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Tripod Fire Salvage Project, Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, Okanogan County, WA
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: December 28, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 249)]
[Notices]
[Page 78135-78136]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28de06-30]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Tripod Fire Salvage Project, Okanogan and Wenatchee National
Forests, Okanogan County, WA
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the USDA Forest Service will
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a proposal to
recover the economic value through salvage harvest of dead and dying
trees damaged in the Tripod Complex Fire, to remove potential hazard
trees from open roads, and to reforest salvage harvest units within
specified drainages of the Methow Valley and Tonasket Ranger Districts,
Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests. Details of the proposal are
further described in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below.
Approximately 2,800 acres would be treated in the proposed project area.
The analysis area encompasses a portion of the burned area in the
Middle Fork Beaver Creek, Lightning Creek, Chewuch River, Ramsey Creek,
Boulder Creek, North Fork Boulder Cree, Bromas Creek, Brevucinus Creek,
Twentymile Creek, Pelican Creek, McCay Creek, Granite Creek, Cedar
Creek, and Cabin Creek drainages, along Road 37 and Road 39 within the
fire boundary, and includes parts of the following townships: T34N,
R23E; T34N, R24E; T35N, R22E; T35N, R23E; T35N, R24E; T36N, R22E; T36N,
R23E; T36N, R24E; T37N, R22E; T37N, R23E; T38N, R23E; and T39N, R23E;
Williamette Meridian. The Tripod Complex Fire, located five miles
northeast of Winthrop, Washington, burned approximately 175,000 acres
across mixed ownership in July to September 2006. Approximately 164,000
acres were on National Forest System lands administered by the Methow
Valley Ranger District and the Tonasket Ranger District, Okanogan and
Wenatchee National Forests.
The purpose of the EIS will be to evaluate a range of reasonable
alternatives for this proposal and take public comment on the analysis.
The direction in the amended Okanogan National Forest Land and Resource
Management Plan (Forest Plan) provides the overall guidance for
management of National Forest System lands included in this proposal.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by January 29, 2007. The draft DEIS is expected to be available to the
public for review by March 2007. The final EIS is scheduled to be
completed by June 2007.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to John Newcom, Methow Valley
District Ranger, 24 West Chewuch Road, Winthrop, Washington 98862,
Attn: Tripod Fire Salvage Project. Comments may be mailed electronically
to comments-pacificnorthwest-okanogan-methowvalley@fs.fed.us.
See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below for the format and other
information about electronic filing of comments.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bob Stoehr, Tripod Fire Salvage
Project Leader, USDA Forest Service, Methow Valley Ranger District, 24
West Chewuch Road, Winthrop, Washington 98862; phone 509-996-4003.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose and need of the Tripod Fire Salvage Project includes:
(1) Recovery of the economic value of a portion of dead and dying trees
in the project areas; (2) Improving public safety within the fire area
by removing potential hazard trees along open forest roads; and (3) Re-
establishing trees in salvage harvest units where there are few or no
green trees that can act as a seed source.
Proposed Action
The Forest Supervisor for the Okanogan and Wenatchee National
Forests proposes to salvage dead and dying trees from approximately
2,800 acres within a portion of the area burned by the Tripod Complex
Fire. Salvage harvest methods would include ground based and skyline
yarding systems. Ground-based yarding systems would not be used on
sustained slopes greater than 35 percent. To facilitate haul, 6.5 miles
of existing classified roads would be reconstructed and about 3.5 miles
of temporary roads would be constructed. No new classified road
construction is proposed and all temporary roads would be closed or
decommissioned after project activities are completed. No commercial
harvest or road construction is proposed within the Granite Mountain,
Long Swamp, and Tiffany Inventoried Roadless Areas. Roadside hazard
trees and trees expected to become a hazard in the future within the
project area along open roads and along any closed roads to be opened
for implementation for this project, would be felled and removed to
provide safe and adequate road access. Tree planting is proposed in
salvage harvest units where there is insufficient seed source to ensure
natural regeneration in a timely manner. The proposed action would
require amendments of the Forest Plan to: (1) Allow harvest of green
trees larger than 21' diameter breast height that are expected to die
from fire effects, (2) Allow snowplowing and motorized use of
designated, groomed snowmobile routes to facilitate salvage operations,
(3) Allow motorized access in Management Area 26, which is deer winter
range, during the winter season to facilitate salvage operations, and
(4) Exceed open road density standards in discrete management areas as
a result of salvage operations.
