[Federal Register: March 26, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 59)]
[Notices]
[Page 15966-15968]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26mr08-38]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Shasta Trinity National Forest, South Fork Management Unit,
California Salt Timber Harvest and Fuels Hazard Reduction Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Hayfork District of the Shasta Trinity National Forest is
proposing to use vegetation treatments to improve forest health, reduce
risks from fire and provide forest products on approximately 1,658
acres within the upper Salt Creek watershed on the South Fork
Management Unit of the Shasta Trinity National Forest. Prescribed
treatments are expected to produce approximately 4.8 million board feet
or 10,600 hundred cubic feet (ccf) of merchantable sawtimber, and an
estimated 4,710 bone dry tons of biomass. The Forest Service will
analyze these vegetation treatments within the constraints of the
Shasta Trinity National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, 1995.
The proposed Salt project is in Trinity County, 10 air miles south
of Hayfork, California and 3 air miles east of Post Mountain,
California. The project area is within the Hayfork Adaptive Management
Area (AMA), and Management Area 19, Indian Valley/Rattlesnake, of the
Shasta-Trinity Land and Resource Management Plan (USFS 1995, p. 4-64 &
65). Treatment areas in T29N, R11W sections 4-9, T29N, R12W sections 1,
2 and 12, T30N, R11W sections 31 and 32, and T30N, R12W sections 25,
26, 35, and 36 M.D.M.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
by April 22, 2008 or 30 days after publication in the Federal Register,
whichever is later. The draft environmental impact statement is
expected in August, 2008 and the final environmental impact statement
is expected January, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Please send written comments to Sandy Mack, TEAMS USFS
Enterprise Unit, 1801 N. First, Hamilton, MT 59840-3114. Comments may
also be submitted by e-mail to: comments-pacificsouthwest-shasta-
trinity-yo11abollahayfork@fs.fed.us with ``Salt Project'' as the
subject.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandy Mack, Project Team Leader, TEAMS
USFS Enterprise Unit, 1801 N. First, Hamilton, MT 59840. Phone (406)
375-2638.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose and need for the Salt project is fourfold: Improve
forest health and resiliency, reduce hazardous fuels conditions and the
potential impacts from wildfire to the National Forest and neighboring
land, provide timber products, and decommission roads no longer needed
for management. Competition for limited water, nutrients and sun in
many highly stocked stands in the Salt project area has reduced the
vigor, growth and resiliency of the mixed conifer species. Thinning is
needed to improve tree resiliency to disturbance factors such as
drought, insects, disease, and fires. Conversely, there are some stands
in the suitable timber base that are understocked and
[[Page 15967]]
are not growing well because of decadence. These stands are not meeting
the growth and yield potential for those sites, and will not unless
regeneration occurs. Reducing fuels and stocking levels through
thinning and regeneration harvests requires the removal of trees, some
of which have commercial value. Fuel loadings and excessive ladder
fuels have created the potential for crown fire initiation and spread,
resulting in fires that can pose a threat to National Forest System
lands as well as private land near the Salt project area. Decreasing
fuels in the Salt project area is needed to help reduce this threat of
wildfire to forest resources and local communities. The Trinity County
Community Wildfire Protection Plan (Trinity County Fire Council 2005,
p. 61, 62) discusses the need for pre-fire fuel treatment in and around
three dispersed residential communities that are all within 3 miles of
the Salt project area (Post Mountain--1 mile west, Peanut--3 miles
north, and Wildwood--3 miles east). Salt is the sixth in a series of
watershed scale projects occurring in a south to north pattern. This
project strategically connects fuels treatments from other projects to
reduce the ability for crown fire transition and spread that can be a
threat to these communities.
Roads can be a major source of sedimentation. Watersheds can be
improved and future road maintenance costs reduced by removing this
potential sediment source when road access is no longer needed for
management activities.
The purpose and need for the Salt project are consistent with
Management Plan Goals 3, 10, 11,
34, 35, 36, 39, and 40
Shasta-Trinity Land and Resource Management Plan (USFS 1995, p. 4-5 and
4-6).
Proposed Action
The Salt project would treat approximately 1,658 acres to improve
forest health, reduce risks from fire and provide forest products,
including:
984 acres of Intermediate Thinning from below, 31 units.
14 acres of Hand Fuel Treatment, 1 unit.
499 acres of Pre-commercial Thinning (plantations), 60
units.
