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Notices Federal Register

25697 

Vol. 74, No. 102 

Friday, May 29, 2009 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Umpqua National Forest, Douglas and 

Jackson Counties, OR; Cow Creek 

Timber Sale and Hazardous Fuels 

Reduction Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) for reducing fire hazard, 

improving forest stand conditions and 

resilience to stand replacement fire for 

wildlife species, including the Northern 

spotted owl, and restoring fire regimes 

and historic (fire adapted) stand 

conditions in and around the Cow Creek 

and Tiller Wildland Urban Interface 

(WUI) areas. Fuel loadings and overall 

stand densities have increased and 

landscape scale forest structural 

diversity has been altered due to fire 

exclusion, increasing the potential size 

and severity of future wildfires, beyond 

what might have occurred historically. 

This EIS will be prepared under the 

authority of the Healthy Forests 

Restoration Act (HFRA) and will 

implement recommendations of the 

Douglas County Community Wildfire 

Protection Plans for the WUI’s. The 

project proposes commercial thinning 

on about 6,300 acres of mid seral and 

mature unmanaged stands, leaving 

between 40–90 trees per acre (TPA); 

commercial thinning on about 2,700 

acres of managed second-growth 

plantations, leaving between 50–90 

TPA; non-commercial treatment of fuels 

on about 4,400 acres using noncommercial thinning, mastication, whip 

felling, chipping, piling and burning; 

treating activity-created fuels by 

underburning, machine piling, 

masticating, handpile burning, lopping 

and scattering, and/or yarding tops 

attached and whole tree yarding; using 

prescribed fire as the primary method of 

reducing fuels on about 813 acres; using 

about 1⁄8th of a mile of existing 

unclassified roads to access thinning/ 

treatment areas, then decommissioning 

after use; building about 27 miles of 

new temporary spur roads for access, 

then decommissioning them after use; 

road reconstruction and maintenance 

throughout the planning area; and use of 

existing rock pits. All acreages and 

miles are approximate and will be 

refined during sale layout. The project 

proposes to amend the 1990 Umpqua 

National Forest Land and Resource 

Management Plan (LRMP). The 

planning area is located approximately 

34 miles southeast of Roseburg, Oregon. 

The project is expected to be 

implemented starting in Fiscal Year 

2010. The agency gives notice of the full 

environmental analysis and decisionmaking process that will occur on the 

proposal so that interested and affected 

people may become aware of how they 

can participate in the process and 

contribute to the final decision. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 30 

days from the date this Notice of Intent 

appears in the Federal Register. The 

draft environmental impact statement is 

expected to be available in the fall of 

2009 and the final environmental 

impact statement is expected to be 

available in the winter of 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and 

suggestions concerning this proposal to 

Clifford J. Dils, Forest Supervisor, c/o 

Debbie Anderson, IDT Leader, Umpqua 

National Forest, 2900 NW Stewart 

Parkway, Roseburg, OR 97471; you may 

also submit scoping comments 

electronically to commentspacificnorthwest-umpqua@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

information about the proposal, contact 

Joshua Chapman, Cow Creek Project 

Manager, phone 541–957–3260, e-mail 

joshuachapman@fs.fed.us, or Debbie 

Anderson, Cow Creek Interdisciplinary 

Team Leader, phone 541–957–3466, email danderson01@fs.fed.us, Umpqua 

National Forest, 2900 NW Stewart 

Parkway, Roseburg, OR 97471. The 

proposal is also listed on the Forest’s 

Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/ 

umpqua/projects/projects.shtml. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

planning area being analyzed in the 

Cow Creek Timber Sale and Hazardous 

Fuels Reduction Project encompasses 

almost 45,000 acres, and is bounded by 

community of Tiller to the North, the 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

land to the South and West, and the 

Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest to 

the East. The planning area includes all 

or portions of T31S, R2W; T31S, R3W; 

T32S, R1W; T32S, R2W; T32S, R3W; 

and T33S, R3W, Willamette Meridian, 

Oregon. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose of the Cow Creek Timber 

Sale and Hazardous Fuels Reduction 

Project is to reduce the current, 

uncharacteristically high fire hazard 

within the project area, increase the 

within-stand resiliency to stand 

replacement fire and to increase stand 

structural diversity. The need for action 

is focused on three elements: 

Element 1: The need to reduce 

existing and predicted fuel loads and 

fire hazard in areas identified as high 

fire hazard within the Cow Creek and 

Tiller wildland-urban interface areas 

(WUIs). 

Element 2: There is a need to reduce 

the potential fire size and severity 

within spotted owl habitat and Late 

Successional Reserve 223 (which is also 

spotted owl Critical Habitat). 

Element 3: Outside of WUI and LSR, 

there is a need to alter forest and stand 

conditions in the planning area to more 

closely resemble conditions that were 

maintained by the mixed severity fire 

regime of the Klamath Province, and a 

need to move the existing fire regime 

from current Fire Regime Condition 

Class III, to a Fire Regime Condition 

Class II or I. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed action was developed 

to address the elements of the purpose 

and need. It would implement 

recommendations of the Douglas County 

Community Wildfire Protection Plans 

for Cow Creek and Tiller to treat 

hazardous fuels in the WUIs, and reduce 

existing stand densities in order to 

approximate historic stand conditions 

maintained by a mixed severity fire 

regime. Specifically the Proposed 

Action includes the following activities: 

• Commercial thinning on about 

2,700 acres in managed second growth 

plantations leaving 50–90 trees per acre 

(TPA); Proportional thinning and 

thinning from below on about 6,300 

acres in unmanaged late seral conifer 

stands (leaving 40–90 TPA). The 

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25698 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 102 / Friday, May 29, 2009 / Notices 

thinnings would use ground-based and 

skyline logging systems in both the 

matrix, riparian reserve, and late 

successional reserve (LSR) land 

allocations and would generate an 

estimated 90 million board feet of 

timber. Within the late successional 

reserve, canopy closure would be 

maintained at about 60% on the 

approximate 2,850 acres thinned in the 

LSR to maintain its ability to function 

as spotted owl habitat. All perennial 

streams would have a no harvest buffer 

of 50 feet or greater to protect the 

primary shade zone. Final no harvest 

riparian buffers will be designated prior 

to the Draft EIS and will further reduce 

the number of acres thinned. 

