[Federal Register: March 17, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 51)]

[Notices]               

[Page 12662-12663]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr17mr03-34]                         



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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE



Forest Service



 

Baked Apple Fire Salvage Project, Umpqua National Forest, Douglas 

County, OR



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) for a fire salvage timber sale and connected actions 

within the Panther Creek watershed planning area of the North Umpqua 

Ranger District. These actions include timber salvage sales, the 

construction of temporary roads, site preparation, tree planting, 

hazardous fuels (slash) reduction, road decommissioning, road repair, 

restoration of non-commercial stands, and soil restoration through 

felling of snags to create down wood. The planning area is located 

approximately 43 miles east of Roseburg, Oregon. The project is 

expected to be implemented starting in 2004 through 2006. The agency 

gives notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making 

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 should be received 

in writing, by April 18, 2003.



ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning this 

proposal to Carol Cushing, District Ranger, North Umpqua Ranger 

District, 18782 North Umpqua Highway, Glide, Oregon, 97443.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct questions about the proposed 

action or EIS to Debbie Anderson, ID Team Leader, North Umpqua Ranger 

District, 18782 North Umpqua Highway, Glide, Oregon 97443, or (541) 

496-3532.



SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The area being analyzed in the Baked Apple 

Fire Salvage Project EIS encompasses approximately 13,925 acres of 

National Forest System land on the North Umpqua Ranger District. The 

planning area is bounded to the North by the North Umpqua River, to the 

South by the North Umpqua River/Little River Divide, to the East by 

Calf Ridge, and to the West by Panther Ridge. The planning area 

includes all or portions of sections 9, 10, and 14 through 36, T26S, 

R1E; sections 19 and 30, T26S, R2E; and sections 2 through 5, and 9 

through 11, T27S, R1E, Willamette Meridian, Douglas County, Oregon.

    The proposed action is based on the need to recover portions of the 

Panther Creek subwatershed burned by the 2002 Apple Fire. The Apple 

Fire, which started on August 16, 2002, burned almost 18,000 acres of 

early, mid, and late seral forests on the North Umpqua Ranger District. 

Within the perimeter of the Apple Fire, the Panther Creek subwatershed 

burned with the highest intensity, completely consuming large swaths of 

forest over a 4,000-acre area, particularly within Limpy Creek. All 

treatments occur on lands allocated as Matrix and are consistent with 

the 1990 Umpqua National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 

(Forest Plan), as amended. All salvage treatments specifically avoid 

roadless areas, the wild and scenic river corridor and visually 

sensitive area, owl cores, cultural sites, and areas identified as 

unsuitable, unstable, or riparian reserves. The timber salvage proposal 

is based on the need to recover the economic value of the burned wood 

in the scorched and severely burned portion of the watershed before it 

decays, which will contribute wood products to the local economy and 

jobs to the County and State. Slash treatment is based on the need to 

reduce activity-generated fuels in order to keep fuel loads within 

parameters prescribed by the Forest. Reforestation is based on the need 

to return the burned areas within subwatershed to the productive forest 

that is was prior to the fire. Haul related roadwork is needed in order 

to ensure that the road system is safe for haul. Construction and 

reconstruction of temporary spur roads, reconstruction and/or expansion 

of landings, construction new landings, and use of existing rock pits 

is needed to facilitate removal and hauling of wood. Snag felling for 

large wood is needed to



[[Page 12663]]



maintain a source of large wood that will decay, helping contribute to 

soil productivity. Treatment of pre-commercial stands to remove fuels 

and re-establish seedlings is needed to return those stands to the 

productive forests that they were prior to the fire.

    The proposed action timber sale related activities include: Salvage 

harvest on approximately 1,226 acres (retaining between 6 and 12 trees 

per acre for shade and large wood recruitment); reforestation and 

seedling protection (with species native to the site) on about 1,095 

acres; slash treatment on about 1,171 acres (including grapple piling, 

underburning, hand pile burning, and yarding of tops attached); road 

work (culvert replacement and road stabilization of two sites) along 

Forest Service Road 4714 and construction and reconstruction (about 1.1 

miles) of temporary spur roads; construct and reconstruct up to 39 

landings; and use 2 existing rock pits and establish 6 stockpile sites 

along existing roads to store rock and excavated material. Connected 

actions that would be accomplished include: Felling of snags on salvage 

units; site preparation and reforestation; and road reconstruction and 

decommissioning work.

    The acreage proposed for harvest is estimated to yield up to 50 

million board feet of timber, which may result in 5 to 6 separate 

timber sales. This volume and acreage estimates are likely to decrease 

as a result of finalizing riparian reserves and unsuitable or unstable 

soils boundaries, and as the smaller diameter wood begins to decay. The 

areas prescribed for harvest will require a combination of helicopter, 

skyline and ground-based harvesting equipment. Alternatives may reflect 

different harvest equipment combinations. Alternatives to be considered 

include the No Action Alternative, the proposed action, and 

alternatives to the proposed action.

    Preliminary issues, as identified by the Forest and by scoping that 

has been conducted to date, include the following related to the 

proposed action: The economic efficiency and viability; the potential 

affect on the late successional habitat and species within the Panther 

Creek Watershed; and the potential affect on water quality and aquatic 

conditions for aquatic and riparian dependent species.

    The scoping effort is intended to identify issues, which may lead 

to the development of alternatives to the proposed action. One of the 

purposes of this notice of intent is to solicit input from the public 

as part of the overall scoping effort. In addition to this notice, the 

public will be notified of the EIS through the Umpqua National Forest's 

April 2003 quarterly publication ``Schedule of Proposed Actions''.

    Comments received in response to this notice and through scoping, 

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 will not 

have standing to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR parts 215 

or 217. Additionally, pursuant 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 requester 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.

    Public comments are appreciated throughout the analysis process. 

The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) and be available for public review by July 2003. The 

comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date the EPA 

publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register. The final 

EIS is scheduled to be available October 2003.

    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 

notice of this early stage of public participation and of several court 

rulings related to public participation in the environmental review 

process. First, reviewers of a draft EIS 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 have been raised 

at the draft stage may be waived or dismissed by the court if not 

raised until after completion of the final EIS. 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 substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest 

Service at a time when it can meaningful consider 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 of 

40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.)

    In the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to 

substantive comments and responses received during the comment period 

that pertain to the environmental consequences discussed in the draft 

EIS and applicable laws, regulations, and policies considered in making 

a decision regarding the proposal. The Responsible Official is Carol 

Cushing, District Ranger of the North Umpqua Ranger District, Umpqua 

National Forest. The Responsible Official will document the decision 

and rationale for the decision in a Record of Decision. The decision 

will be subject to review under Forest Service Appeal Regulations (36 

CFR part 215).



    Dated: March 7, 2003.

James A. Caplan,

Forest Supervisor.

[FR Doc. 03-6269 Filed 3-14-03; 8:45 am]



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