Klamath National Forest, California, Westside Fire Recovery Project, 61849-61850 [2014-24441]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Forest Service

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 199 (Wednesday, October 15, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61849-61850]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-24441]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Klamath National Forest, California, Westside Fire Recovery 
Project

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Klamath National Forest will prepare an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) on a proposal to reduce safety hazards to the 
public and forest workers, obtain the maximum economic commodity values 
from burned timber, and increase the likelihood and speed by which 
burned forested areas are regenerated on about 63,883 acres that burned 
with high severity in the Beaver Creek, Whites, and Happy Camp Complex 
fires in 2014. The project area includes 162,264 acres of National 
Forest System lands and 20,863 acres of private land. Treatments for 
the project will be limited to National Forest System lands. It is 
located on the west side of the Forest within the Beaver Creek, Horse 
Creek-Klamath River, Humbug Creek-Klamath River, Elk Creek, Indian 
Creek, Lower Scott River, Seiad Creek-Klamath River, Thompson Creek-
Klamath River, Ukonom Creek-Klamath River, French Creek-Scott River, 
North Fork Salmon River, and South Fork Salmon River 5th field 
watersheds. The legal description of the project area is Township (T) 
39 North (N) Range (R) 10 West (W), T39NR11W, T40NR8W, T40NR10W, 
T40NR11W, T41NR10W, T41NR11W, T43NR12W, T44NR11W, T44NR12W, T45NR10W, 
T45NR11W, T45NR12W, T46NR8W, T46NR9W, T46NR10W, T46NR11W, T46NR12W, 
T47NR8W, T47NR9W, and T47NR10W of the Humboldt Meridian and T14NR8 East 
(E), T15NR7E, T15NR8E, T16NR7E, T16NR8E of the Humboldt Meridian.

DATES: The comment period on the proposed action will extend 30 days 
from the date the Notice of Intent is published in the Federal 
Register. The draft EIS is expected to be completed by March 2015, and 
the final EIS is expected to be completed by June 2015.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Patricia A. Grantham, Forest 
Supervisor, Klamath National Forest, 1711 South Main Street, Yreka, 
California 96097, ATTN: Westside Fire Recovery Team Leader, or send 
facsimile to 530-841-4571. Submit electronic comments at the Klamath 
National Forest's project Web page: https://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.php/?project=45579 by selecting the ``Comment on Project'' link in 
the ``Get Connected'' group at the right hand side of the project Web 
page. Put the project name in the subject line; attachments may be in 
the following formats: Plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), Word 
(.doc, .docx), or portable document format (.pdf).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Coats, Klamath National Forest, 
Yreka, California 96097. Phone: 530-841-4470. 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

    The purpose of this project is to:
    1. Reduce safety hazards to adjacent landowners, the public, and 
Forest workers from falling trees (i.e. ``hazard trees,'' also known as 
``danger trees'') or hazardous fuels conditions. Trees killed or 
severely burned by wildfire (i.e. snags) are often unstable and at risk 
for falling or snapping off, especially during high wind events. It is 
important that safety is maintained and hazardous fuels conditions are 
abated, where they exist within the Wildland Urban Interface, 
especially within one-quarter mile of private property in burned areas 
or within areas that underwent fire suppression-related activity. It is 
also imperative that infrastructure, especially utility lines, roads, 
trailheads, campgrounds, fire lookouts, and bridges, are maintained for 
use by the public and Forest workers. Further, dead and dying trees 
within proposed salvage harvest areas need to be addressed to minimize 
safety hazards to the public who recreate in the area, Forest workers 
(i.e. planting), and firefighters (i.e. to enable future suppression 
efforts should the area burn again).
    2. Obtain the maximum economic commodity and value from burned 
timber by offering a sale while the wood is still marketable. The 
Forest Plan directs the Forest to harvest dead or dying trees to 
produce wood products as consistent with Forest goals. Dead timber 
loses significant value if left standing beyond two winters and is most 
profitable if harvested even sooner. Capturing the marketability of the 
timber provides the agency a viable means of meeting this and other 
project needs, since the timber sale can be used to fund restoration 
implementation. If treatment is delayed beyond the marketability period 
of the timber, the Forest Service will need to pay for the hazard tree 
abatement and removal of dead and dying trees in order to meet the 
first need described above. By contrast, if salvage occurs during the 
marketability period, funds gained from the salvage sale can be used 
for additional restoration work. Capturing the maximum economic value 
of the salvaged timber will benefit Siskiyou County and surrounding 
communities by maintaining and/or creating jobs in forest management by 
providing timber to the local mills who are major employers of these 
rural communities.
    3. Promote ecosystem sustainability by increasing the likelihood 
and speed by which burned, forested areas are restored. Although 
wildfires have some benefits (e.g., snag and downed wood creation), 
intensely burned forested areas may be slow to recover and heavy fuel 
loading will result from fallen snags. Following a high severity 
wildfire, heavy fuel loading predisposes

