouraged to review 

more detailed documents such as the 

Proposed Action for the Park Falls 

Hardwoods project and the draft EIS as 

these documents become available. See 

the preceding section of this notice for 

contact information. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The Park Falls Hardwoods project 

primarily falls within the area defined 

in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National 

Forests 2004 Land and Resource 

Management Plan (Forest Plan) as 

Management Area (MA) 2B. MA 2B is 

described in the Forest Plan as having 

a desired condition as an uneven-aged, 

northern hardwood, interior forest. 

Guidance in the Forest Plan identifies 

this area to be managed for relatively 

continuous mid to late successional 

northern hardwood and northern 

hardwood-hemlock forest communities 

where large patch conditions and a 

relatively continuous canopy is 

maintained or recreated. The primary 

purpose of the Park Falls Hardwoods 

proposal is to implement activities 

consistent with direction in the Forest 

Plan and to respond to specific needs 

identified in the project area. Through 

an analysis of the existing conditions 

within the project area compared to the 

desired conditions as documented in 

the Forest Plan, six needs for action 

have been identified (A–F): 

A. Need to Maintain and Improve 

Forest Health (Forest Plan Goal 1.4): 

Nine needs have been identified related 

to forest health. 

There is a need to understand the 

processes controlling forest-atmosphere 

exchange of carbon dioxide and the 

response of these processes to climate 

change. 

Emerald ash borer (EAB) is an 

introduced insect that has the potential 

to devastate all native ash species 

similar to what occurred to the 

American chestnut and American elm. 

There is a need to identify site-specific 

strategies to control or minimize 

impacts to ash and the forest ecosystem 

from EAB. 

There is a need to re-establish 

healthy, vigorous forest in areas 

impacted by disease and wind damage. 

There is a need to restore and expand 

Canada yew populations within the 

project area. 

Most of the mid to late successional 

upland forest within the project area is 

well over the stocking levels prescribed 

in the Forest Plan to maintain forest 

health and productivity. There is a need 

to treat these areas to promote forest 

health and vigor. 

There is a need to reduce the amount 

of early successional species (primarily 

aspen) within the project area. For MA 

2B, Chapter 3 of the Forest Plan has a 

desired condition for aspen of a 

maximum of 10% of the upland forest. 

The existing condition is that aspen 

comprises about 25% of the upland 

forest type. 

The majority of the hardwood forest 

within the project area was established 

70 to 80 years ago and is comprised of 

trees that are all about the same age. In 

MA 2B, the Forest Plan describes the 

desired condition for the area as mid to 

late successional uneven-aged northern 

hardwood forests. There is a need to 

increase the amount of uneven-aged 

hardwood forest within the project area. 

Much of the hardwood forest within 

the project area is connected in large 

blocks. There are some instances, 

particularly in the southern portion of 

the project area, where treatment of 

early successional forest to convert it to 

later successional species, will increase 

the potential and meet the need for 

larger patches of the desired forest type 

(hardwoods, spruce, pine, hemlock, 

oak). 

As described earlier, the 2B 

management prescription calls for 

upland forest of primarily mid to late 

successional species. While there is an 

overabundance of early successional 

species in the project area, the early 

successional species that are present are 

also overabundant in the older age 

groups, with limited representation in 

the youngest age groups (0–10 years of 

age). 

B. Need to Maintain and Improve 

Threatened, Endangered, and Sensitive 

Species Habitats (Forest Plan Goal 1.1): 

Based on monitoring, the habitat for 

spruce grouse (a sensitive species) as 

identified by the Forest Plan is near the 

minimum threshold identified for this 

species forest-wide. There is a need to 

increase the amount of habitat for this 

species where feasible. The project area 

contains some habitat for spruce grouse 

which could be improved and 

expanded. 

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1588 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 7 / Tuesday, January 12, 2010 / Notices 

C. Need to Maintain and Improve 

Coldwater Fisheries (Forest Plan Goal 

1.5): There is a need to reduce the 

amount of aspen adjacent to streams 

within the project area, particularly cold 

water streams. Beaver activity (primarily 

feeding or utilization of aspen close to 

these streams) results in lack of shade 

trees adjacent to the stream and 

potentially leads to increases in water 

temperature, making it unsuitable for 

cold water species. 

D. Need to Maintain or Enhance the 

Quality of the Recreation Experience 

(Forest Plan Goal 2.1): The Fould’s 

Creek spring ponds have long been 

utilized as a recreational fishery. Also, 

there are currently no designated nonmotorized trails within the project area. 

Some of the project area is designated 

for non-motorized public access, so 

public access is limited to foot travel. 

There is a need to provide adequate foot 

travel access within the project area 

which would improve the quality of the 

recreational experience. 

