[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 46 (Wednesday, March 10, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11105-11107]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-4929]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Kootenai (KNF) and Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF);
Montana, Idaho and Washington; Revised Land and Resource Management
Plans
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS) and revised land management plans using the provisions of the
National Forest System land and resource management planning rule in
effect prior to November 9, 2000, for the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle
National Forests located in Lincoln, Sanders, and Flathead counties in
Montana; Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, Shoshone, Benewah, Latah, and
Clearwater counties in Idaho; and Pend Oreille county in Washington.
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SUMMARY: As directed by the National Forest Management Act, the US
Forest Service is preparing the revised land management plans for the
Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests and will also prepare one
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the revised plans unless,
during the revision process, the need for two separate EISs is found to
be warranted. The Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests
comprise the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle Planning Zone (KIPZ). This
notice briefly describes where the Forests are in this revision process
and information concerning public participation. It also provides
estimated dates for filing the EIS and provides the names and addresses
of the responsible agency official and the individual who can provide
additional information. This notice also briefly describes the
applicable planning rule and how work done on the plan revision under
the 2008 planning rule will be used or modified for completing the plan
revision.
The revised land management plans will supersede the current land
management plans previously approved by the Regional Forester in 1987
and as amended. The amended plans will remain in effect until the
revision takes effect.
DATES: Comments providing additional information for the plans will be
used to develop the draft revised forest plan and EIS. This information
would be most useful if received by May 15, 2010. The agency expects to
complete a proposed plan and draft EIS by December 2010, and a final
plan and final EIS by December 2011. The dates, time, and location of
any open houses will be posted on the forests' Web site: http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to KIPZ, Attention: Forest Plan
Revision Team, Idaho Panhandle National Forests, Forest Supervisors
Office, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815. Comments may also
be sent via e-mail: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Linda Clark, revision co-team leader
Idaho Panhandle National Forests, 3815 Schreiber Way, Coeur d'Alene, ID
83815, 208 765-7417, [email protected] or Kathy Rodriguez, revision co-
team leader, Kootenai National Forest, Forest Supervisors Office, 31374
U.S. Highway 2, Libby, MT 59923-3022, 406-293-6211,
[email protected]. Information on this revision is also available at
KIPZ revision Web site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz). Individuals who use
telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8
p.m., Eastern Time Monday through Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Name and Address of the Responsible Official
Leslie A.C. Weldon, Regional Forester, 200 E. Broadway, Missoula,
MT 59807.
Nature of the Decision To Be Made
The Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests are preparing an
EIS to revise the current forest plans. The EIS process is meant to
inform the Regional Forester so that she can decide which alternative
best meets the need to achieve quality land management under the
sustainable multiple-use management concept to meet the diverse needs
of people while protecting the forests' resources, as required by the
National Forest Management Act and the Multiple Use Sustained Yield
Act.
[[Page 11106]]
The revised forest plans describe the strategic intent of managing
the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests into the next 10 to
15 years. The revised forest plans provide management direction in the
form of goals (desired conditions), objectives, suitability
determinations, standards, guidelines, and a monitoring plan. They also
make new special area recommendations for wilderness, research natural
areas, and other special areas.
Applicable Planning Rule
Preparation of the revised plans was underway when the 2008
National Forest System land management planning rule was enjoined on
June 30, 2009, by the United States District Court for the Northern
District of California (Citizens for Better Forestry v. United States
Department of Agriculture, 632F. Supp. 2d 968 (N.D.Cal. June, 2009)).
On December 18, 2009, the Department reinstated the previous
planning rule, commonly known as the 2000 planning rule in the Federal
Register (74 FR 242, pages 67059 through 67075 [Friday, December 18,
2009]). The 2000 planning rule was amended in 2002 to allow the Forest
Service to follow the procedures of the 1982 Forest System Land and
Resource Management Planning Rule (1982 Rule). The Kootenai and Idaho
Panhandle National Forests have elected to use the provisions of the
1982 Planning Rule including the requirement to prepare an ETS to
complete their revised plans.
