[Federal Register: February 20, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 33)]
[Notices]
[Page 7851-7853]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr20fe09-41]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Klamath National Forest, California, Two Bit Vegetation
Management
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Klamath National Forest will prepare an environmental
impact statement (EIS) to document and publicly disclose the
environmental effects of implementing commercial thinning and
prescribed burn treatments in the Two Bit project area to provide
forest products, restore forest health, and reduce fuel hazard on
Klamath National Forest System lands. The project area is north and
west of Happy Camp, California. Thinning and understory prescribed
burning is proposed on approximately 10,800 acres.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
within 30 days of the publication of this notice in the Federal
Register. The draft environmental impact statement is expected in April
2010 and the final environmental impact statement is expected in July
2010.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to John Allen or Nick Larson, Project
Team Leaders, P.O. Box 377, 63822 Highway 96, Happy Camp, CA 96039. You
may also send electronic comments to the project e-mail inbox:
comments-pacificsouthwest-klamath-happy-camp@fs.fed.us, or via
facsimile to (530) 493-1796.
Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names
and addresses of those who comment, become part of the public record
for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be
accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide
the respondent with standing to participate in subsequent
administrative review or judicial review.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The project Web site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/klamath/projects/projects/two-bit or contact John
Allen (530-493-1741), Nick Larson (530-493-1724) or District Ranger Ken
Harris (530-493-1712) at the Happy Camp Ranger District, 63822 Highway
96, Happy Camp, California 96039 if you have questions, concerns, or
suggestions regarding this proposal.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Two Bit Vegetation Management Project area is approximately
67,600 acres in size and is located within the Indian Creek watershed,
north and west of Happy Camp, California, near the Oregon border.
Thinning and prescribed burning are proposed on approximately 10,800
acres within treatment units scattered throughout the larger project
area. Commercial thinning treatments make up approximately 2,200 acres
of the total area proposed for treatment and the remainder (about 8,600
acres) is proposed for prescribed burning. The majority of the
treatment units proposed for commercial thinning are existing
plantations that have not been commercially thinned in the past.
Approximately 300 acres proposed for treatment are natural stands. The
project is scheduled for implementation in 2010.
National Forest System lands within the Klamath National Forest are
managed using guidance provided by the Klamath National Forest Land and
Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). This Forest Plan provides two
types of management direction: Forest-wide direction and Management
Area direction. Other plans and policies that provide management
direction for this project include, but are not limited to, the
National Fire Plan, the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic
Preservation Act, the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. For
further information pertinent to the Forest Plan please visit http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/klamath/projects/forestmanagement/forestplan/index.shtml.
Purpose and Need for Action
Historic conditions in the Two Bit project area consisted of a
moderate to low intensity, frequent interval (5-15 year) fire regime.
Historical large fire history as well as fire exclusion have played a
substantial role in vegetation successional patterns throughout the
area. The current fire regime is characterized as moderate intensity
with an infrequent (greater than 25 years)
[[Page 7852]]
interval. Historic conditions within the project area as seen in 1944
aerial photos and documented in the 1997 Indian Creek Watershed
Analysis, indicate that large fires were a common occurrence in the
area; there was variation in the landscape with areas of continuous
cover broken up by openings of various sizes in the canopy. The lower
severity fires of the past maintained open understories and kept levels
of woody debris low; although, this varied as it does today depending
on weather, local topography and fuels conditions. More recent aerial
photo interpretation indicates a more continuous cover of forest with
less variation and fewer openings. This change has contributed to
increased fuel hazard (and the potential for high severity wildland
fire), decreased habitat quality for some species and increased
susceptibility to extreme insect and disease impacts and loss of big
trees.
The differences between existing conditions and desired conditions
form the basis for the need for action. Action is needed in the Two Bit
project area to:
Reduce tree density and move stands toward more natural
composition and Structure.
Restore and enhance meadows on the landscape.
Sustain moderate timber yields that are compatible with
area goals.
Maximize tree growth while minimizing insect and disease
susceptibility.
Promote development of late-successional old-growth in
Late-Successional Reserves.
Protect mid- and early-seral forest from loss due to
wildfire.
Reduce the risk of losing northern spotted owl habitat
from wildfire.
Maintain and improve watershed conditions.
The purpose of the project is to:
1. Provide a programmed flow of timber products--Actions proposed
in the Two Bit project area are designed to do this by improving and
maintaining good growth rates, minimizing insect and disease damage
through stocking control, and maintaining plantations where they
currently exist. Approximately 80% of the area proposed for thinning is
within existing plantations that are within Forest Plan Management
Areas available for scheduled timber harvest (General Forest, Partial
Retention Visual Quality Objective, Managed Wildlife Habitat) with the
remaining area in Riparian Reserves and/or Late-Successional Reserves.
