Myrtle Creek HFRA, Healthy Forest Restoration Act Project, Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests; Boundary County, ID, 30924-30925 [05-10717]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 31, 2005 / Notices
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2005.
Barbara J. Masters,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05–10735 Filed 5–27–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Myrtle Creek HFRA, Healthy Forest
Restoration Act Project, Bonners Ferry
Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle
National Forests; Boundary County, ID
Forest Service, USDA.
Notice of Intent to Prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
VerDate jul<14>2003
16:14 May 27, 2005
Jkt 205001
SUMMARY: The Bonners Ferry Ranger
District of the Idaho Panhandle National
Forest is proposing fuels reduction
treatments in the Myrtle Creek and
Snow Creek watersheds, identified as
the Myrtle Creek HFRA project area.
These watersheds are located nine miles
west of Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
The USDA Forest Service will prepare
an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) to disclose the potential
environmental effects of implementing
fuels reduction treatments on National
Forest System lands within these
drainages, which include portions of the
Selkirk and Kootenai Peak Inventoried
Roadless Areas.
DATES: Comments, suggestions, or
requests to be placed on the project
mailing list, should be received on or
before July 5, 2005. The draft
environmental impact statement is
expected to be filed with the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
and available for public review in July,
2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments
and suggestions on the proposal or
requests to be placed on the project
mailing list to District Ranger Mike
Herrin, Bonners Ferry Ranger District,
6286 Main St., Bonners Ferry, Idaho
83805; comments may also be submitted
electronically to e-mail address:
comments-northern-idpanhandlebonners-ferry@fs.fed.us in one of the
following formats: MSWord, Word
Perfect or rtf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Doug Nishek, Myrtle Creek HFRA
Project Team Leader, Bonners Ferry
Ranger District, at the above address, by
phone at (208) 267–5561, or e-mail
address: dnishek@fs.fed.us.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
project area encompasses Myrtle Creek
(about 17,000 acres) and the lower
section of Snow Creek drainage (about
3,200 acres) within the Selkirk
Mountains of northern Idaho. In
September 2003 a wildfire burned
approximately 3,450 acres in the lower
portion of the Myrtle Creek drainage—
the municipal watershed and primary
source of drinking water for the City of
Bonners Ferry. The fire burned across
the intake diversion structure for the
City’s water system, and caused some
short-term effects to the water quality. It
also heightened the community’s
awareness of potential risks if another
catastrophic fire burned within the
watershed.
The City of Bonners Ferry, Boundary
County Commissioners and Kootenai
Tribe of Idaho have asked the Forest
Service to evaluate the current and
future conditions of the watershed.
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Their overall goal for the area is
continuing use of Myrtle Creek as a
source of high quality municipal water.
They are concerned about the following:
(1) Maintaining a continuous supply of
potable water from Myrtle Creek for the
City of Bonners Ferry and its customers.
(2) Reducing the risk of catastrophic fire
in the Myrtle Creek watershed, while
maintaining and restoring habitat for
fish and wildlife species.
Under the auspices of the Kootenai
Valley Resource Initiative (KVRI), the
Myrtle Creek working group has been
providing a forum to foster discussions
between local government agencies, the
Kootenai Tribe, interested members of
the public and Forest Service personnel.
The purpose of this KVRI subcommittee
has been to look at community goals for
Myrtle Creek, develop an overarching
goal for the watershed and identify
issues. KVRI publishes advance notice
of working group meetings, which are
open to all members of the public, in the
local newspaper (Bonners Ferry Herald).
As a primary land management
agency within the Myrtle Creek
watershed and adjacent areas, the Forest
Service was asked to design treatments
that will foster long-term reduction of
risks from catastrophic wildfire within
the municipal watershed. The Forest
Service developed a three-part purpose
and need for the Myrtle Creek project:
(1) Maintain Myrtle Creek watershed as
a source of high quality drinking water
for the City of Bonners Ferry; (2) Reduce
hazardous fuels in the Myrtle Creek
watershed and adjacent forests; (3)
Trend vegetation in Myrtle Creek
watershed and adjacent forest towards
conditions that would be less
susceptible to catastrophic fire, while
maintaining and restoring habitat for
fish and wildlife species.
