[Federal Register: November 13, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 220)]
[Notices]
[Page 67118-67120]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13no08-13]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Black Hills National Forest, Mystic Ranger District, SD, Slate
Castle Project Area
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS).
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact
statement on a proposal to use multiple vegetation treatments focused
on reducing the threat to ecosystem components including forest
resources from an existing insect and disease epidemic (mountain pine
beetle), creating a landscape condition more adapted to fire and that
reduces potential for high severity wildfire near at-risk communities
and in the wildland-urban interface. The proposal is being planned for
the 44,500 acre Slate Castle Project Area that includes about 38,300
acres of National Forest System land and about 6,200 acres of
interspersed private land. The project area generally extends from
northwest of Hill City, South Dakota and east of Deerfield Lake. This
project will be conducted as an authorized project under Section 102 of
the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA). Actions proposed
for the Slate Castle Project Area include the following:
Thin and harvest approximately 31,000 acres of pine stands
using a variety of methods to treat mountain pine beetle (MPB) infested
stands, reduce the overall density of pine trees and create a mosaic of
structural stages across the landscape. Both commercial harvest and
noncommercial thinning will be used to reduce the stand density, and
associated fuel hazard conditions and susceptibility to mountain pine
beetle infestations.
Reduce the amount of fuels that currently exists and that
created by vegetation treatment activities. Treatment could include
lopping, chipping, crushing, piling and burning, and creating fuel
breaks along roads and adjacent to private property, particularly those
properties with houses and subdivisions. Prescribed broadcast and pile
burning of up to 35,000 acres is also planned to disrupt the continuity
of surface and canopy fuels, and to increase the quantity and quality
of forage for big game and other wildlife resources.
Remove conifers from hardwood stands such as aspen and
birch, and restore meadows on approximately 4,400 acres to provide
habitat diversity and additional wildfire protection by restoring
natural fuel breaks.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis would be most
useful if received by 30-days following the date of this notice. The
draft environmental impact statement is expected to be
[[Page 67119]]
available for public review by March 2009 and the final environmental
impact statement is expected to be completed by July 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Robert J. Thompson, District
Ranger, Black Hills National Forest, Mystic Ranger District, Slate
Castle Project Area, 8221 South Highway 16, Rapid City, South Dakota
57702. Telephone Number: (605) 343-1567. E-mail: comments-rocky-
mountain-black-hills-mystic@fs.fed.us with ``Slate Castle'' as the
subject. Electronic comments must be readable in Word, Rich Text or PDF
formats.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: If you have any questions or need
additional information, please contact Katie Van Alstyne, Team Leader
or Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger, at the Mystic Ranger District
office in Rapid City at (605) 343-1567.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The actions proposed are in direct response
to management direction provided by the Black Hills National Forest
Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). The site specific
actions are designed, based on Forest Plan Standards and Guidelines, to
move existing resource conditions in the Slate Castle Project Area
toward meeting Forest Plan Goals and Objectives. The project area
generally extends from northwest of Hill City, South Dakota and east of
Deerfield Lake. Anticipated issues include: reducing MPB infestation
and risk; protecting local communities, private and public lands,
infrastructure and access from severe wildfire; associated fire and
fuels hazard reduction needs in the wildland-urban interface; support
or opposition to forest thinning using commercial timber harvest;
impacts of vegetation treatment and multiple forest uses on wildlife
habitat. The range of alternatives analyzed in the EIS is expected to
be consistent with Sec. 104 of HFRA.
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose of the Slate Castle Project is to:
Move toward achieving desired land and resource
conditions, as provided by the Forest Plan.
Reduce the threat to ecosystem components including forest
resources, from the existing insect and disease (mountain pine beetle)
epidemic.
Restore resource conditions to a healthy, resilient fire-
adapted ecosystem.
Help protect local communities and resources from
catastrophic wildfire.
This project is focused on implementing management actions that
move toward achieving:
Desired conditions and objectives embodied in Goals 2, 3,
7, and 10 of the Forest Plan (as amended).
Goals and objectives applicable to Forest Plan Management
Area (MA) 2.2--Research Natural Areas (~40 acres); MA 3.7--Late
Successional Forest Landscape (~460 acres); MA 5.1--Resource Production
Emphasis (~23,800 acres); and MA 5.4--Big Game Winter Range Emphasis
(~13,960 acres), that lie within Slate Castle Project Area, described
in Chapter III of the Forest Plan (Phase II Amendment).
Goals of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003
(HR 1904) and other National level initiatives and policy that provide
procedural tools to hasten processes focused on reducing insects or
disease on public and adjacent private lands, and reducing the
probability and occurrence of severe wildfire in the fire adapted
ecosystems, especially near at risk communities and in the wildland-
urban interface. Moreover, it is appropriate that proposed actions be
designed in consideration of the fuels hazard reduction management
recommendations and guidelines provided by the Pennington County
Community Wildfire Protection Plan of 2007.
Proposed Action
Proposed actions include the following:
Thin and harvest approximately 31,000 acres of pine stands
using a variety of methods to treat MPB infested stands, reduce the
overall density of pine trees and create a mosaic of structural stages
across the landscape. Both commercial and non-commercial sized trees
would be removed utilizing multiple contracts including stewardship,
timber sale, and service contracts.
Disrupt the continuity of surface and canopy fuels to help
reduce the potential for large-scale, intense wildfire spread.
Treatment could include thinning, lopping, chipping, crushing, piling,
and burning; restoring natural fuel breaks by removing conifers that
have encroached upon meadows and hardwood stands on approximately 4,400
acres; creating fuel breaks along roads and adjacent to private
property--particularly those properties with houses and subdivisions.
Prescribed broadcast and pile burning of up to 35,000 acres is also
planned to reduce the natural, as well as the management-caused
accumulation of fuels and to benefit big game and other wildlife
resources.
Responsible Official
Robert J. Thompson, District Ranger, Mystic Ranger District, Black
Hills National Forest, 8221 South Highway 16, Rapid City, South Dakota
57702.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The decision to be made is whether or not to implement the proposed
action or possible alternative at this time.
Scoping Process
Comments and input regarding the proposal will be received via
direct mailing from the public, other groups, and agencies during the
initial public comment period in November and December 2008. If you
would like to be more involved, a public meeting is scheduled for
Tuesday, December 2, 2008, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the City Hall
conference room in Hill City, South Dakota. Comments submitted based on
this NOI will be most useful if received within 30 days from the date
of this notice. Response to the draft EIS will be sought from the
interested public beginning in March 2009.
Comment Requested
This notice of intent provides information that the agency will
prepare an environmental impact statement in response to public comment
and feedback during the November and December 2008, scoping period.
Comments received will assist the planning team to develop the mailing
list for the draft EIS and help identify key issues and opportunities
used to refine the proposal or possible alternative and mitigation
measures. Comments on the DEIS will be requested during the 45 day
comment period following the Notice of Availability, expected to be
published in the Federal Register in March 2009 (See discussion below).
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: 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 reviewers
position and contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC,
435 US. 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
[[Page 67120]]
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
environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the 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.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21.
Dated: November 5, 2008.
Craig Bobzien,
Forest Supervisor, Black Hills National Forest.
[FR Doc. E8-26797 Filed 11-12-08; 8:45 am]
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