2. Sustain diverse, resilient ecosystems, more in keeping with
historic conditions--Actions proposed in the Two Bit project area are
designed to do this by reducing stand density, improving structural
diversity within stands, maintaining natural meadows and wetlands or
restoring meadows and wetlands where encroachment has occurred,
maintaining hardwood diversity or restoring hardwood diversity where
loss has occurred or recruitment is low, protecting mid- and early-
seral forest from loss due to wildfire, and maintaining watershed
health and the quality of the Indian Creek water source.
Proposed Action
The proposed action has been designed to meet the purpose of the
Two Bit vegetation management project and satisfy the need for action
primarily by using commercial thinning and prescribed burning.
Approximately 10,800 acres within the large Two Bit project area
have been identified where treatments are necessary and feasible.
Approximately 133 units have been identified for proposed commercial
thinning. Of these, 31 are natural stands and 102 are existing
plantations. These units comprise approximately 2,000 acres. An
additional 200 acres are proposed for a more specialized treatment
(pole harvest, sanitation thinning, hardwood release or meadow
enhancement) as described in more detail below, for a total of
approximately 2,200 acres of treatments. Ponderosa pine and Douglas-fir
are the dominant species proposed for removal during thinning.
Commercial thinning is proposed in stands that are accessible from
the existing road system and are of the size, age, terrain, and
structure suitable for logging. Thinning would be followed by various
fuel treatments, most of which would be underburning; although may
include mastication, tractor piling, chipping, handpiling, or jackpot
burning (burning small concentrations of slash and debris).
Underburning would also be implemented on approximately 8,600 acres
outside of commercial thinning units.
The majority of the thinning units identified in this project are
proposed to be harvested using ground based operations (mechanized
harvest or conventional tractor skidding); a few of the units have the
opportunity to be cable logged, and none of the areas identified are
proposed for helicopter logging. Trees deemed hazardous to the
operations would be removed along the haul route.
Approximately 32 short temporary roads (totalling approximately 3.6
miles) are proposed for construction as part of this project to
facilitate tractor and cable logging. All temporary roads constructed
for this project would be closed and hydrologically restored to
minimize erosion and sediment production upon completion of the
project.
In addition to closing temporary roads at completion of the
project, decommissioning an additional 4.3 miles of existing roads is
also proposed. These roads were identified using the 2004 roads
analysis process as requiring excessive maintenance, having little
value to future management projects, and contributing to unfavorable
watershed conditions.
While commercial thinning and underburning are the two primary
tools proposed within the Two Bit project area to meet the purpose and
need, several smaller areas are proposed for specialized treatments as
described below.
Pole harvest is proposed for approximately 86 acres along
roadsides that are heavily stocked with small diameter (less than 10
inch) trees. These areas are proposed for thinning to meet fuels
objectives and would be made available to the local community through
personal use pole permits.
Sanitation harvest is proposed for approximately 36 acres
along a roadside that has dwarf mistletoe infestation. Thinning in
these areas is proposed to remove trees with dwarf mistletoe to prevent
the spread to nearby healthy stands.
Meadow restoration is proposed for approximately 80 acres
in order to maintain or enhance meadow conditions. Treatments would
include chainsaw removal of small encroaching conifers, handpiling and
burning, and limited use of prescribed fire.
Hardwood release is proposed for approximately 18 acres in
order to reduce conifer competition with medium- to large-sized oak
trees.
Responsible Official
Patricia Grantham, Klamath National Forest Supervisor, USDA Forest
Service, 1312 Fairlane Road, Yreka, California 96097, will prepare and
sign the Record of Decision at the conclusion of the NEPA review.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The Forest Service is the lead agency for the project. Based on the
result of the NEPA analysis, the Forest Supervisor's Record of Decision
regarding the Two Bit vegetation management project will recommend
implementation of one of the following: (1) The proposed action and
mitigation necessary to minimize or avoid adverse impacts; (2) An
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alternative to the proposed action and mitigation necessary to minimize
or avoid adverse impacts; or (3) The no-action alternative. The Record
of Decision will also document the consistency of the proposed action
or one of the alternatives with the Klamath National Forest Land and
Resource Management Plan (1995, as amended).
Scoping Process
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. To assist the
Forest Service in identifying and considering issues and concerns on
the proposed action, comments should be as specific as possible. A
public open house will be held at the Happy Camp Grange Hall (64501
Second Avenue, Happy Camp, CA) on March 4, 2009 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Forest Service staff will be on hand to meet with you, answer
questions, and discuss the project and process. Comments may be
submitted at the meeting, by email, fax or letter within the 30-day
scoping period.
It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times
and in such a way that they are useful to the agency's preparation of
the environmental impact statement. Therefore, comments should be
provided prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly
articulate the reviewer's concerns and contentions. The submission of
timely and specific comments can affect a reviewer's ability to
participate in subsequent administrative appeal or judicial review.
Dated: February 12, 2009.
Patricia A. Grantham,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. E9-3613 Filed 2-19-09; 8:45 am]
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