The purpose and need are consistent
with the Land and Resource
Management Plan for the Idaho
Panhandle National Forests (Forest
Plan). Findings of the Interior Columbia
Basin Ecosystem Management Project
and the Kootenai River Geographic
Assessment provide documentation of
the currently dense, insect- and diseaseprone state of the dry-site ecosystems
and fire risks across the Idaho
Panhandle National Forests and in the
Kootenai River basin, and the marked
changes these ecosystems have
undergone over the past century. Site
specific information indicates these
same conditions are present in the
vegetation in the Myrtle Creek and
Snow Creek watersheds, tributaries to
the Kootenai River.
The Forest Service has presented a
proposed action to the Myrtle Creek
working group. The proposal is to treat
E:\FR\FM\31MYN1.SGM
31MYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 103 / Tuesday, May 31, 2005 / Notices
approximately 2,200 acres of National
Forest Systems lands using a variety of
silvicultural tools, that could include
commercial thinning, sanitation salvage,
group selection, irregular shelterwood,
or seed tree harvests; utilizing a mixture
of ground-based or helicopter
harvesting. The fuels created by the
vegetative treatments would be take care
of by either removing the fuel during
harvest operations, or prescribed
burning or mechanical piling following
harvest.
The Boundary County Idaho
Wildland/Urban Interface Fire
Mitigation Plan, August 2003, as
amended in February 2004, identified
the wildland/urban interface as
including, ‘‘watersheds where citizen
groups have organized for joint
collection of water for domestic uses.’’
It further stated, ‘‘Boundary County is
extremely dependent on surface waters
for domestic purposes. This dependency
includes residents for the City of
Bonners Ferry, * * * Protection of
water sources and water quality is a
high priority.’’ In accordance with the
Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA),
the Forest Service will analyze the
proposed action and evaluate the effects
of failing to implement the project.
Because the proposed action would
implement recommendations in the
County Fire Mitigation Plan regarding
the general location and basic method of
treatments, the agency is not required to
develop alternatives to the proposed
action.
The Forest Service issued a scoping
notice in February, 2005. Comments
provided by the public and other
agencies have been used along the
discussions with the Myrtle Creek
working group to develop strategies for
management of natural resources in the
project area and during the
environmental analysis for this EIS and
will be a part of the public record. The
following preliminary issues have been
identified: The quality of water in
Myrtle Creek, the municipal watershed
for Bonners Ferry, Idaho; the risk of
catastrophic fire in the Myrtle Creek
watershed and adjacent lands; forest
composition and structure, including
old growth and snags; soils and soil
productivity; potential effects to wildlife
habitat; construction of new roads;
potential effects to inventoried roadless
areas; fisheries; future monitoring of the
project area; and cumulative effects. The
Forest Service is seeking information,
comments, and assistance from federal,
state and local agencies and other
individuals or organizations that may be
interested in or affected by the proposed
actions.
VerDate jul<14>2003
16:14 May 27, 2005
Jkt 205001
The Draft Environmental Impact
Statement is expected to be filed with
the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and available for public review in
July 2005. 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 close 45 days
after 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.
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 impact statements 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 meaningful 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.
It is important to note that Section
105(a) of the HFRA replaces the Forest
Service’s administrative appeals process
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
30925
with an objection process that occurs
before the decision approving fuelreduction projects authorized under the
act (Volume 69 Federal Register, page
1529, January 9, 2004). Participation in
the predecisional review process is
limited to individuals and organizations
who have submitted specific written
comments related to the proposed
authorized hazardous-fuel-reduction
project during the opportunity for
public comment provided when an EIS
is being prepared for the project
(Section 105(a)(3), 36 CFR 218.6).
Written objections, including any
attachments, must be filed with the
reviewing officer within 30 days after
the publication date of the legal notice
of the Final EIS in the newspaper of
record (Section 218.4(b)). It is the
responsibility of objectors to ensure that
their objection is received in a timely
manner. The Responsible Official may
not issue a record of decision
concerning an authorized project until
the reviewing officer has responded to
all pending objections.