• Treating activity-created fuels 

(slash) on commercially thinned areas 

by underburning, machine piling, 

masticating, handpile burning, lopping 

and scattering, yarding tops attached or 

whole tree yarding, or using a 

combination of the above. 

• Non-commercial treatement and/or 

removal of fuels on about 4,400 acres by 

non-commercial thinning, mastication, 

whip felling, chipping, and piling and 

burning of slash. 

• Using prescribed fire to reduce fuels 

as the primary treatment method on 

about 813 acres. 

• Using about 1⁄8 of a mile of an 

existing, unclassified temporary road to 

access thinning areas then 

decommissioning after use. 

• Building a total of about 27 miles of 

new temporary spur roads to provide 

access for logging machinery and for 

accessing stands for non-commercial 

treatments, then obliterating them after 

use. 

• Re-opening about 0.5 miles of 

currently closed system road to provide 

access to stands, then closing them after 

use. 

• Reconstructing and repairing 

portions of existing system roads (work 

would occur along small sections of 

these roads) including: Road realignment; intersection improvement; 

road widening; slide and/or slump 

repair; placing or replacing surface rock; 

reshaping road beds; culvert 

replacement, and hazard tree felling. 

• Maintaining about 88 miles of 

existing roads including: Grading and 

shaping of existing road surfaces; dust 

abatement using magnesium chloride or 

water; blading road beds and ditches; 

hazard tree felling; cleaning/ 

maintaining ditches as needed; opening 

and re-closing existing closed roads; 

removing debris from the roadway; and 

cutting of intruding vegetation along 

roadsides. 

• Utilizing the existing Peavine, 

Brownie, and Stauch Ranch rock pits 

(including drilling, blasting, rock 

crushing and rock hauling), along with 

several rock disposal sites as the rock 

source for the road work. 

• Other connected and similar actions 

would also be implemented, including 

noxious weed treatment, precommercial thinning, expansion of the 

Peavine pit, and sump improvement. 

Forest Plan Amendments 

The 1990 Umpqua National Forest 

Land and Resource Management Plan 

(LRMP) would be amended in the 

following areas: 

1. The LRMP does not permit timber 

harvest in Management Areas 1, except 

in the event of catastrophic damage; 

there are about 36 acres of potential 

commercial treatment planned in MA 1 

in order to reduce fuels in the Wildland 

Urban Interface (WUI) area. The LRMP 

would be amended to potentially allow 

timber harvest and tree removal to help 

reduce the fire risk in the WUI and to 

allow for more than one year of recovery 

to the Visual Quality Objective of 

Retention. 

2. The LRMP excludes timber harvest 

around unique habitats for a distance of 

150 feet. The LRMP would be amended 

to allow for fuel reduction treatments 

adjacent to some unique habitats in 

order to reduce existing and predicted 

fuel loads. 

Possible Alternatives 

The alternatives to be considered 

include the No Action Alternative, the 

Proposed Action, and another 

alternative that may be developed if 

scoping identifies any issues with the 

proposed action. 

Lead and Cooperating Agencies 

The USDA Forest Service, Umpqua 

National Forest is the lead agency. 

Responsible Official 

Clifford J. Dils, Forest Supervisor of 

the Umpqua National Forest, is the 

responsible official for this project. The 

address for the Umpqua National Forest 

is 2900 NW Stewart Parkway, Roseburg, 

OR 97471. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Forest Supervisor of the Umpqua 

National Forest will decide whether to 

implement the action as proposed, 

whether to take no action at this time, 

or whether to implement any 

alternatives that are proposed. The 

Forest Supervisor will also decide 

whether to amend the 1990 Umpqua 

National Forest Land and Resource 

Management Plan, if an action 

alternative is chosen. 

Preliminary Issues 

At this time, no preliminary issues 

have been identified. 

Scoping Process 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping proces which guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. The project has also 

been listed in the quarterly schedule of 

proposed actions (SOPA) since January 

of 2009. A scoping packet, detailing the 

proposed action, along with maps of the 

proposal, will be mailed to over 125 

interested publics in May of 2009. The 

scoping effort is intended to identify 

issues, which may lead to the 

development of alternatives to the 

proposed action. Issues that are raised 

with the proposal may lead to 

alternative ways to meet the purpose 

and need of the project. 

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. The submission of timely 

and specific comments can affect a 

reviewer’s ability to participate in 

subsequent administrative appeal or 

judicial review. 

Dated: May 21, 2009. 

Clifford J. Dils, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. E9–12527 Filed 5–28–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Rural Business-Cooperative Service 

Inviting Rural Business Enterprise 

Grant Program Preapplications for 

Technical Assistance for Rural 

Transportation Systems 

AGENCY: Rural Business-Cooperative 

Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Rural BusinessCooperative Service (RBS), an Agency 

within the USDA Rural Development 

mission area, announces the availability 

of two individual grants: one single 

$500,000 grant from the passenger 

transportation funds appropriated for 

the Rural Business Enterprise Grant 

(RBEG) program and another single 

$250,000 grant for Federally Recognized 

Native American Tribes’ (FRNAT) from 

funds appropriated for the RBEG 

program. RBS will administer these 

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