[Federal Register: June 1, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 105)]
[Notices]
[Page 30539-30540]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01jn07-29]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Shasta-Trinity National Forest; California; Gemmill Thin Project
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: This notice for the Gemmill Thin project revises the first
notice for the project which was published in the Federal Register on
December 12, 2005 (page 73430). Comments received during the first
comment period (December 12, 2006 to January 13, 2007) as well comments
received during the comment period for this notice will be considered
by the Responsible Official in the development of the draft
environmental impact statement.
The Shasta-Trinity National Forest proposes to improve, maintain
and protect wildlife habitat for late-successional and old-growth
associated species in the Chanchelulla Late-Successional Reserve on the
South Fork Management Unit. The proposal includes thinning trees in
overcrowded natural stands, thinning plantations and reducing the
amount of existing fuels on a total of approximately 1,610 acres of
National Forest System land. The project area is located on South Fork
Management Unit in T.29 and 30 N., R.10 and 11 W., Mt. Diablo Meridian,
northeast of the community of Wildwood, California and south of
Chanchelulla Wilderness. Wildwood has bee listed as a Wildland Urban
Interface (WUI), identifying it as a community at risk from the threat
of wildfire and giving it higher priority for fuels reduction
treatments. The Forest Land and Resource Management Plan allocates this
area to Late-Successional Reserve, Riparian Reserve (wetlands and areas
adjacent to streams), and Matrix (commercial timber harvest emphasis).
The project area is within designated critical habitat for the Northern
spotted owl (CA-36).
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
no later than 30 days after the publication of this notice in the
Federal Register. The draft environmental impact statement is expected
in July 2007 and the final environmental impact statement is expected
in October 2007.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Gemmill Thin Comments, South Fork
Management Unit, P.O. Box 159, Hayfork, CA 96041. Electronic comments
can be sent via e-mail to:
comments-pacificsouthwest-shasta-trinity-yollabolla-hayfork@fs.fed.us.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeff Paulo, Gemmill Thin IDT Lead, South Fork Management Unit, 2555
State Highway 36, Platina, CA 96076, Phone (530) 352-4211 or via E-mail
at jpaulo@fs.fed.us, or visit the Shast-Trinity National Forest Web
site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity/projects.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need for Action
Over the past 100 years the practice of excluding fire and the lack
of thinning treatments in the Chancuelulla Late-Successional Reserve
(LSR) have resulted in a forest ecosytem that is densely stocked and
slow-growing. Overcrowded conditions in mature stands (80 to 100 years
old) are causing a delay in the establishment of healthy functioning
old-growth habitat. Overcrowded conditions in old-growth stands (100 to
150 years old) do not promote long-term health and maintenance because
the largest and oldest treesand their replacements are at risk of
mortality due to the proximity and number of competing trees. In both
cases, tree vigor is reduced because smaller trees are competing with
larger trees for limited amounts of water, nutrients and sunlight. This
leaves the ecosystem more prone to disease and less resilient to fire.
Without treatment, overstocked stands are not likely to remain healthy
or meet the need for more old-growth habitat in the LSR. Most of the
existing plantations scattered throughout the LSR have never been
thinned so they are also overcrowded and hindered in their development
of future old-growth habitat characteristics.
There is a need to thin overstocked mature stands that are 80-100
years old. Fewer and healthier trees per acre would serve two purposes:
(1) Increase the rate of development of old-growth habitat
characteristics and (2) reduce the loss of existing and developing old-
growth habitat in the event of wildfire and outbreaks of disease. There
is a need to thin below in old-growth stands over 100 years old. A
thinning that leaves the oldest and largest trees would serve two
purposes: (1) Decrease the risk of losing existing old-growth trees and
(2) decrease the risk of losing future replacement old-growth trees.
There is a need to thin plantations to increase their growing space
and reduce density to levels where flames are not likely to reach the
canopy of the adjacent overstory trees during a wildfire.
There is also a need to spatially protect late-successional and
old-growth habitat from the threat of fire that could start inside or
outside the perimeter of the LSR. Current threats of fire include tree
mortality from insect and disease in overcrowded stands, and natural or
human-caused wildfire. The majority of private land closest to the
Gemmill Thin project was harvested in the late 1960s to 1970s and more
private harvesting is planned. Two public roads and a transmission line
are within or directly adjacent to the project area. These linear
features and past harvesting on private lands are associated with
higher risk for fire starts that could affect the project area.
Proposed Action
The proposed action would include the following treatments:
1. Thinning treatments on approximately 750 acres of stands 80 to
100 year old. Implement a thinning from below in 14 stands of mature
mixed conifer and hardwood forest. These are stands that do not yet
exhibit old-growth characteristics, but have the potential to attain
them. In these treatment units, the largest and healthiest trees would
be retained. A sufficient number of trees would be removed to a level
that maintains or increases growth rates of mature trees and removes
fuel ladders. The post treatment stand would average 50% to 60% tree
canopy cover.
2. Thinning treatments on approximately 530 acres of stands 100-150
years old. Implement a thinning from below in 10 stands of old-growth
mixed conifer and hardwood forest over 100 years old. The largest and
oldest trees within each stand would be retained. A sufficient number
of smaller trees would be removed to reduce the number of trees per
acre to a level that provides an improved competitive advantage for the
larger, older trees and removes fuel ladders that may threaten the
remaining trees. The post treatment stands would average 60% or more
tree canopy cover.
3. Thinning treatments in approximately 45 acres of 20 year old
plantations. Thinning and release treatments would be accomplished
through mastication (grinding up excess trees) in three plantations.
Sufficient numbers of trees would be removed to maintain an average of
150 trees per acre, a level that maintains stand growth
[[Page 30540]]
rate and reduces the amount ladder fuels.
4. Thinning from below to reconstruct fuelbreaks implemented 20
years ago on approximately 260 acres of stands aged 80 to 150 years
old. Implement a thinning from below to retain approximately 40% canopy
closure, and remove most understory vegetation. Shaded fuelbreaks are
approximately 150 to 300 foot-wide strips on which vegetation has been
modified so that fires burning into them can be more readily
controlled. The residual canopy closure provides sufficient shade to
reduce the growth of brush species in the understory.
5. Reduce hazardous fuels on approximately 25 acres of existing
fuels buffers. All live trees would be retained. Dead trees under 10
inches in diameter would be removed. These small dead trees and ground
fuels would be concentrated for burning by hand-treatment methods.
All proposed treatments would remove excess trees as commercial
wood products wherever possible. No trees over 150 years old would be
harvested. On approximately 1,460 acres small trees (5 to 10 inches in
diameter) would be removed and most trees less than 5 inches in
diameter would be removed as activity-generated fuels. The harvest
systems used in the proposed action would include mechanized equipment,
cable systems, and helicopter. There would be no road construction of
new system roads. The project may include reconstruction of road
segments, construction of short lengths of temporary roads and
decommissioning of other roads. Based on public comment another
alternative may be developed that places a diameter limit on all
thinning.
Responsible Official
J. Sharon Heywood, Forest Supervisor, Shasta-Trinity National
Forest, 3644 Avtech Parkway, Redding, CA 96002. (530) 226-2500.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The Forest Supervisor will decide whether to implement the proposed
action, implement an alternative action that meets the purpose and need
or take no action. The decision may include a non-significant forest
plan amendment that permits treatment of stands older than 80 years
within Late-Successional Reserves.
Scoping Process
Notice of the proposed action will be published in the newspaper of
record, the Redding Record Searchlight. It will also be published in
the Trinity Journal. Scoping letters will be mailed to interested and
affected public coincident with publication of this notice of intent in
the Federal Register and information on the proposed action will be
posted on the Forest Web site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/shastatrinity/projects.
The Trinity County Firesafe Council has reviewed this
proposal and a public meeting was held at the Harrison Gulch Ranger
Station on Wednesday, September 28, 2005. This notice of intent
initiates the current scoping process, which guides the development of
the environmental impact statement. Comments submitted during this
scoping process should be in writing and should be specific to the
proposed action. The comments should describe as clearly and completely
as possible any issues the commenter has with the proposal. The results
of scoping include: (a) Identifying potential issues, (b) identifying
issues to be analyzed in depth, (c) eliminating non-significant issues
or those previously covered by another environmental analysis, (d)
exploring additional alternatives, and (e) identifying potential
environmental effects of the proposed action and alternatives.
Preliminary Issues
Potential issues identified during the first public comment period
include:
Development of an alternative with a diameter limit for
harvesting
The potential for increased vehicle use as a result of
proposed road activities
Decommissioning roads that provide access for public use
and fire fighting
Early Notice of Public Participation in Subsequent Environmental Review
The comment period on the draft environmental impact statement will
be 45 days from the date 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 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 reviewer's position and contentions. Vermont
Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 533 (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 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.
Dated: May 25, 2007.
Scott G. Armentrout,
Deputy Forest Supervisor, Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
[FR Doc. 07-2718 Filed 5-31-07; 8:45 am]
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