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 file
an objection under Section 105(a) of the
HFRA. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR
1.27(d), any person may request the
agency to withhold a comment 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
request 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
Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 3815
Schreiber Way, Coeur d’Alene, ID
83814.
Dated: May 24, 2005.
Ranotta K. McNair,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 05–10717 Filed 5–27–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–11–M
E:\FR\FM\31MYN1.SGM
31MYN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 103 (Tuesday, May 31, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30924-30925]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-10717]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Myrtle Creek HFRA, Healthy Forest Restoration Act Project,
Bonners Ferry Ranger District, Idaho Panhandle National Forests;
Boundary County, ID
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bonners Ferry Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle
National Forest is proposing fuels reduction treatments in the Myrtle
Creek and Snow Creek watersheds, identified as the Myrtle Creek HFRA
project area. These watersheds are located nine miles west of Bonners
Ferry, Idaho.
The USDA Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) to disclose the potential environmental effects of
implementing fuels reduction treatments on National Forest System lands
within these drainages, which include portions of the Selkirk and
Kootenai Peak Inventoried Roadless Areas.
DATES: Comments, suggestions, or requests to be placed on the project
mailing list, should be received on or before July 5, 2005. The draft
environmental impact statement is expected to be filed with the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review
in July, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments and suggestions on the proposal or
requests to be placed on the project mailing list to District Ranger
Mike Herrin, Bonners Ferry Ranger District, 6286 Main St., Bonners
Ferry, Idaho 83805; comments may also be submitted electronically to e-
mail address: comments-northern-idpanhandle-bonners-ferry@fs.fed.us in
one of the following formats: MSWord, Word Perfect or rtf.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doug Nishek, Myrtle Creek HFRA Project
Team Leader, Bonners Ferry Ranger District, at the above address, by
phone at (208) 267-5561, or e-mail address: dnishek@fs.fed.us.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The project area encompasses Myrtle Creek
(about 17,000 acres) and the lower section of Snow Creek drainage
(about 3,200 acres) within the Selkirk Mountains of northern Idaho. In
September 2003 a wildfire burned approximately 3,450 acres in the lower
portion of the Myrtle Creek drainage--the municipal watershed and
primary source of drinking water for the City of Bonners Ferry. The
fire burned across the intake diversion structure for the City's water
system, and caused some short-term effects to the water quality. It
also heightened the community's awareness of potential risks if another
catastrophic fire burned within the watershed.
The City of Bonners Ferry, Boundary County Commissioners and
Kootenai Tribe of Idaho have asked the Forest Service to evaluate the
current and future conditions of the watershed. Their overall goal for
the area is continuing use of Myrtle Creek as a source of high quality
municipal water. They are concerned about the following: (1)
Maintaining a continuous supply of potable water from Myrtle Creek for
the City of Bonners Ferry and its customers. (2) Reducing the risk of
catastrophic fire in the Myrtle Creek watershed, while maintaining and
restoring habitat for fish and wildlife species.
Under the auspices of the Kootenai Valley Resource Initiative
(KVRI), the Myrtle Creek working group has been providing a forum to
foster discussions between local government agencies, the Kootenai
Tribe, interested members of the public and Forest Service personnel.
The purpose of this KVRI subcommittee has been to look at community
goals for Myrtle Creek, develop an overarching goal for the watershed
and identify issues. KVRI publishes advance notice of working group
meetings, which are open to all members of the public, in the local
newspaper (Bonners Ferry Herald).
As a primary land management agency within the Myrtle Creek
watershed and adjacent areas, the Forest Service was asked to design
treatments that will foster long-term reduction of risks from
catastrophic wildfire within the municipal watershed. The Forest
Service developed a three-part purpose and need for the Myrtle Creek
project: (1) Maintain Myrtle Creek watershed as a source of high
quality drinking water for the City of Bonners Ferry; (2) Reduce
hazardous fuels in the Myrtle Creek watershed and adjacent forests; (3)
Trend vegetation in Myrtle Creek watershed and adjacent forest towards
conditions that would be less susceptible to catastrophic fire, while
maintaining and restoring habitat for fish and wildlife species.