E. Need for Supplying Wood Products 

(Forest Plan Goal 2.5): The harvest 

activities being proposed to meet the 

needs for action would result in the 

availability of wood products, including 

pulpwood, sawtimber, and biomass 

products. Environmentally sound 

harvest through commercial timber sales 

would meet this need. 

F. Need to Develop and Maintain 

Capital Infrastructure (Forest Plan Goal 

3.1 Transportation Systems): Based on a 

roads analysis, there is a need to 

provide an adequate, safe, and efficient 

transportation system in the project 

area. More specifically, total road 

densities are slightly above the desired 

road density in portions of the project 

area, some roads are in areas susceptible 

to resource damage, other roads are 

located in areas where there are no 

foreseeable access needs, and some 

areas lack access. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed land management 

activities (proposed actions) to meet the 

needs of the area include the following: 

A. The following tree harvest activities 

address the needs to maintain or 

improve forest health in the project 

area: (1) Selection harvest on about 

14,500 acres; (2) Improvement harvest 

on about 1,400 acres; (3) Thinning 

harvest on about 150 acres; (4) 

Shelterwood harvest on about 380 acres; 

(5) Overstory removal harvest on about 

160 acres; and (6) Clearcut harvest on 

about 450 acres. Selection, thinning, 

and improvement harvest are types of 

harvest activities that remove only a 

portion of the existing trees to 

encourage regeneration of an 

understory, to encourage age-class 

development, or to encourage growth, 

health and vigor in the remaining trees. 

Other proposed projects related to forest 

health include restoration of about 2 

acres of Canada yew by supplemental 

planting and fencing and restoration of 

desired tree species (conifer and oak for 

example) through supplemental 

planting within a portion of the 

proposed harvest areas. 

B. The following project addresses the 

need to maintain or improve Regional 

Forester Sensitive Species habitat 

(spruce grouse habitat): Supplemental 

planting and retention of spruce on 

about 50 acres. 

C. The following project addresses the 

need to maintain or improve coldwater 

fisheries: Retention of shade trees and 

discouragement of aspen adjacent to 12 

miles of coldwater streams. 

D. The following project addresses the 

need to provide and enhance recreation 

opportunities: Designation of about 6 

miles of walking trails. 

E. The following project addresses the 

need for supplying wood products: 

Proposed harvest activities will be 

conducted through commercial timber 

sales with an estimated 91 million board 

feet of pulpwood and sawtimber 

products, and potentially 14,000 dry 

tons of tree top material which could be 

utilized for biomass. 

F. The following projects address 

transportation needs for timber harvest 

and for providing a safe and efficient 

transportation system to meet 

administrative and public access needs: 

(1) New permanent road construction of 

about 12 miles; (2) New temporary road 

construction of about 1 mile; (3) Road 

reconstruction of about 43 miles; and (4) 

Road decommissioning of about 29 

miles. In addition, the proposal includes 

designation of about 16 miles of road 

that would be open to public highway 

vehicle use and another 14 miles that 

would also be open to OHV (off 

highway vehicle) use. 

Possible Alternatives 

Alternatives to the proposed action 

that are currently being considered for 

display in the draft EIS are as follows: 

The required No Action alternative. 

Other alternatives will be developed as 

the analysis progresses. 

Responsible Official 

Bob Heimes, Medford-Park Falls 

District Ranger, Chequamegon-Nicolet 

National Forest. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

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 will 

also include resource protection 

measures as identified in the applicable 

Forest Plan standards and guidelines. 

The decision may also include 

monitoring requirements and whether 

Forest Plan amendments are needed to 

implement the decision. 

Scoping Process 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process, which guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. Comments in 

response to this solicitation for 

information should focus on (1) the 

proposal; (2) issues or impacts from the 

proposal; and (3) possible alternatives 

for addressing issues associated with the 

proposal. We are especially interested in 

information that might identify a 

specific undesired result of 

implementing the proposed actions. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such maimer that they are useful to the 

agency’s preparation of the 

environmental impact statement. 

Therefore, comments should be 

provided prior to the close of the 

comment period and should clearly 

articulate the reviewer’s concerns and 

contentions. 

Comments received in response to 

this solicitation, including names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered, however. 

Dated: January 4, 2010. 

Jeanne M. Higgins, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 2010–214 Filed 1–11–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Deschutes and Ochoco National 

Forests Resource Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Deschutes and Ochoco 

National Forests Resource Advisory 

Committee will meet in Redmond, 

Oregon. The purpose of the meeting is 

to review proposed projects and make 

recommendations under Title II 

(division C of Pub. L. 110–343 

reauthorized and amended the Secure 

rural Schools and community SelfDetermination Act of 2000 (SRS Act) as 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES