[Federal Register: February 5, 2010 (Volume 75, Number = 24)] [Notices] =20 [Page 5941-5943] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr05fe10-22] =20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service =20 Umatilla National Forest, Walla Walla Ranger District, Walla=20 Walla, WA; Cobbler II Timber Sale and Fuels Reduction Project AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact=20 statement (EIS) to disclose environmental effects on proposed resource=20 management actions in Cobbler II project planning area. This project=20 would improve the health, vigor, and resilience to fire, insects, and=20 disease in upland forest stands that are outside their historical pre- fire conditions for species composition, structural diversity, stocking=20 densities, and fuel loads. The project planning area is approximately=20 34,000 acres in size. Proposed project activities consist of commercial=20 timber harvest, including treatment of activity and natural fuels=20 within harvest units, temporary road construction (that will be=20 decommissioned after project use), new road construction, danger tree=20 removal along haul routes, non-commercial thinning, hardwood=20 restoration, meadow restoration, and landscape prescribed burning. [[Page 5942]] DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received=20 by February 26, 2010. The draft environmental impact statement is=20 expected to be available in April 2010 and the final environmental=20 impact statement in July 2010. ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Mike Rassbach, District Ranger,=20 Walla Walla Ranger District, 1415 West Rose Street, Walla Walla, WA=20 99362. Comments may also be sent via e-mail to c= omments- pacificnorthwest-umatilla-wallawalla@fs.fed.us or via facsimile to=20 (509) 522-6000. Comments may be hand delivered to the Walla Walla=20 Ranger District office between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.,=20 Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Individuals who use=20 telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal=20 Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8=20 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Betsy Kaiser, Project Team Leader,=20 Walla Walla Ranger District, telephone (509) 522-6290 or e-mail=20 bkaiser@fs.fed.us. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background Information--An environmental assessment (EA) for=20 Cobbler Timber Sale and Fuels Reduction Project was prepared by the=20 Forest Service and issued to the public in May 2009. A decision notice=20 and finding of no significant impact for the May 2009 EA was signed by=20 the responsible official, Kevin Martin, Umatilla National Forest=20 Supervisor, on May 18, 2009. This decision was appealed, and on July=20 29, 2009, Supervisor Martin sent a memo to the Regional Forester to=20 withdraw his May 18th decision. After the withdrawal of the decision, the Forest Service decided to=20 initiate the Cobbler II Timber Sale and Fuels Reduction Project=20 environmental assessment (EA) and scoped with a letter dated November=20 20, 2009, and comment letters were received. Since that scoping letter=20 was mailed, the Forest Service has decided to issue an environmental=20 impact statement (EIS) for this project. The project file for the May=20 2009 EA and the Cobbler II EA will be incorporated in the Cobbler II=20 EIS. Information regarding the May 2009 Cobbler EA documents and the=20 Cobbler II EA scoping letter are available for review at the following=20 Web site address: http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=3Dlea= vingFR.html&log=3Dlinklog&to=3Dhttp://www.fs.fed.us/r6/uma/projec= ts/readroom/. Project Information--Cobbler II project planning area is primarily=20 located in Wallowa County and a small portion in Union County, Oregon=20 within portions of T. 4N., R. 40E., sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12,=20 14, and 15; T.5 N., R.40 E., sections 1, 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26,=20 34, 27, 33, 34, 35, and 36; T. 4N., R. 41E., sections 5, 6, 7, and 18;=20 T. 5N., R. 41E., sections 1 to 34; T. 5N., R. 42E., sections 4, 5, 6,=20 and 7; T. 6N., R. 41E., sections 25, 26, 27, 33, 34, 35, and 36; and T.=20 6N., R. 42E., sections 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34. It is in the Lower=20 Grande Ronde subbasin, within the Grande Ronde River and Wenaha=20 Watersheds. Cobbler II project planning area is bounded by the Wenaha-Tucannon=20 Wilderness to the north and west and the Grande Ronde River to the=20 southeast. Grande Ronde River has been designated as a Wild and Scenic=20 River by the Omnibus Oregon Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1988, and the=20 segment bordering the project planning area has been designated as=20 wild. The town of Elgin, Oregon, is approximately 20 miles to the=20 southwest. Troy and Eden Bench Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas are=20 approximately 5 miles east of the project planning area, and are=20 identified in the Wallowa County Community