The purpose and need are consistent with the Land and Resource
Management Plan for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (Forest Plan).
Findings of the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project
and the Kootenai River Geographic Assessment provide documentation of
the currently dense, insect- and disease-prone state of the dry-site
ecosystems and fire risks across the Idaho Panhandle National Forests
and in the Kootenai River basin, and the marked changes these
ecosystems have undergone over the past century. Site specific
information indicates these same conditions are present in the
vegetation in the Myrtle Creek and Snow Creek watersheds, tributaries
to the Kootenai River.
The Forest Service has presented a proposed action to the Myrtle
Creek working group. The proposal is to treat
[[Page 30925]]
approximately 2,200 acres of National Forest Systems lands using a
variety of silvicultural tools, that could include commercial thinning,
sanitation salvage, group selection, irregular shelterwood, or seed
tree harvests; utilizing a mixture of ground-based or helicopter
harvesting. The fuels created by the vegetative treatments would be
take care of by either removing the fuel during harvest operations, or
prescribed burning or mechanical piling following harvest.
The Boundary County Idaho Wildland/Urban Interface Fire Mitigation
Plan, August 2003, as amended in February 2004, identified the
wildland/urban interface as including, ``watersheds where citizen
groups have organized for joint collection of water for domestic
uses.'' It further stated, ``Boundary County is extremely dependent on
surface waters for domestic purposes. This dependency includes
residents for the City of Bonners Ferry, * * * Protection of water
sources and water quality is a high priority.'' In accordance with the
Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA), the Forest Service will analyze
the proposed action and evaluate the effects of failing to implement
the project. Because the proposed action would implement
recommendations in the County Fire Mitigation Plan regarding the
general location and basic method of treatments, the agency is not
required to develop alternatives to the proposed action.
The Forest Service issued a scoping notice in February, 2005.
Comments provided by the public and other agencies have been used along
the discussions with the Myrtle Creek working group to develop
strategies for management of natural resources in the project area and
during the environmental analysis for this EIS and will be a part of
the public record. The following preliminary issues have been
identified: The quality of water in Myrtle Creek, the municipal
watershed for Bonners Ferry, Idaho; the risk of catastrophic fire in
the Myrtle Creek watershed and adjacent lands; forest composition and
structure, including old growth and snags; soils and soil productivity;
potential effects to wildlife habitat; construction of new roads;
potential effects to inventoried roadless areas; fisheries; future
monitoring of the project area; and cumulative effects. The Forest
Service is seeking information, comments, and assistance from federal,
state and local agencies and other individuals or organizations that
may be interested in or affected by the proposed actions.
The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be filed
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public
review in July 2005. 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 close 45 days after 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.
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 impact statements 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 meaningful 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.
It is important to note that Section 105(a) of the HFRA replaces
the Forest Service's administrative appeals process with an objection
process that occurs before the decision approving fuel-reduction
projects authorized under the act (Volume 69 Federal Register, page
1529, January 9, 2004). Participation in the predecisional review
process is limited to individuals and organizations who have submitted
specific written comments related to the proposed authorized hazardous-
fuel-reduction project during the opportunity for public comment
provided when an EIS is being prepared for the project (Section
105(a)(3), 36 CFR 218.6). Written objections, including any
attachments, must be filed with the reviewing officer within 30 days
after the publication date of the legal notice of the Final EIS in the
newspaper of record (Section 218.4(b)). It is the responsibility of
objectors to ensure that their objection is received in a timely
manner. The Responsible Official may not issue a record of decision
concerning an authorized project until the reviewing officer has
responded to all pending objections.
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 file an objection under Section 105(a) of the HFRA.
Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may request the
agency to withhold a comment 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 request 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 Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur
d'Alene, ID 83814.
Dated: May 24, 2005.
Ranotta K. McNair,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 05-10717 Filed 5-27-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
