Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, MT; Miller West Fisher Project, 18151-18153 [2011-7751]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Forest Service

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 63 (Friday, April 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18151-18153]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7751]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln County, MT; Miller West Fisher 
Project

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a supplemental environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare a Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Miller

[[Page 18152]]

West Fisher Project. The Project includes timber harvest, fuels 
reduction, precommercial thinning, prescribed fire, watershed 
rehabilitation activities, pool creation in Miller Creek, improvement 
of trails and trailheads, fuels management and hazard tree removal in 
Lake Creek Campground, and access management changes, including road 
decommissioning. The project is located in the Silverfish Planning 
Subunit on the Libby Ranger District, Kootenai National Forest, Lincoln 
County, Montana, and south of Libby, Montana. The Notice of 
Availability of the Draft EIS for this project was published in the 
Federal Register (vol. 74, no. 43) on March 6, 2009, and the notice of 
the Final EIS (vol. 74 no. 126) on July 2, 2009. The Record of Decision 
was issued in June of 2009. The Record of Decision was litigated in 
District Court for the District of Montana (CV 09-M-DWM) on issues 
regarding the grizzly bear analysis. The District Judge remanded the 
project to the Forest Service to address deficiencies in disclosures in 
the analysis. A Supplemental EIS is being prepared to address these 
disclosures in the grizzly bear analysis.

DATES: Scoping is not required for supplements to environmental impact 
statements [40 CFR 1502.9(c)(4)]. There was extensive public 
involvement in the development of the proposed action, the Draft EIS 
and the Final EIS, and the Forest Service is not inviting comments at 
this time. A Draft SEIS is expected to be available for public review 
and comment in May 2011; and a Final SEIS in June 2011.

ADDRESSES: The line officer responsible for this analysis is Malcolm 
Edwards, District Ranger, Libby Ranger District, 12557 MT Hwy 37, 
Libby, MT 59923.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Leslie McDougall, Team Leader, 
Three Rivers Ranger District, at (406) 295-4693.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Miller West Fisher Project Area is 
approximately 20 air miles south of Libby, Montana, within all or 
portions of T25N, R29W-R31W, T26N, R29W-R31W, T27N, R29W-R31W, PMM, 
Lincoln County, Montana.
    The Miller West Fisher Project Supplemental EIS will provide 
additional information and disclosures on the grizzly bear analysis in 
support of the Record of Decision issued in June 2009. More 
specifically, the Supplemental EIS will provide clarification and 
additional information on the following disclosures as requested by the 
District Court of Montana:
    1. Why the Bear Management Unit is the appropriate scale of 
analysis for cumulative effects;
    2. Further discussion on the limitations of Wakkinen and Kasworm 
(1997) utilized as the Best Available Science in regard to grizzly bear 
habitat protection in the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Recovery 
Zone;
    3. Further explanation on how the Miller West Fisher Project was 
made compatible with grizzly bear needs, consistent with the Kootenai 
National Forest 1987 Forest Plan;
    4. Address potential incidental take of grizzly bear in areas 
outside the recovery zone that are occupied by grizzly bears;
    5. Provide further explanation for why helicopter logging would not 
cause harm to grizzly bear.

Record of Decision--Alternative 6-Modified

    The Miller West Fisher Project Record of Decision issued in June 
2009 authorized the following:
    Vegetation treatments: Timber harvest and associated fuel treatment 
on 1,898 acres, including intermediate harvest on approximately 1,206 
acres and regeneration harvest on approximately 692 acres; pre-
commercial thinning will be implemented on approximately 351 acres; 
prescribed fire will be completed on 2,830 acres. These activities 
would contribute approximately 8.2 million board feet (MMBF) of timber 
products to the economy.
    Transportation actions: Construction of 3.29 miles of temporary 
road for timber harvest, to be obliterated afterward; implementation of 
best management practices (BMPs) and road maintenance work will be 
applied to approximately 38.99 miles of haul roads; placing 19.2 miles 
of road into intermittent stored service; decommissioning 1.43 miles of 
road; access changes are included to address watershed impacts, 
increase big game security through reduction in open road density 
(ORD), and to create grizzly bear core habitat in bear management unit 
(BMU) 6.
    Other activities: Pool creation in Miller Creek and stream bank 
stabilization in West Fisher Creek; improvement of trails and 
trailheads, including 5.9 miles of trail tread improvements for safety; 
fuels reduction and hazard tree removal in the Lake Creek Campground; 
spring development in the North Fork of Miller Creek; culvert 
replacement at the 0.5 milepost on Rd. 2314 to remove a barrier to fish 
and aquatic species.

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

    A Draft SEIS is expected to be available for public review and 
comment in May 2011; and a Final SEIS in June 2011. The comment period 
for the Draft SEIS 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 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 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 supplemental environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the Draft SEIS should 
be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to 
specific pages or chapters of the draft 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.

Responsible Official

    Paul Bradford, Forest Supervisor of the Kootenai National Forest, 
31374 US Hwy 2, Libby, MT 59923 is the Responsible Official for the 
Miller West Fisher Project.


[[Page 18153]]


    Dated: March 24, 2011.
Maggie Pittman,
Acting Forest Supervisor, Kootenai National Forest.
[FR Doc. 2011-7751 Filed 3-31-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P