Idaho Panhandle National Forests

Transcription

1 United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Idaho Panhandle National Forests St. Joe Ranger District 222 S. 7 th St. Suite 1 St. Maries, ID (208) File Code: 1950 Date: February 12, 2010 Dear Friends and Neighbors of the St. Joe Ranger District: The St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests is considering a proposal for a 22-acre sanitation/salvage timber harvest (Section 20, T43N, R2E, Boise Meridian) in Shoshone County, Idaho approximately nine miles northeast of Clarkia, Idaho (see attached maps). The project name is One Boot Merry. I would appreciate your input. Purpose and Need: The Forest Service is proposing the project to: Reduce competition from other species for western larch, western redcedar, and western white pine. Reduce the existing root and stem decay in the grand fir, hemlock, and Douglas-fir to enhance the growth and vigor of the stand. Capture the timber value of the grand fir, hemlock, and Douglas-fir before the value is lost because of root and stem decays. Work towards Forest Plan Management Area 4 goals that apply to this project: manage big game winter range to provide sufficient forage to support projected big game habitat needs through scheduled timber harvest and permanent forage areas and Provide long-term growth and production of commercially valuable wood products. Provide cost effective timber production. Protect soil productivity. Meet or exceed state water quality standards. Meet visual quality objectives. Proposed Action: The Forest Service is proposing to: Salvage grand fir, hemlock and Douglas-fir on approximately 22 acres. The current species mix consists of western redcedar, grand fir, Douglas-fir, white pine, hemlock, and western larch. Western redcedar is a substantial component of this stand. The sanitation/salvage harvest would remove most of the grand fir, hemlock, and Douglasfir. The residual stand would consist primarily of western redcedar, western larch, white pine, and healthy, large (>30 inches) Douglas-fir. Large grand fir that are not salvageable because of extensive root and stem decay would be left for snag recruitment. Lop tops and leave them on site. Caring for the Land and Serving People Printed on Recycled Paper

2 Pile and burn landing slash. Use existing access. No new roads would be constructed. Existing skid trails and landings would be used where available to minimize soil disturbance and compaction. Other Information: The stand proposed for timber harvest does not meet minimum criteria for old growth and is not allocated for old growth management. Public access in the area would not change. The project is not in any congressionally designated areas, Idaho roadless areas, or research natural areas. Preliminary analysis and surveys indicate the project would not affect threatened, endangered, or sensitive species; floodplains, wetlands, or municipal watersheds; American Indian religious or cultural sites; or archaeological sites or historical properties or areas. Your Comments: This project includes sanitation/salvage timber harvest which is subject to public comment, notice, and appeal. A 30-day comment period provides those interested in or affected by this proposal an opportunity to make their concerns known before a decision is made. Only those individuals and organizations providing comments during this 30-day comment period will be eligible to appeal the decision pursuant to 36 CFR part 215 regulations. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public record and will be available for public inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered, but the person submitting them will not be eligible to appeal the decision. Comments received from an authorized representative(s) of an organization are considered those of the organization only; individual members of that organization do not meet appeal eligibility solely on the basis of membership in an organization; the member(s) must submit comments as an individual in order to meet appeal eligibility. Written, facsimile, hand-delivered, oral, and electronic comments will be accepted for 30 calendar days following publication of this notice in the Coeur d Alene Press. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for the calculating the comment period for the proposal. You should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source. The expected date of publication is February 17, Written comments must be submitted to: Charles Mark, District Ranger, St. Joe Ranger District, 222 S 7 th Street, Suite 1, St. Maries, ID The office business hours for those submitting hand-delivered comments are: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding federal holidays. Oral comments must be provided at the St. Joe Ranger District office in St. Maries, Idaho during normal business hours via telephone (208) or in person; or at an office agency function (i.e. public meeting) that is designated to elicit public comments. Electronic comments must be submitted in Word (.doc) or Word Perfect format to comments-northernidpanhandle_stjoe@fs.fed.us. The subject line must contain the name of the project: One Boot Merry. For electronically mailed comments, the sender should normally receive an automated electronic acknowledgement from the agency as confirmation of receipt. If the sender does not receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt of comments, it is the sender s responsibility to ensure timely receipt by other means. For appeal eligibility each individual or representative for each organization submitting substantive comments must either sign the comments or verify identity upon request. 2

3 The decision memo will be mailed to those individuals and organizations who submit comments during the project planning process or who specifically requested documents pertaining to this project. I will use your comments to complete the decision memo for the project. If we do not hear from you, your name will be removed from the mailing list for this project. If you have any questions please contact Cornie Hudson, Environmental Coordinator, at (208) I look forward to working with you on this important and worthwhile endeavor. Sincerely, CHARLES A. MARK District Ranger 3

4 Coeur d'alene I-90 Wallace ^_ One Boot Merry Vicinity and Project Area Maps 95 St. Maries 3 Project Area Vicinity Avery Clarkia The following products are reproduced from geospatial information prepared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. GIS data and product accuracy may vary. They may be: developed from sources of differing accuracry, accurate only at certain scales, based on modeling or interpretation, incomplete while being create or revised, etc. Using GIS products for purposes other than those for which they are created may yield inaccurate or misleading results. This information was released on 10/27/2009. The Forest Service Reserves the right to correct, update, modify or replace GIS products without notification. For more information, contact the St. Joe Ranger District at (208)

5 One Boot Merry Proposed Treatment Area Sanitation/Salvage Streams West Fork Merry Creek 1491 É Miles