This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

64243 

Vol. 75, No. 201 

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Umatilla National Forest, Walla Walla 

Ranger District; Oregon Tollgate Fuels 

Reduction Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service proposes 

fuels reduction on approximately 4,400 

acres within the Upper 204/Tollgate 

Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) as set 

forth in the Umatilla County 

Community Wildfire Protection Plan 

(CWPP) as amended. This project was 

planned and will be implemented using 

Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) 

of 2004 authorities. 

The Tollgate Fuels Reduction project 

is located in Umatilla and Union 

Counties, Oregon and the project 

planning area encompasses over 46,000 

acres. The project planning area is 

approximately 40 miles south/ 

southwest of Walla Walla, Washington. 

The proposed fuels treatments will 

seek to reduce standing and down fuels, 

improve area evacuation routes, 

improve firefighter/public safety and 

protect local infrastructure. Fuel 

reduction efforts will be completed 

through commercial timber harvest 

(3,050 acres) and non-commercial 

thinning (1,350 acres). Timber harvest 

would generally focus on the removal of 

small diameter trees; however, larger 

trees may be removed as necessary to 

meet project objectives. Activities 

within the Lookingglass Inventoried 

Roadless Area (IRA) would include 

ground and ladder fuel reduction 

through the removal of standing (live 

and dead) trees and dead and down 

material. These activities would occur 

adjacent to private property and FR 64. 

No activities will occur in the North 

Fork Umatilla Wilderness or the Walla 

Walla River Inventoried Roadless Area. 

Development and implementation of 

these actions will be conducted in 

accordance with the Healthy Forest 

Restoration Act (HFRA), National Forest 

Management Act (NFMA), National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 

Umatilla National Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan and all 

other applicable laws and regulations. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

November 18, 2010. The Draft EIS is 

expected to be filed with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

and be available to the public for review 

by May 2011. The Final EIS is 

scheduled to be completed by October 

2011. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Michael Rassbach, District Ranger, 

Walla Walla Ranger District, 1415 W. 

Rose, Walla Walla, WA. Comments may 

also be sent via e-mail to commentspacificnorthwest-umatilla-wallawalla@

fs.fed.us., or via facsimile to 509–522– 

6000. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such a way that they are useful to the 

Agency’s preparation of the EIS. 

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 

become part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered; however, anonymous 

comments will not provide the 

respondent with standing to participate 

in subsequent administrative objection 

process or judicial review. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kimpton Cooper, Environmental 

Coordinator, Walla Walla Ranger 

District, 1415 W. Rose, Walla Walla, WA 

99362. He can be reached by phone at 

(509) 522–6290 or by e-mail at 

kmcooper@fs.fed.us. 

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. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The Tollgate planning area is situated 

on a high plateau between the North 

Fork Umatilla Wilderness and the South 

Fork Walla Walla River. The Tollgate 

plateau is surrounded on all sides by 

very steep and deep canyons. The 

plateau area falls primarily into fire 

regime 4, based on species composition, 

and suggests the occurrence of mixed to 

high severity fire events with long 

return intervals. Private lands and inholdings are adjacent to, and 

interspersed with National Forest 

System lands. 

The Tollgate WUI is comprised of 

approximately 368 residences, 43 

privately owned cabins under NFS 

special use permit, 4 NFS campgrounds, 

6 trailheads, 1 ski area, 4 snowparks and 

other FS facilities. The area is one of the 

heaviest used recreation areas on the 

entire Umatilla NF. In addition, there 

are numerous non-recreation uses of the 

area. Important local and regional 

infrastructure (fiber optic lines, 

telephone lines, power transmission 

lines, and communication equipment) is 

interspersed throughout the WUI. 

Oregon State Highway 204 bisects the 

Tollgate community and provides a 

major transportation route, linking it to 

Elgin, OR in the south, and MiltonFreewater/Pendleton, OR in the north. 

Highway 204 also provides an important 

commercial shipping route that 

facilitates the flow of goods and services 

between Union and Umatilla counties. 

Tollgate’s geographic positioning, 

relative to large tracts of remote and 

inaccessible roadless and wilderness 

areas, makes for a uniquely positioned 

community, and is an important 

contributing factor to the area’s overall 

need for treatment. In many cases, 

wilderness and roadless areas occur at 

higher elevations and are well removed, 

from communities. Tollgate however 

sits above large tracts of both roadless 

and wilderness areas. Wildfires can 

initiate in these remote places, gain 

intensity, and ultimately emerge onto 

the plateau. 

An accounting of the condition of 

existing vegetation within the analysis 

area has shown that these stands are 

very receptive to the initiation of high 

severity crown fire. The stands are also 

likely to sustain high severity crown fire 

that may emerge from the surrounding 

wilderness and roadless areas. Field 

reconnaissance of each prospective unit 

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64244 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 201 / Tuesday, October 19, 2010 / Notices 

was performed, and showed that the 

structure, composition, arrangement, 

and dynamics of the present vegetation 

indicate an area highly susceptible to 

experiencing severe fire events. 

A strong need for treatment exists. A 

community, important infrastructure 

and a major transportation corridor 

represent values that are at risk. The 

area’s infrastructure is located above, 

and in the path of major fire travel 

routes. The community is situated 

amongst vegetation that is poised to 

burn with severity. 