In late 2000, the KIPZ began working on revision of their Land
Management Plans (LMPs) under the 1982 Planning Rule. In April 2002, a
Notice of Intent (NOT) was published in the Federal Register,
announcing the revision of the LMPs with a 12 month public comment
period. Work continued on the LMPs under the 1982, 2000, 2005, and 2008
Planning Rules. Results from public involvement work conducted since
2002, were used as the revision continued through June 2009. Proposed
Plans were released in 2006, under the 2005 Planning Rule. Since 2008,
work on the revision of the LMPs was conducted in accordance with all
Forest Service directives applicable to the 2008 Planning Rule.
Although the 2008 Planning Rule is no longer in effect, information
gathered prior to the court's injunction is useful for completing the
revision of the plans using the provisions of the 1982 Planning Rule.
The KIPZ has concluded that the following material developed during the
plan revision process to date is appropriate for continued use in the
revision process:
The Content Analysis report prepared in 2004, summarized
what the KIPZ had learned from people that responded to the preliminary
proposed action, revision topics, and need for change through the
various public and workgroup meetings, open houses, field trips,
invited group presentations, and meetings with Tribal partners, agency
partners, and elected officials up to that time.
The Analysis of the Management Situation (AMS) and AMS
Technical Report completed in March 2003 forms the basis for need to
change the current forest plans and the proposed action for the plan
revision.
The Comprehensive Evaluation Report (CER) provided for
public review and comment in 2006, built upon the AMS and documents the
evaluation of the 1987 Forest Plans and proposed changes. The CER
evaluates current social, economic, and ecological conditions and
trends that contribute to sustainability. The CER, under the 2005 and
2008 Planning Rules, served as the principle document that supported
the need to establish, amend, or revise a plan. The CER identifies
factors that affect conditions and trends, and includes information of
what is causing conditions to change, and describes the influence plan
implementation would have on moving toward desired conditions.
The inventory and evaluation of potential wilderness areas
presented in the Proposed Land Management Plans and CER made available
for public review and comment in May 2006, for both forests, is
consistent with appropriate provisions of the 1982 planning Rule and
will be brought forward into this planning process.
The Analysis of Public Comment report prepared in March
2007 synthesizes and summarizes the comments and concerns heard during
the comment period for the Proposed Land Management Plans released in
May 2006.
Information developed by the working groups (which
included over 140 meetings) and discussions regarding Geographic Area
(GA) desired conditions, the revision topics, monitoring and other plan
components (1982 Planning Rule) and over fifty meetings and discussions
on the starting option maps and potential changes to suggest to Forest
Supervisors (2005 Planning Rule) that went into the Proposed LMPs.
There are additional background reports, assessments,
datasets, and public comment that will be used, some of which can be
found on the KIPZ Web site.
As necessary or appropriate, the above listed material will be
further adjusted as part of the planning process using the provisions
of the 1982 Planning Rule (Authority: 16 U.S.C. 1600-1614; 36 CFR
219.35 (December 18, 2009) (74 FR 242)).
Proposed Action
The proposed action will be developed using the information that
has been developed and summarized over the last 10 years including:
Public comments, public working groups, AMS, CER, and proposed plans.
Using the information from public involvement and content analysis on
the proposed plans, the revision team worked on finalizing the plans
from 2007 to 2009. The Forests propose to review the work that has been
completed to date to develop a proposed action and range of
alternatives.
Revision Topics Carried Forward
The Forests propose to carry forward the following Forestwide
revision topics as published in the May 2006 Proposed Land Management
Plans. These revision topics were identified in the 2003 AMS, and
updated in the CER under the 2005, and 2008 Planning Rules:
Access and Recreation
Vegetation
Timber
Fire
Wildlife
Watersheds (Water, Soil, and Riparian) and Aquatic Species
Recommended Wilderness
The Forests propose to start with the Proposed LMPs and comments
received (under the 1982 and 2005 Planning Rules) to build Plans under
the 1982 Planning Rule and proposed action in the accompanying EIS.
Public Involvement
Extensive public involvement and collaboration has occurred over
the past eight years. Informal discussions with the public regarding
needed changes to the current forest plans began with a series of
public meetings in 2002. This input, along with science-based
evaluations, and inventory and monitoring was used to determine the
need for change identified above.
Additional meetings, correspondence, news releases, comment
periods, and other tools have been utilized to gather feedback from the
public, forest employees, tribal governments, federal and state
agencies, and local governments.
The KIPZ hosted approximately thirty informational and comment
meetings within communities of Idaho, Montana, and Washington during
the scoping
[[Page 11107]]
process, which started in April 2002, with the Notice of Intent in the
Federal Register, and ended in May 2004. In addition to the public
meetings, briefings and meetings were held with the Tribes,
Congressionals and other elected officials, other agencies, and
interest groups.
Also during the scoping period, the KIPZ hosted approximately 140
workgroup meetings from August 2003 to May 2004. These meetings were
held in communities within the KIPZ zone and the workgroups focused on
the GAs surrounding each of these communities. The purpose of these
workgroup meetings was to: (1) Share information about the revision
topics, (2) collaboratively discuss and develop desired conditions for
each of the revision topics within the workgroup's GAs, and (3) gain an
understanding of the issues and appreciation of others' viewpoints.
Workgroup meeting notes and desired condition statements can be found
on the KIPZ Web site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz).
This information was used in developing forestwide and GA desired
conditions, other management direction such as management area
direction, and the starting option map, which was used at further
workgroup meetings in the summer of 2005.
In addition to these workgroup meetings, briefings and meetings
were held with the Tribes, Congressionals and other elected officials,
other agencies, and interest groups (upon request). Several elected
officials, Congressional staffers, and other agency representatives
participated in the workgroup meetings.
From July to September 2005, the KIPZ hosted additional workgroup
meetings in the same communities focusing on the same GAs. The purpose
of these workgroup meetings was to: (1) Share the starting option maps
and discuss how they were developed, (2) validate the information on
the maps, and (3) collaboratively discuss any possible changes to the
maps. In addition to these meetings, meetings were held with elected
officials, the Tribes, and other groups. The comments from all of these
meetings resulted in decisions made by the Forest Supervisors to change
the starting option maps. Workgroup meeting notes can be found on the
KIPZ Web site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz).
In October 2005, Draft Forest Plans maps were released with the
intent to provide information back to the public on how the starting
option maps had changed. It did not initiate a comment period. The
maps, along with the rationale for the changes, are posted on the KIPZ
Web site. The Draft Forest Plans maps were used by the revision team to
complete the Proposed Land Management Plans.
In May 2006, the Kootenai and Idaho Panhandle National Forests
prepared and released Proposed Land Management Plans, with maps, for a
90-day comment period (extended to 120 days). An Analysis of Public
Comment report was prepared in March 2007, and posted on the KIPZ Web
site (http://www.fs.fed.us/kipz). The report synthesized the comments
and concerns heard during the comment period for the Proposed Land
Management Plans.
The KIPZ will continue regular and meaningful consultation and
collaboration with tribal nations, on a government-to-government basis.
The agency will work with tribal governments to address issues
concerning Indian tribal self-government and sovereignty, natural and
cultural resources held in trust, Indian tribal treaty and Executive
order rights, and any issues that significantly or uniquely affect
their communities.
The KIPZ desires to continue collaborative efforts with members of
the public who are interested in management of the Forests, as well as
federal and state agencies, local governments, and private
organizations.
If you feel that we missed any substantive issues or concerns from
those listed above as revision topics or additional, different comments
from those provided on the Proposed LMPs, please e-mail, call or write
to us. If you do wish to comment, it is important that you provide
comments at such times and in such a way (clearly articulate your
concerns) that they are useful to the Agency's preparation of the
revised plan and the EIS. The submission of timely and specific
comments can affect a reviewer's ability to participate in subsequent
administrative or judicial review. At this time, we anticipate using
the 2000 Planning Rule pre-decisional objection process (36 CFR 219.32)
for administrative review.
Comments received in response to this solicitation, including the
names and addresses of those who comment will be part of the public
record. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered.
Dated: March 2, 2010.
Leslie A.C. Weldon,
Regional Forester, Forest Service Northern Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-4929 Filed 3-9-10; 8:45 am]
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