Department of Agriculture January 18, 2012 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The USDA, Forest Service, is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on proposed variable density thinning treatments designed to control stocking and maintain or improve overall forest vigor and resiliency within a 6,516-acre planning area known as Eden Ridge. Timber harvested from stand treatments would contribute commercial timber to the Forest's Probable Sale Quantity. The planning area is located approximately four (4) air miles southeast of the city of Powers, Oregon, on the Powers Ranger District. A Notice of Intent (NOI) was first published for this proposal on April 26, 2010, Volume 75, No. 79, pages 21577-21579. Due to the length of time that has passed since the first NOI was published, refinement of the proposed action, and a change in the responsible official, the district is publishing this Corrected NOI. The district now proposes within the planning area, timber harvest and other connected activities on approximately 3,314 acres in stands regenerated from timber harvested around the 1930s and 1940s via historical railroad logging. Candidate stands located on suitable forest land within the planning area are proposed for treatment that are designated as Matrix, with some amount of Riparian Reserve under the Land and Resource Management Plan as amended by the Northwest Forest Plan. Approximately seventy-five (75) treatment units would be designed for timber harvest with associated harvest systems that would use a combination of ground-based and skyline operations depending on soil, slope and hydrological concerns. To facilitate treatments within the potential units being considered, approximately: 10.5 miles new road construction 0.03 miles of temporary roads 3.7 miles reconstruction of existing template non system roads 7.7 miles maintenance of proposed existing cost share roads 31 miles maintenance of existing system roads is proposed. It is estimated the project could produce approximately 50 million board feet from the 3,314 acres being considered, from multiple timber sales over a 5-year period. The alternatives include the proposed action, no action, and additional alternatives that responded to issues generated through the scoping process. The agency will give notice of the full environmental analysis and decisionmaking process so interested and affected people may participate and contribute to the final decision.