Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a Long-Term Landscape Restoration and Management Plan To Restore and Manage the Forest, Grassland, and Riparian Ecosystems of the Valles Caldera National Preserve, 41575-41577 [2010-17371]

Agencies

• Valles Caldera Trust

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 136 (Friday, July 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41575-41577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-17371]


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Valles Caldera Trust


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
a Long-Term Landscape Restoration and Management Plan To Restore and 
Manage the Forest, Grassland, and Riparian Ecosystems of the Valles 
Caldera National Preserve

    Authority: The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), 
CEQ Regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500 through 1508, The Valles 
Caldera Preservation Act, Public Law 106-248, NEPA Procedures for 
the Valles Caldera National Preserve, 68 CFR 42460.

AGENCY: Valles Caldera Trust.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Valles Caldera Trust (VCT) a wholly owned government 
corporation empowered to provide management and administrative services 
for the Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) intends to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze and disclose the 
potential impacts of a proposed Landscape Restoration and Management 
Plan (LRMP) which includes mechanical treatments, prescribed burning, 
management of lightning caused wildland fires (wildland fire use), 
restoration or riparian areas, closure and maintenance of roads and 
eradication of noxious weeds and invasive plants. A combination of 
these management activities are being proposed over the next 10-years 
as follows:
    1. Mechanical Treatments--Mechanical treatments are being proposed 
on approximately 20,000 acres over 10 years depending on funding and 
possible adjustments based on monitoring and evaluation of treatments. 
These treatments include tree cutting and removing or otherwise 
disposing of the associated biomass. Trees may be cut using chainsaws 
or equipment. Feller-bunchers, masticators, or small dozers equipped 
with saw blades, are some of the more common types of equipment 
employed. Forest thinning will be implemented under prescription 
parameters that will specify the size, species and other parameters 
that would determine whether a tree will be cut or left. In general, 
the forests of the preserve are dominated by an excess of trees 7-16 in 
diameter and these trees sizes would be targeted for removal.
    2. Prescribed Fire/Wildland Fire Use--Prescribed fire is being 
proposed in conjunction with the mechanical treatment described above. 
In addition, prescribed fire alone is being proposed on nearly 59,000 
acres of forest and grassland ecosystems over a 10-year period. The 
management of lightning caused fires (wildland fire use) to achieve 
resource benefits is also being proposed. Wildland fire use would be 
limited initially due to the current forest condition but could 
increase over time as forests are treated and wildfire risk is reduced. 
The use of wildland fire is being proposed as a tool for restoration 
and management of the preserve's forests and grasslands and ultimately 
proposes to reintroduce fire as a beneficial ecosystem process. The 
actual acres treated with prescribed fire over 10 years would depend on 
funding, environmental conditions--especially weather, the completion 
of mechanical treatments, and possible adjustments due to monitoring 
and evaluation results.
    3. Road Closure, Rehabilitation and Maintenance--The closure and 
rehabilitation of approximately 1000 miles of roads is being proposed 
over the next 10 years. Administrative closures would be the primary 
tool used to close roads to motorized use, allowing natural 
rehabilitation. Approximately 150 miles of the road network requires 
physical rehabilitation to halt ongoing erosion. Some roads would be 
reduced to a maintenance level-1, rather than closed. This designation 
allows non-motorized use as well as temporary motorized use for 
administrative actions such as forest management, search and rescue, or 
wildland fire management.
    4. In combination with road management actions as described above, 
the trust is also proposing to restore wetland and riparian areas 
throughout the preserve. The wetland and wet meadow systems containing 
the preserves riparian areas, and streams comprise just over 6,800 
acres, mostly within the open valle systems. Restoration activities 
would include stream bank and channel restoration to address site 
specific erosion, placement of log and fabric dams, gully plugs, or 
Zuni bowl techniques to protect and restore wetlands. Willow plantings 
or placement of sod plugs are among techniques proposed for improving 
stream bank integrity.
    5. Prevention and Eradication of Noxious Weeds--Under the proposed 
LRMP, current efforts to eradicate Canada, musk, and bull thistle 
populations would continue. This includes continuing to mechanically 
treat (cut, hoe and bag seed heads) musk thistle in combination with 
the application of the herbicide, clopyralid to treat Canada and bull 
thistle. The trust is also proposing to use clopyralid to eradicate 
oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare), and glyphosate (Roundup), Imazipic 
(Plateau), or the combination of both (Journey) to eradicate cheatgrass 
(Bromus tectorum) primarily in road cuts and other disturbed areas. The 
VCT is also proposing to implement performance requirements to reduce 
the risk of introducing new noxious weed species or further spread of 
existing species.
    6. No Treatment--Areas of the preserve could remain untreated based

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on the existing condition, access, available funding, priorities, and 
annual weather or other conditions which affect implementation.
    Based on initial analysis and public comments, alternatives to the 
proposed action will be developed. Action alternatives will likely vary 
in the acres treated by wildland fire and mechanical methods but also 
may include other actions not currently being considered.
    Purpose and Need for Action: The purpose of the proposed LRMP is to 
move the current forest structure towards the reference condition: the 
condition that, to the best of our knowledge, is resilient and 
sustainable under expected climate and disturbance events. Currently 
the condition of the preserve's forests is significantly departed from 
the reference condition. The riparian and grassland systems are 
moderately departed from the reference condition but, are at risk of 
being directly and indirect affected by the current condition of the 
forests.
    The action is needed to meet the purposes and goals identified in 
the Valles Caldera Preservation Act (https://www.vallescaldera.gov/about/trust/docs/PL%20106-248.pdf), the Management Principles adopted 
by the VCT Board of Trustees in 2001, (https://www.vallescaldera.gov/about/trust/docs/MgmtPrinciples.pdf), and the collaboratively developed 
goals and objectives presented in the Southwest Jemez Mountains 
Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Strategy (https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/sfe/jemez_mtn_rest/docs.htm.).

