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Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Issuance of Incidental Take Permits to Simpson Timber Company, Northwest Operations, Thurston, Mason, and Grays Harbor Counties, Washington

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: July 20, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 140)]
[Notices]
[Page 45038-45039]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20jy00-39]

[[Page 45038]]

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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[I.D. 063000C]


Availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
Proposed Issuance of Incidental Take Permits to Simpson Timber Company,
Northwest Operations, Thurston, Mason, and Grays Harbor Counties,
Washington

AGENCIES: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Commerce; Fish and Wildlife
Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final environmental impact
statement.

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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of a Final
Environmental Impact Statement (Statement) for public review. The
Statement addresses the proposed issuance of Incidental Take Permits
(Permits) to Simpson Timber Company, Northwest Operations (Simpson),
for forest management and timber harvest on their lands in Thurston,
Mason, and Grays Harbor Counties, Washington. Simpson submitted
applications on September 29, 1999, to the Fish and Wildlife Service
and the National Marine Fisheries Service (together, the Services) for
Permits pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(Act). The proposed Permits would authorize take of the following
endangered or threatened species incidental to otherwise lawful
management activities: marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus
marmoratus), bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), Puget Sound chinook
salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), Hood Canal summer run chum salmon
(Oncorhynchus keta), and bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus). Simpson
is also seeking coverage for 47 currently unlisted species under
specific provisions of the Permits, should these species be listed in
the future. The duration of the proposed Permits is 50 years. This
notice is provided pursuant to the Act, and National Environmental
Policy Act regulations.

ADDRESSES: Requests for the documents should be made by calling the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (360)534-9330. Copies are also
available for viewing, or partial or complete duplication, at the
following libraries: Olympia Timberland Library, Reference Desk, 313
8th Avenue SE, Olympia, WA, (360)352-0595; William G. Reed
Library, Reference Desk, 710 West Alder Street, Shelton, WA, (360)426-
1362; Hoodsport Timberland Library, 40 North Schoolhouse Hill Road,
Hoodsport, WA, (360)877-9339; Elma Timberland Library, Information
Desk, 118 North 1st Street, Elma, WA, (360)482-3737; W.H.
Abel Public Library, Information Desk, 125 Main Street South,
Montesano, WA, (360)249-4211; and, Aberdeen Timberland Library,
Reference Desk, 121 East Market Street, Aberdeen, WA, (360)533-2360.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9 of the Act and Federal regulations
prohibit the ``taking'' of a species listed as endangered or
threatened. The term take is defined under the Act to mean harass,
harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or
to attempt to engage in any such conduct. Harm is defined to include
significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills
or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral
patterns, including breeding, feeding, and sheltering.
    The Services may issue permits, under limited circumstances, to
take listed species incidental to, and not the purpose of, otherwise
lawful activities. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulations governing
permits for endangered species are promulgated in 50 CFR 17.22; and,
regulations governing permits for threatened species are promulgated in
50 CFR 17.32. National Marine Fisheries Service regulations governing
permits for threatened and endangered species are promulgated at 50 CFR
222.307. A permit decision will occur, and a Record of Decision will be
published, no sooner than 30 days from this notice.

Background

    Simpson owns and manages approximately 261,575 acres of commercial
timberland in Thurston, Mason and Grays Harbor counties, Washington.
These properties are located from just south of Highway 8, north into
the southern foothills of the Olympic Mountains, and west across the
Wynoochee River valley to the City of Aberdeen's Wishkah watershed.
Management activities on the tree farm include forest management and
timber harvest.
    Some forest management and timber harvest activities have the
potential to impact species subject to protection under the Act.
Section 10 of the Act contains provisions for the issuance of Permits
to non-Federal land owners for the take of endangered and threatened
species, provided the take is incidental to otherwise lawful
activities, and will not appreciably reduce the likelihood of the
survival and recovery of the species in the wild. In addition, the
landowner or permit applicant must prepare and submit to the Services
for approval, a Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) containing a strategy
for minimizing and mitigating all take associated with the proposed
activities to the maximum extent practicable. The applicant must also
ensure that adequate funding for the Plan will be provided.
    Simpson has developed a Plan with technical assistance from the
Services, to obtain Permits for their activities on the subject lands.
Activities proposed for this Permit include the following: all aspects
of mechanized timber harvest, log transportation, road construction,
road maintenance and abandonment, site preparation, tree planting,
fertilization, silvicultural thinning, experimental silviculture,
controlled burns, wild fire suppression, stream restoration, and the
management, harvest, and sale of minor forest products. The Permits and
Plan would also cover certain monitoring activities and related
scientific experiments in the Plan area. The duration of the proposed
Permits and Plan is 50 years.
    As an additional measure, Simpson worked with the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology to prepare a
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for heat energy to streams. The TMDL
was developed to address general and specific water quality concerns
within the Action Area, to recognize efforts to meet expectations under
the Clean Water Act for protection of beneficial uses, and to provide
an additional level of technical rigor that increases the Services
assurances about water quality for covered species. The TMDL addresses
heat energy delivery to waters in the Plan Area, employing sediment as
an ``other measure as appropriate'' along with shade to assess the
effectiveness of land management activities with respect to water
quality. Both heat energy and sediment are water quality parameters
that affect aquatic life, including salmon and other fishes. Although
neither the Plan or TMDL are legally dependant on the other, much of
the information and analysis developed for the preparation of the Plan
was used in developing the TMDL. The primary link between the Plan and
TMDL is that sediment and heat load allocations will serve as
benchmarks to assess attainment and progress towards water quality in
the adaptive management program set forth

[[Page 45039]]

in the Plan. The TMDL Technical Assessment Report is included as an
appendix to the Plan.
    The Services formally initiated an environmental review of the
project through a Notice of Intent to prepare a Statement in the
Federal Register on February 9, 1999 (64 FR 6325). This notice also
announced a 30-day public scoping period, during which other agencies,
tribes, and the public were invited to provide comments and suggestions
regarding issues and alternatives to be included in the Statement. A
draft Statement was subsequently produced and made available for a 62-
day public review period on October 22, 1999 (64 FR 57630). Comments
received on the draft Statement and responses to those comments are
included in the final Statement.
    The final Statement fully analyzes a No Action alternative, the
Proposed Action, a Forests and Fish Report Alternative, and a Modified
Northwest Forest Plan Alternative. Under the No Action Alternative,
incidental take permits would not be issued and Simpson would continue
a forest management program which avoids take of federally listed
species. Under the Forests and Fish Report Alternative incidental take
permits would not be issued and Simpson would conduct forest management
according to the proposed revisions to the Washington State Forest
Practices Act, and avoid take of federally listed species. Under the
Proposed Action, the Services would issue Incidental Take Permits and
Simpson would implement their proposed Plan on 261,575 acres of
Simpson's Washington timberlands. Under a Modified Northwest Forest
Plan Alternative, the Services would issue Incidental Take Permits, and
Simpson would implement a Plan with riparian conservation measures
providing protective buffers approximately mid-way between the buffers
provided by the Northwest Forest Plan and the Proposed Action. Current
Washington Forest Practices would be applied where Northwest Forest
Plan guidelines are not available.

    Dated: June 27, 2000.
Don Weathers,
Acting Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1,
Portland, Oregon.

    Dated: July 14, 2000.
Wanda L. Cain,
Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office of Protected Resources,
National Marine Fisheries Service.
[FR Doc. 00-18418 Filed 7-19-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-22-F, 4310-55-F

 
 

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