It is unlikely that high severity fire 

events can be stopped from occurring in 

fire regime 4; however, through the 

implementation of fuels reduction 

treatments property, infrastructure, and 

lives may be more effectively protected. 

Treatments resulting in modified fuel 

configurations in strategic locations can 

lessen the impacts of a major fire event 

to the people, infrastructure, and travel 

routes within Tollgate. 

The following project objectives were 

identified based on the intent of the 

2004 Healthy Forest Restoration Act, the 

Umatilla County CWPP, and goals 

brought forth through public 

collaborative efforts: 

• Lower fire hazard, by reducing 

overall fuel load and reducing the 

vertical and horizontal continuity of 

fuels within the project planning area. 

• Improve protection to adjacent 

private lands and public/private 

infrastructure from a wildfire event. 

• Provide safe egress of local 

residents and safe ingress/egress for 

firefighters during wildfire events. 

• Effect immediate change in fire 

behavior within the Tollgate WUI by 

reducing fuels and creating strategic fuel 

breaks. 

Proposed Action 

The Forest Service proposes to 

conduct fuels reduction activities on 

approximately 4,400 acres within the 

Tollgate project planning area. Fuel 

reduction efforts would be implemented 

through the use of commercial timber 

harvest (3,050 acres) and noncommercial thinning (1,350 acres). Fuel 

reduction prescriptions include crown 

reduction, dead and down material 

removal, and ladder fuel reduction. 

The project also includes fuel 

reduction activities in three (3) Riparian 

Habitat Conservation Areas (RHCAs) of 

strategic importance. There are 

treatments proposed along Oregon State 

Highway 204, designed to improve the 

defensibility of this important travel 

corridor. Treatments are also proposed 

within the Lookingglass Inventoried 

Roadless Area (IRA). The proposed 

treatments are targeted on the edge of 

IRA boundary where it coincides with 

private inholdings and Forest Road 

6400. No actions are proposed within 

either the North Fork Umatilla 

Wilderness or Walla Walla River 

Inventoried Roadless Area. 

Responsible Official 

Walla Walla District Ranger. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The responsible official will decide: 

(1) Whether fuels reduction activities 

should occur, and if so, how much, 

when and where. 

(2) What monitoring and mitigation 

measures should be taken or are needed. 

Scoping Process 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process, which guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such manner 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. 

A public meeting will be held on 

Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 6 pm. 

The meeting will be held at the Tollgate 

Trailfinders Clubhouse located off OR 

Hwy. 204. The clubhouse is adjacent to 

the Tollgate store and across from the 

Tamarack Inn. All interested members 

of the public are welcome to attend. For 

more information about this meeting, 

please contact Kimpton Cooper using 

the contact information listed above. 

It should be noted that HFRA set up 

a pre-decisional objection process. 

Individual wishing to have standing to 

participate in the objection process must 

submit written comments either at this 

time (public scoping) or during the 

comment period for the Draft EIS. 

Dated: October 12, 2010. 

Michael Rassbach, 

District Ranger. 

[FR Doc. 2010–26223 Filed 10–18–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Wrangell-Petersburg Resource 

Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Wrangell-Petersburg 

Resource Advisory Committee will meet 

in Wrangell, Alaska. The committee is 

meeting as authorized under the Secure 

Rural Schools and Community SelfDetermination Act (Pub. L. 10–343) and 

in compliance with the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act. The purpose 

of the meeting is to review project 

proposals and make project funding 

recommendations. 

DATES: The meeting will be held Friday, 

October 29th from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 

on Saturday, October 30th from 7:30 

a.m. to 9 a.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the James and Elsie Nolan Center in 

Wrangell, Alaska. Written comments 

should be sent to Christopher Savage, 

Petersburg District Ranger, P.O. Box 

1328, Petersburg, Alaska 99833, or 

Robert Dalrymple, Wrangell District 

Ranger, P.O. Box 50, Wrangell, AK 

99929. Comments may also be sent via 

e-mail to csavage@fs.fed.us, or via 

facsimile to 907–772–5995. 

All comments, including names and 

addresses when provided, are placed in 

the record and are available for public 

inspection and copying. The public may 

inspect comments received at the 

Petersburg Ranger District office at 12 

North Nordic Drive or the Wrangell 

Ranger District office at 525 Bennett 

Street during regular office hours 

(Monday through Friday 8 a.m.–4:30 

p.m.). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher Savage, Petersburg District 

Ranger, P.O. Box 1328, Petersburg, 

Alaska 99833, phone (907) 772–3871, 

e-mail csavage@fs.fed.us, or Robert 

Dalrymple, Wrangell District Ranger, 

P.O. Box 51, Wrangell, AK 99929, phone 

(907) 874–2323, e-mail 

rdalrymple@fs.fed.us. 

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 

Standard Time, Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting is open to the public. The 

following business will be conducted: 

Evaluation of project proposals and 

recommendation of projects for funding. 

Persons who wish to bring related 

matters to the attention of the 

Committee may file written statements 

with the Committee staff before or after 

the meeting. A public input session will 

be provided beginning at 1 p.m. on 

October 29th and 8 a.m. on October 

30th. 

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