Possible Alternatives
A full range of alternatives will be considered, including the
proposed action, no action, and additional alternatives that respond to
issues generated during the scoping process.
Responsible Official
The Responsible Official is James L. Boynton, Forest Supervisor,
Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee,
Washington 98801. The Responsible Official will document the Tripod
Fire Salvage Project decision and reasons for the decision in a Record
of Decision. That decision will be subject to Forest Service appeal
regulations (36 CFR Part 215).
Nature of the Decision To Be Made
The Forest Supervisor for the Okanogan and Wenatchee National
Forests will decide whether or not to salvage timber, remove potential
hazard trees, and reforest salvage harvest units, and if so, the
locations and extent of treatments. The decision will include whether
or not to reconstruct classified roads and construct new temporary
roads for access within the project area, and if so, how much. The
Forest Supervisor will also decide how to
[[Page 78136]]
mitigate effects of these actions and will determine when and how
monitoring of effects will take place. In making his decision, the
Forest Supervisor will consider how well each alternative meets the
purpose and need, the manner in which each alternative responds to key
issues raised and public comments received during the analysis, and the
impacts of proposed project activities to National Forest System land
and resources.
Scoping Process
Public participation will be sought at several points during the
analysis, including listing of this project in the Winter 2006 and
subsequent issues of the Okanogan and Wenatchee National Forests
Schedule of Proposed Action; letters to Indian Tribes, agencies,
organizations and individuals who may be intersted in or affected by
the proposed activities; and a legal notice in The Wenatchee World
newspaper. A public meeting will be scheduled in January 2007 to
describe the proposed action and identify public issues. Other meetings
will be scheduled as needed. The scoping process will also include
identifying major issues to be analyzed in depth, exploring
alternatives to the proposed actions, and identifying potential
environmental effects of the proposed action and alternatives (i.e.,
direct, indirect and cumulative effects).
Preliminary Issues
Preliminary issues identified include the potential effect of the
proposed action on soils, water quality and fish habitat, snags and
down wood, and threatened, endangered and sensitive terrestrial and
plant species; disturbance to cultural resources; potential for noxious
week expansion; potential loss of economic value of trees damaged by
the wildfire; and the safety and use of the area by the public.
Comment Opportunity
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides
development of the EIS. The Forest Supervisor is seeking public and
agency comment on the proposed action to determine if any additional
issues arise. Additional issues may lead either to other alternatives,
or additional mitigation measures and monitoring requirements. Comments
and data may be submitted electronically by sending electronic mail (e-
mail) to: comments-pacificnorthwest-okanogan-methowvalley@fs.fed.us.
Include the project name in the e-mail subject line and submit comments
either as part of the e-mail message or an attachment in one of the
following three formats: Microsoft Word, rich text format (rtf) or
Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf).
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review
A draft EIS will be prepared for comment. The comment period on the
draft EIS will be 30 days fromt he date the Environmental Protection
Agency publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and to be available for public review in March 2007 and
the final EIS is expected to be completed by June 2007.
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulilngs 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 EIS stage but that are not raised until after completion of the
final EIS may be waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v.
Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.E. 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 meaningful consider them and
respond to them in the final EIS.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS should
be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to
specific pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments may also
address the adequacy of the draft EIS 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 notice, including names and
addresses of those who comment, will be consdiered part of the public
record on this Proposed Action adn will be available for public inspection.
Dated: December 21, 2006.
Anita Spargur,
Human Resources Officer and Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 06-9905 Filed 12-27-06; 8:45 am]
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