Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District, Shoshone County, ID; Beaver Creek Project, 4377-4378 [2013-01126]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Forest Service

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 22, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4377-4378]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-01126]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Coeur d'Alene River Ranger 
District, Shoshone County, ID; Beaver Creek Project

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) on a proposal to accomplish vegetation management in 
the Beaver Creek Resource Area, which is located on National Forest 
System lands administered by the Idaho Panhandle National Forests in 
Shoshone County, Idaho.
    The proposed action would include timber harvest (commercial thin, 
shelterwood, improvement cut, and seed tree treatments); hazardous 
fuels treatment (underburning, jackpot burning, mastication, grapple 
piling and yarding tops associated with the timber harvest); prescribed 
burning not associated with timber harvest; and watershed restoration 
(decommissioning roads currently not open to motorized use, upgrading 
aquatic organism passage barriers; and road construction (both 
permanent and temporary). Other activities included in the proposed 
action are road storage, road reconstruction and maintenance, site 
preparation, reforestation, and fuel break development.
    This project is designed to achieve the goals of enhanced forest 
stand resilience and resistance, hazardous fuel reduction, and 
restoration of water quality and aquatic habitats.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by February 21, 2013. Additional opportunity for formal comments will 
be accepted after release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS), which is expected to be published in April 2013. The Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) is expected to be published in 
August 2013.

[[Page 4378]]


ADDRESSES: Send or hand-deliver written comments to the Coeur d'Alene 
River Ranger District, Attn: Project Leader Lauren Goschke, 2502 E 
Sherman Avenue, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814. Comments may also be sent via 
email to comments-northern-idpanhandle-coeur-dalene@fs.fed.us, or via 
facsimile to 208-769-3062.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Goschke, Project Leader, Coeur 
d'Alene River Ranger District, 2502 E. Sherman Avenue, Coeur d'Alene 
ID, 83814; telephone (208) 769-3046, email lgoschke@fs.fed.us, or 
Jeanne White, Ecosystems Staff Officer, telephone (208) 769-3022, email 
jlwhite@fs.fed.us, also at the Coeur d'Alene River Ranger District. 
Additional information is available on the Idaho Panhandle National 
Forests internet web page: https://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/ipnf/landmanagement/projects.
    Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of the Beaver Creek proposed action is to move the 
project area towards the desired conditions identified by the Forest 
Plan. There is a need to maintain existing and recruit additional long-
lived early seral species to facilitate greater forest health and 
increased resiliency to disturbance. There is a need to manage the 
landscape arrangement of forest structure and age class within the 
Beaver Creek watershed to ensure diverse and sustainable forest stands.
    Dead and dying trees throughout the project area are increasing 
fuel loading throughout the watershed. Treatment is needed to reduce 
the risk of hazardous fuels which could threaten wildland urban 
interface areas.
    There is also a need to restore water quality and aquatic habitats 
in the Beaver Creek watershed to meet State water quality standards, 
improve the abundance of fisheries and other aquatic organisms, and 
improve the longevity of road conditions by reducing maintenance costs 
and providing for long term public access.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action would harvest timber (commercial thin, 
shelterwood, improvement cuts, and seed tree treatments) and treat 
hazardous fuels (underburning, jackpot burning, mastication, grapple 
piling and yarding tops associated with the timber harvest) on 
approximately 2,000 acres, Prescribed burning would occur on an 
additional 2,300 acres NOT associated with the timber harvest.
    Watershed restoration activities would include decommissioning 64 
miles of road currently not open to motorized use, upgrading 20 aquatic 
organism passage barriers, constructing 1.5 miles of permanent road and 
1.2 miles of temporary road. Other activities included in the proposed 
action are road storage, road reconstruction and maintenance, site 
preparation, reforestation, and fuel break development.

Possible Alternatives

    Scoping comments will be used by the Forest Service to develop a 
range of alternatives in response to any significant issues that are 
identified. A no-action alternative will be analyzed during the 
analysis process.

Responsible Official

    The responsible official for the decision on this project is the 
Forest Supervisor for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 3815 
Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The Forest Supervisor will decide whether to implement the action 
as proposed or as modified by an alternative, or whether to take no 
action at this time. If it proceeds, she will also decide what project 
design features and monitoring requirements will be applied to the 
project.

Preliminary Issues

    Preliminary concerns identified by the project team include (1) 
effects of the proposed activities on forest vegetation; (2) effects of 
the proposed activities on hazardous fuel levels; (3) effects of the 
proposed activities on elk thermal cover, (4) effects of the proposed 
activities on public recreation access, (5) effects of the proposed 
activities on water quality, water quantity, and fish distribution; and 
(6) revenues and the local economy.

Permits or Licenses Required

    Due to the nature of some of the restoration activities, such as 
culvert upgrades to facilitate aquatic organism passage or to improve 
hydrologic function, it is anticpated that permits associated with 
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act will be required.

Scoping Process

    This project was previously scoped as an Environmental Assessment. 
This notice of intent, which guides the development of the EIS, 
continues the scoping process. A scoping document was mailed to 
potentially interested or affected members of the public on October 5, 
2012. It is available on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests internet 
Web site (https://fs.usda.gov/goto/ipnf/projects). Please refer to the 
October 5, 2012 scoping document to obtain project details and project 
maps. It is not necessary to resubmit your comments if you responded to 
the October 5, 2012 scoping letter. Comments already submitted in 
response to the October 5, 2012 scoping letter will be used in the 
preparation of the EIS. While public participation in this analysis is 
welcome at any time, additional comments can best be used to prepare 
the EIS if received within 30 days of publication of this notice.
    It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times 
and in such a manner that they are useful to the agency's preparation 
of the environmental impact statement. Therefore, comments should be 
provided prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly 
articulate the reviewer's concerns and contentions.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names 
and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record 
for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be 
accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide 
the respondent with standing to participate in subsequent 
administrative or judicial review.

    Dated: January 14, 2013.
Mary Farnsworth,
Forest Supervisor, Idaho Panhandle National Forests.
[FR Doc. 2013-01126 Filed 1-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P