DATES: This scoping process will culminate in the preparation of a 
draft EIS which will be made available for public comment. To ensure 
that the Trust has an opportunity to fully consider public comments in 
the development of the alternatives and determining the scope of the 
analysis and to facilitate the prompt preparation of the draft EIS, 
comments regarding the proposed Landscape Restoration and Management 
Plan, are requested on or before August 18, 2010.
    To receive future notices regarding planning and decision making 
for the LRMP, including the times and locations of public meetings, 
subscribe to the Trust's user maintained mailing list. To subscribe, 
access our Web site, https://www.vallescaldera.gov, and select the 
``Mailing List'' tab from the upper left corner of the home page. You 
will be asked to select one or more topics of interest. Check ``Project 
Planning and Decisions'' to receive updates on this and other planning 
efforts.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on the proposed LRMP by any of the 
following methods:
    E-mail: comments@vallescaldera.gov; include Landscape Restoration 
and Management Plan as the subject.
    Surface Mail: The Valles Caldera Trust, P.O. Box 359 Jemez Springs, 
NM 87025.
    Hand Delivery/Courier: Valles Caldera Trust, 18161 State Highway 4, 
Jemez Springs, New Mexico.
    Agency Web site: Detailed information on the existing condition of 
the preserve's ecosystems, the methodology used to assess the existing 
condition, including collaboration with the Santa Fe National Forest 
and others on landscape restoration across the southwestern Jemez 
Mountains is available on the trusts Web site, https://www.vallescaldera.gov. Select feedback from these pages to provide 
comments.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Marie E. Rodriguez, Natural Resource 
Coordinator at mrodriguez@vallescaldera.gov, or 505/661-3333.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Valles Caldera National Preserve (VCNP) 
is located in north-central New Mexico in the Jemez Mountains, 
primarily in Sandoval County with a small inclusion in Rio Arriba 
County. The VCNP was acquired by the Federal Government in 2000 with 
the signing of the Valles Caldera Preservation Act (Pub. L. 106-248). 
Besides acquisition of the land, the law established the Valles Caldera 
Trust, a wholly owned government corporation and non-profit 501(c) 1 
organization to manage the Preserve. Management of the VCNP is 
considered an experiment in public land management. The purposes and 
goals from Public Law 106-248 that are being specifically addressed in 
the proposed LRMP include: the protection and preservation of the 
preserve's natural and cultural resources and values, the multiple use 
and sustained yield of timber and forage resources, enhancing the 
objectives on surrounding National Forest System land, and providing 
benefits to local communities and businesses.
    Since 2002, the Trust has been gathering data and information in 
order to comprehensively assess the existing condition of preserve's 
resources. This effort has yielded a 6-meter resolution map of the 
preserve's ecosystems, a delineation of individual stands as defined by 
structure and composition, a preserve-wide stratified sampling of the 
preserve's forests which inventoried and permanently located nearly 600 
forest field plots. Other inventory and monitoring activities has 
included the establishment of 41 permanent monitoring sites in the 
preserve grasslands and riparian areas, 2 sites that measure forest 
processes (carbon and water cycling), 5 climate stations, and stations 
that measure bother water quality and quantity as various locations. 
The trust has also completed inventories to identify the flora and 
fauna species represented on the preserve, threatened and endangered 
wildlife species and habitats, and studies to understand the population 
and relationships of key wildlife species. These inventories and 
studies have been undertaken by the trust in collaboration with other 
Federal and well as state agencies, as well as many universities, non-
government organizations, and volunteers. This comprehensive baseline 
data provides the basis for planning and implementing a LRMP supported 
by a systematic approach to adaptive management as required in the NEPA 
procedures of the trust.
    Beginning in December 2008, the Valles Caldera Trust, Santa Fe 
National Forest, New Mexico Forest and Watershed Restoration Institute, 
and The Nature Conservancy began meeting to strategize a collaborative 
effort to manage and restore over 200,000 acres in the upper Jemez 
River Watershed. Through this collaborative effort we were able to work 
across boundaries, sharing data and specialists in support of assessing 
the existing conditions. Further efficiencies can be gained through 
collaboratively implementing management actions as well as monitoring 
and evaluating activities across boundaries.
    The restoration partners worked together to expand their 
collaboration to federal, state and local agencies, non-government 
organizations, and individual citizens interested in forest restoration 
and management in the Jemez Mountains. A three day workshop was held 
February 9-11, 2010 in Santa Fe, New Mexico to review and affirm the 
current assessments and develop a strategy to collaboratively restore 
the ecosystems within the 210,000 acre landscape including all of the 
VCNP. The strategy included goals and objectives for restoration, types 
of restoration treatments that should be considered, the priority of 
treatments, as well as a strategy for monitoring and evaluating the 
effectiveness and effects of treatments. This strategy was submitted 
for funding under the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration 
Program. Information on that program as well as the strategy

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submitted and all supporting information are available on the Santa Fe 
National Forest's Web site, https://www.fs.fed.us/r3/sfe/jemez_mtn_rest/docs.htm. The proposed LRMP was based upon this collaborative 
strategy.
    Responsible Official: Dennis Trujillo, Preserve Manager, is 
designated as the Responsible Official and will make the implementing 
decision oversee planning and implementation of the proposed LRMP.

    Dated: July 8, 2010.
Gary Bratcher,
Executive Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-17371 Filed 7-15-10; 8:45 am]
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