[[Page 61850]]

an area to higher intensity and higher severity wildfires in the 
future. Such fires would inhibit stand regeneration, resulting in stand 
type changes to brush or other non-forested vegetation types and 
delaying these lands from reaching the desired conditions of the Forest 
Plan.

Proposed Action

    The proposed action was designed to meet the purpose and need for 
action. The proposed action will treat a total of about 63,883 acres 
within the 214,848-acre project boundary (10,600 acres of salvage 
harvest, 21,872 acres of roadside hazard treatment, 11,411 acres of 
hazardous fuels treatment and 20,000 acres of site preparation, 
planting and release). Acres do not account for the overlap in 
treatment types. Treatment acreages are approximate at this point and 
will be adjusted and refined following scoping.

Responsible Official

    Patricia A. Grantham, Forest Supervisor, Klamath National Forest, 
1711 South Main Street, Yreka, CA 96097.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The responsible official will decide whether to adopt and implement 
the proposed action, an alternative to the proposed action, or take no 
action to make changes to existing conditions in the Westside Fire 
Recovery Project Area.

Scoping Process

    Public participation is important at numerous points during the 
analysis. The Forest Service seeks information, comments and assistance 
from federal, state, and local agencies and individuals or 
organizations that may be interested in or affected by the proposed 
action.
    The Forest Service conducts scoping according to the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations (40 CFR 1501.7). In addition to 
other public involvement, this Notice of Intent initiates an early and 
open process for determining the scope of issues to be addressed in the 
EIS and for identifying the significant issues related to a proposed 
action. This scoping process allows the Forest Service to not only 
identify significant environmental issues deserving of study, but also 
to deemphasize insignificant issues, narrowing the scope of the EIS 
process accordingly (40 CFR 1500.4(g)).
    This project is subject to comment pursuant to 36 CFR 218, Subparts 
A and B; however, the Forest is requesting an emergency situation 
determination as provided for in 36 CFR 218.21. If it is determined 
that an emergency situation exists with respect to all or part of the 
proposed project or activity, the proposed action shall not be subject 
to the pre-decisional objection process and implementation may proceed 
immediately after notification of the decision (Sec.  218.21(d)(1)). 
The responsible official shall identify any emergency situation 
determination made for a project in the notification of the decision 
(Sec.  218.21(e)). The Forest is also seeking alternative arrangements 
with the Council on Environmental Quality; arrangements may include but 
are not limited to a reduced comment period on the draft EIS and 
release of the final EIS and record of decision at the same time.

Comment Requested

    This Notice of Intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the EIS. Comments on the proposed action should be 
submitted within 30 days of the date of publication of this Notice of 
Intent in the Federal Register.
    Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review: The draft EIS is expected to be filed with the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for public 
review by March 2015. A draft EIS will be available for comment when 
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 a draft EIS 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 EIS stage but that are not raised until after completion of the 
final EIS 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 during the 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 EIS. The final EIS is scheduled to be completed in 
June 2015.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the proposal should be 
as specific as possible.
    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: October 8, 2014.
Patricia A. Grantham,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2014-24441 Filed 10-14-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P