Wildfire Protection Plan=20 (CWPP). A portion (approximately 7,700 acres) of the Grande Ronde=20 inventoried roadless area (IRA) is within the project planning area. Purpose and Need for Action--The purpose and need for action in=20 this project is to improve health, vigor, and resilience to fire,=20 insects, and disease in upland forests that are outside their=20 historical pre-fire suppression conditions for species composition,=20 structural diversity, stocking densities, and fuel loads. Additionally,=20 there is a need to provide sawlogs and wood fiber products for=20 utilization by regional and local industry. Forest stands in the project planning area have been altered from=20 historical conditions due to fire suppression and past forest=20 management practices. A majority of current forest stands originated as=20 a result of fire disturbances occurring over one hundred years ago, and=20 they have not experienced fire since then. There have been repeated=20 insect defoliation episodes followed by salvage harvest. Lodgepole pine=20 stands have been harvested, and the remaining mature stands in the=20 project planning area are at the age to be highly susceptible to=20 mountain pine beetle, which is currently experiencing an increasing=20 population. Late seral tree species have become dominant after long=20 periods without disturbance and generally are more susceptible to=20 disturbance-caused mortality than early seral species. Forest stands=20 have become overstocked and are above recommended stocking levels that=20 would maintain stand growth and vigor. Timber stands of seral tree=20 species such as western larch and ponderosa pine are infilling with=20 grand fir. Findings from the historical range of variability (HRV) analysis=20 for Eastside Screens show that old forest structure is within=20 historical range for moist forest biophysical group, but outside of=20 historical range for dry forest biophysical group in old forest single=20 stratum (OFSS) structural stage. Proposed Action--Following are brief descriptions of activities=20 proposed for implementation, along with associated activities that=20 would occur concurrently. Timber Harvest--Commercially harvest approximately 2,500 acres. In=20 some treatment units timber harvest would include the removal of=20 sawlogs and small diameter trees in the 3-9 inch diameter at breast=20 height (DBH) range which would be used as a woody biomass product. In=20 some treatment units only biomass products would be removed with=20 incidental removal of sawlogs. Commercial thinning is the primary=20 silviculture prescription with some shelterwood and seed-tree=20 prescriptions used in decadent stands where thinning would not restore=20 growth or vigor. Harvest objectives would vary by stand condition and=20 fuel management objectives. Treatments would tend to favor early seral=20 tree species such as ponderosa pine and western larch. Harvest methods=20 would include conventional ground based (approximately 380 acres)=20 logging, using a harvester/forwarder (approximately 1,830 acres), and=20 skyline logging (approximately 230 acres). Fuel Treatments (activity and natural)--Activity fuels and existing=20 natural fuels would be treated in harvest units. Treatments would=20 include mechanical mastication, grapple piling, hand piling, jackpot=20 burning, and yarding with tops attached depending on slash loads and=20 the amount of fire sensitive species remaining after harvest.=20 Mastication would be used to treat both activity fuels and remaining=20 ladder fuels when small diameter understory is removed for woody=20 biomass products (3-9 inch DBH) and a high density of understory trees=20 still remains. Hand piling would be used in portions of units where=20 visual quality is a concern, mainly along Forest Road (FR) 62. Road Management--To accomplish implementation of proposed=20 activities, approximately 50 miles of open system roads, about 40 miles=20 of closed system roads, and 1.5 miles of seasonally open roads would be=20 used as haul routes. Of [[Page 5943]] the open system roads approximately 14 miles are outside of the project=20 planning area and represent haul routes to county roads. Closed system=20 roads used for project activities would not be opened to the public.=20 All system roads would remain the same after project implementation;=20 open roads would remain opened, closed roads would continue to be=20 closed, and seasonally open roads would continue with that designation.=20 Approximately 0.25 miles of new road construction would occur to access=20 an activity unit and be used for future access for vegetation and fuels=20 treatments. This new construction would become a closed system road=20 after project use. Approximately 0.20 miles of temporary road=20 construction would occur and would be decommissioned after project=20 activity use. Normal routine road maintenance would occur. Danger Tree Removal--Danger trees would be felled and removed along=20 all previously described haul routes used for timber sale activity. If=20 considered economically feasible, they would be sold as part of a=20 timber sale. Danger trees within Riparian Habitat Conservation Areas=20 (RHCAs) would not be removed; they would be cut and left to provide=20 additional coarse woody debris. Landscape Prescribed Fire--Landscape prescribed fire would occur=20 across approximately 8,000 acres within the Grande Ronde River canyon.