103 acres of Intermediate Thinning (shaded fuel break), 1
unit.
58 acres of Regeneration Harvest with Green Tree
Retention, 4 units.
These treatments are expected to produce approximately 4.8 million
board feet (10,600 ccf) of merchantable saw timber and 4,710 tons (bone
dry) of biomass. Timber prices are at a 15-year low. For this reason
appropriated dollars and service contracts may be required to complete
all the treatments planned.
Additionally, the proposed action would decommission approximately
8 miles of road no longer needed for management activities to improve
watershed conditions. Approximately 3.4 miles proposed for
decommissioning are ``unclassified'' roads, meaning they are abandoned
or illegally developed roads. The remaining 4.6 miles are classified
roads, meaning they are currently maintained and tracked as Forest
Service System roads.
The Proposed Action was developed with design features to minimize
or eliminate impacts from the vegetation treatments. Some of the design
features include:
Maintenance and reconstruction of 18 miles of roads that
will be used to haul timber to reduce potential sedimentation.
Snags and downed logs greater than 19 inches in diameter
at breast height would be left on site for wildlife habitat. Snags
felled for safety reasons will be left on site as downed logs.
Five tons of logs per acre will be retained with a
preference to have 4 to 6 logs per acre at the largest available
diameter.
All hardwoods that have a reasonable chance of surviving
and thriving after stand treatments will be retained.
Numerous detailed specifications and restrictions will be
fully explained in the environmental impact statement and implemented
to assure thinning within the intermittent and ephemeral riparian
reserves meet the Aquatic Conservation Strategy Objectives.
Limited Operating Periods would be applied to avoid direct
adverse impacts to spotted owls if territories are occupied.
Ground disturbing activity will not occur during wet
weather conditions.
Responsible Official: The Responsible Official for this project is
Donna Harmon, South Fork Management Unit District Ranger, Shasta-
Trinity National Forest, P.O. Box 159, Hayfork, CA 96041.
Nature of Decision To Be Made: The District Ranger will decide
whether to implement the proposed action, take an alternative action
that meets the purpose and need, or take no action.
Scoping Process--Public Comment: In October of 2006 we anticipated
an environmental assessment would be prepared for this project and
requested input from the public through direct mailings and notice
published in the Trinity Journal--a local newspaper. The proposed
project was also listed quarterly in the Schedule of Proposed
Environmental Actions (SOPA), a Shasta-Trinity National Forest
publication. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) was consulted
regarding the proposed action and members of the interdisciplinary
planning team met with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA
Fisheries) and California Regional Water Quality Control Board (North
Coast Region) to review the proposed action. Three public comments were
received. Based on the initial scoping of the project including
interdisciplinary team review, field work, public input and agency
consultations, the District has modified the proposal and will prepare
an environmental impact statement. A scoping letter for a proposed
Environmental Impact Statement was mailed March 19, 2008, to twenty
individuals and organizations. In addition, the notice was published in
the Trinity Journal--a local newspaper. The proposed project is again
listed in the Schedule of Proposed Environmental Actions, a Shasta-
Trinity National Forest publication. Although comments are welcome
throughout the planning process, providing your comments by April 22,
2008 will allow time for us to consider your input during alternative
development and analysis. Information on the proposed action will also
be posted on the forest Web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/
shastatrinity/projects.
Preliminary Issues
Issues identified during initial scoping include economics, how
long treatments will be effective, cumulative effects from past
management, fish habitat, non-critical spotted owl habitat, wildlife
species viability.
Comment Requested
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. Comments
submitted during this scoping process should be in writing and should
be specific to the proposed action. The comments should describe as
clearly and completely as possible any issues the commenter has with
the proposal. The scoping process includes:
(a) Identifying potential issues.
(b) Identifying issues to be analyzed in depth.
(c) Eliminating non-significant issues or those previously covered
by a relevant environmental analysis.
(d) Exploring additional alternatives.
(e) Identifying potential environmental effects of the proposed
action and alternatives.
[[Page 15968]]
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: A draft environmental impact statement will be
prepared for comment. The comment period on the draft environmental
impact statement will be 45 days from the date the Environmental
Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in the Federal
Register.
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 reviewers' 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 impact 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 on 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 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, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21.
Dated: March 19, 2008.
Donna F. Harmon,
South Fork Management Unit District Ranger, Shasta-Trinity National
Forest.
[FR Doc. E8-5954 Filed 3-25-08; 8:45 am]
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