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Bonners Ferry Ranger District Salvage Sales; Idaho Panhandle National Forests; Boundary County, ID

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

 [Federal Register: May 31, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 105)]
[Notices]
[Page 34654-34655]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr31my00-26]

[[Page 34654]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Bonners Ferry Ranger District Salvage Sales; Idaho Panhandle
National Forests; Boundary County, ID

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) to disclose the potential environmental effects of
salvage harvesting up to 20,000 acres of dead and damaged trees in
scattered areas located on the Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Idaho
Panhandle National Forests. Harvest of these trees is proposed to
reduce hazardous fuels, to restore productive stand conditions and/or
ecological functioning in areas affected by windstorms, insects,
disease and other damaging events. Salvage harvest of these threes will
help provide products for local post and pole mills, small sawmills,
and other forest product manufacturers.

DATES: Written comments and suggestions should be received on or before
July 3, 2000. The draft environmental impact statement is expected to
be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available
for public review in August 2000. A Final Environmental Impact
Statement will be published to sooner than September 2000.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposal, or
requests to be placed on the project mailing list, to District Ranger,
Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Route 4, Box 4860, Bonners Ferry, Idaho
83805-9764.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Barry Wynsma, project leader, Bonners
Ferry Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Route 4, Box
4860, Bonners Ferry, Idaho 83805-9764, e-mail address:
bwynsma@fs.fed.us

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Windstorms, heavy snowfall, insects and
disease and other events annually result in mortality and damage to
numerous timber stands across the Bonners Ferry Ranger District. If
untreated, affected stands can display a significant reduction
productivity, can increase fire risks, and can create favorable
conditions for increases in insect populations that can spread to
adjacent healthy stands. Salvage harvesting within affected stands can
restore the stands to more desirable conditions.
    Such events typically occur in small areas and are scattered across
the District. Due to the scattered nature of these stands and the
relatively small amount of salvageable material, salvage harvests have
historically been accomplished through the use of small timber sales,
generally purchased by local small timber operators. Small salvage sale
contracts typically include between 50 to 100 thousand board feet of
dead trees (about 10 to 20 log-truck loads) per contract. Trees
salvaged from such areas are utilized for firewood, paper pulp, house
logs, sawlogs and a wide variety of other value-added products such as
rustic furniture and musical instruments. These small industries are
considered an import component of the local economic structure. The
District has historically offered and sold an average of two to three
million board feet of forest products per year of these types of
salvage sales.
    Salvage harvest can have adverse effects on other resource values
and is not appropriate in many areas. To reduce the potential for
adverse effects and to clarify the analysis necessary to determine the
effects of the proposed action, the District conducted a screening
process to avoid areas of the forest that contain resource values
highly sensitive to proposed salvage harvest activities.
    The acres within which salvage activities would be allowed through
this proposed action are outside of riparian buffer zones, sensitive
plant protection areas, designated old-growth stands, roadless areas,
wetland and cultural resource protection zones. Also, the proposed
salvage areas and activities are compatible with management strategies
and Recovery Plans for Threatened or Endangered Species or their
habitat and also with visual resources.
    Preliminary issues include potential effects to Threatened,
Endangered, and Sensitive wildlife, fish and plant species and water
quality.
    The Forest Service will develop a range of alternatives, including
a No Action alternative to respond to issues raised during this scoping
period.
    The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public
review in August 2000. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of
Availability of the draft environmental impact statement in the Federal
Register. The comment period on the draft environmental impact
statement will be 45 days from the date the EPA publishes the Notice of
Availability in the Federal Register. A final environmental impact
statement will be published after all comments are reviewed and
responded to. A Record of Decision will be published at the time the
Final EIS is released. The final decision will be subject to
administrative review under CFR 215.17.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
draft environmental impact statements must structure their
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and
contentions (Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,
553 (1978)). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the
draft environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised
until after completion of the final environmental statement may be
waived or dismissed by the courts (City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490
F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980)). Because of these court rulings,
it is very important that those interested in this proposed action
participate by the close of the 45-day comment period so that
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest
Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to
them in the final environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns regarding the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the
draft environmental impact statement. Comments may also address the
adequacy of the draft environmental impact statement or the merits of
the alternatives formulated and discussed in the statement. Reviewers
may wish to refer to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations
for implementing the procedural provisions of the National
Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names
and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the
public record on this proposed action and will be available for public
inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and
considered; however, those who submit anonymous comments may not have
standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR part 215.
Additionally, pursuant

[[Page 34655]]

to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the agency to withhold a
submission from the public record by showing how the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) permits such confidentiality. Persons requesting
such confidentiality should be aware that, under the FOIA,
confidentiality may be granted in only very limited circumstances, such
as to protect trade secrets. The Forest Service will inform the
reqester of the agency's decision regarding the request for
confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the agency will
return the submission and notify the requester that the comments may be
resubmitted with or without name and address within a specified number
of days.
    I am the responsible official for this environmental analysis. My
address is Supervisor's Office, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 315
Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814.

    Dated: May 24, 2000.
David J. Wright,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 00-13501 Filed 5-30-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M

 
 

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