=20 No timber harvest or mechanical fuel treatments would occur in these=20 canyons. This treatment would reintroduce fire to a fire-dependent=20 ecosystem blackening about 60 percent of the area to lessen the impact=20 of a future uncharacteristic wildfire and improve forage quality for=20 big game. In the majority of the project area, fire intensities would=20 be kept low by keeping fire out of the overstory and burning mainly=20 surface fuels. This activity would occur in almost all of the acres of=20 the Grande Ronde inventoried roadless area (IRA) that are within the=20 project planning area. Hardwood Restoration--Twenty-three hardwood sites (aspen, black=20 cottonwood, and mountain mahogany) totaling about 115 acres are=20 proposed for treatment that includes release from conifers and fencing=20 of these sites. Reduction of conifer competition in some aspen stands=20 would be achieved by girdling trees or cutting and leaving the trees on=20 site. Most of these stands have only mature or over-mature hardwood=20 trees with little or no regeneration, or regeneration that is being=20 severely browsed. Fencing would occur at these 23 hardwood sites. Meadow Restoration--An estimated 275 acres of dry meadows would be=20 treated to reduce conifer encroachment. Trees less than or equal to 6=20 inches DBH would be cut by hand followed by a prescribed underburn=20 through the grass. Non-commercial Thinning--This activity would cut excess trees that=20 are less than 6 inches DBH on approximately 1,900 acres. Some units may=20 have special conditions where trees up to 9 inches DBH would be cut.=20 Either manual or mechanical methods would be use. Forest Plan Amendment--In order to manage aspen stands in the=20 project planning area, the Forest Plan would be amended to reallocate=20 acres in management area allocations of D2-Research Natural Area, E2- Timber and Big Game, and A9-Special Interest Area. Elk Flats Meadow=20 (D2), which is currently a proposed candidate for designation as a=20 Research Natural Area (RNA), would be reallocated to management area=20 A9-Special Interest Area in order to allow vegetation management,=20 including cutting of trees, to maintain or enhance existing aspen and=20 encourage aspen regeneration. In summary, approximately 70 acres of=20 management area D2 (Elk Flats Meadow) would become management area A9;=20 approximately 30 acres of management area E2 would become management=20 area A9, and approximately 10 acres of management area D2 would become=20 management area E2. This amendment would remain in effect until the=20 current Forest Plan is revised. Possible Alternatives--An alternative that would have fewer impacts=20 on elk cover and/or old forest habitat was identified for this project.=20 Commercial harvest would occur on approximately 1,300 acres using the=20 same silviculture prescriptions and harvest methods. No timber harvest=20 would occur in old forest stands or in areas of satisfactory cover. All=20 other activities would remain the same but would occur on fewer acres.=20 Another alternative identified would be to take no action at this time=20 in the project planning area. Responsible Official Kevin Martin, Forest Supervisor, Umatilla National Forest, 2517=20 S.W. Hailey Avenue, Pendleton, Oregon 97801. Nature of Decision To Be Made The decision to be made is whether to approve the proposed action=20 or any alternative way to achieve the desired outcome. A Forest Plan=20 amendment is proposed. Scoping Process This notice of intent initiates the development of an EIS for the=20 Cobbler II project and seeks any additional scoping comments not=20 previously submitted. The comment period begins on the date of=20 publication of this notice of intent and ends on February 26, 2010. It=20 is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times and in=20 such a manner that they are useful to the agency's preparation of the=20 environmental impact statement. Therefore, comments should be provided=20 prior to the close of the comment period and should clearly articulate=20 the reviewer's concerns and comments. The submission of timely and=20 specific comments can affect a reviewer's ability to participate in=20 subsequent administrative appeal or judicial review. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names=20 and addresses of those who comment will be part of the public record=20 for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be=20 accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide=20 the respondent with standing to participate in subsequent=20 administrative appeal or judicial review. Dated: February 1, 2010. Kevin Martin, Forest Supervisor. [FR Doc. 2010-2505 Filed 2-4-10; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410-11-P