Notice2021-20044
Tahoe National Forest; California; North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project EIS
Primary source
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Published
September 16, 2021
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentForest Service
Abstract
The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project. The purpose of the Project is to improve and restore forest health and resilience, reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire, protect and secure water supplies, and protect communities from the effects of high-severity wildfire and climate change in the North Yuba River watershed. Actions to reduce hazardous forest fuels and enhance forest resilience to severe disturbances from wildfire, insect and disease infestation, drought, and anticipated future climate change are intended to provide long-term benefits to the Landscape's communities and ecosystems. These actions include several project-specific amendments to the Land Management Plan for the Tahoe National Forest related to management of California spotted owl habitat. The amendments are based on the Conservation Strategy for the California Spotted Owl in the Sierra Nevada (USDA Forest Service 2019) and rely on the best available science.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 86 Issue 177 (Thursday, September 16, 2021)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 177 (Thursday, September 16, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51650-51652]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2021-20044]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Tahoe National Forest; California; North Yuba Landscape
Resilience Project EIS
AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is
preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the North Yuba
Landscape Resilience Project. The purpose of the Project is to improve
and restore forest health and resilience, reduce the risk of
uncharacteristic wildfire, protect and secure water supplies, and
protect communities from the effects of high-severity wildfire and
climate change in the North Yuba River watershed. Actions to reduce
hazardous forest fuels and enhance forest resilience to severe
disturbances from wildfire, insect and disease infestation, drought,
and anticipated future climate change are intended to provide long-term
benefits to the Landscape's communities and ecosystems. These actions
include several project-specific amendments to the Land Management Plan
for the Tahoe National Forest related to management of California
spotted owl habitat. The amendments are based on the Conservation
Strategy for the California Spotted Owl in the Sierra Nevada (USDA
Forest Service 2019) and rely on the best available science.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
30 days from date of publication in the Federal Register. The draft
environmental impact statement is expected July 2022, and the final
environmental impact statement is expected March 2023.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments via mail or by hand delivery to Eli
Ilano, Tahoe National Forest Supervisor, c/o Laurie Perrot, Attn: North
Yuba Project, 631 Coyote Street, Nevada City, CA 95959. Comments may
also be submitted electronically: <a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=59693">http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=59693</a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurie Perrot, Forest Environmental
Coordinator, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#8ce0edf9fee5e9a2fce9fefee3f8ccf9ffe8eda2ebe3fa"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e5898490978c80cb958097978a91a590968184cb828a93">[email protected]</span></a>. Additional information concerning
the proposed Project is available online at <a href="http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/tahoe/landmanagement/projects">http://www.fs.usda.gov/projects/tahoe/landmanagement/projects</a>. Individuals who use
telecommunication devices for the hearing-impaired (TDD) may call the
Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339, 24 hours a day, every
day of the year, including holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed North Yuba Landscape Resilience
Project (Project) is a watershed-scale forest restoration project in
the North Yuba Watershed within the Tahoe National Forest developed
through a collaborative process by the North Yuba Forest Partnership, a
diverse group of nine entities. The Project area stretches from New
Bullards Bar Reservoir east up to the Sierra Crest along Highway 49.
The planning area (or Landscape) is approximately 275,000 acres, of
which approximately 210,000 acres are National Forest System lands. The
watershed includes substantial forest habitat, is an important source
of water to downstream users, supports high biodiversity, offers
excellent opportunities for recreation, and is home to the communities
of Camptonville, Downieville, and Sierra City.
Many homes and communities are located within and near the
Landscape's forested areas. Recognizing community safety and forest
health are complementary and interrelated, the Forest Service is acting
together with other public and private stakeholders to reduce the risk
of high-severity wildfire and protect communities at an increased pace
and scale, given the geographic scope and severity of the problem.
Given project implementation will occur over many years, it is
desirable to allow regular opportunities to address changing conditions
on the ground (e.g., insect outbreak, wildfire, etc.) and provide
periodic formal, structured public comment and pre-decisional
administrative review opportunities before decisions are made. Toward
this end, a staged decision-making approach is planned for this
Project. Staged decision-making means proposed actions for the entire
Landscape would be analyzed in the EIS; however, separate records of
decisions would be issued for smaller sub-project areas within the
Landscape. This approach would allow surveys to be completed prior to
each decision and provide the opportunity to review potential new
information or changed circumstances that could have a bearing on the
proposed action and its impacts and
[[Page 51651]]
potentially require supplemental NEPA analysis.
Purpose and Need for Action
Tahoe National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP 1990)
as amended by the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment Record of
Decision (SNFPA ROD 2004), collectively referred to as the Forest Plan,
provides the foundation for the purpose of the Project. The Project's
purpose is further supported by the North Yuba Forest Partnership's
four goals for this Landscape: (1) Improve and restore forest health
and resilience, which is aligned with Forest Plan direction to respond
to deteriorating forest health by reducing susceptibility of forest
stands to insect- and drought-related tree mortality (SNFPA ROD, pp. 6,
32, and 44-48); (2) reduce the risk of high severity wildfire, which is
aligned with Forest Plan direction to reduce threats to communities and
wildlife habitat from large, severe wildfires (SNFPA ROD, pp. 8, 34,
and 44-48); (3) protect local communities from the effects of high
severity wildfire and climate change, which is aligned with Forest Plan
direction to reduce the risk of wildfire to communities in the urban
wildland interface while modifying fire behavior over the broader
landscape (SNFPA ROD, pp. 3, 34, and 45-46); and (4) protect and secure
water supplies through restoring watershed process and function, which
is aligned with Forest Plan direction for addressing forest health;
reducing risk of large, severe wildfires; and maintaining, restoring,
and enhancing aquatic, riparian, and meadow ecosystems (SNFPA ROD, pp.
32-34, 42-43, and 62-66).
Needs for this proposal are driven by existing problematic
conditions in the North Yuba Landscape in the areas of forest
resilience, fire dynamics, fire-adapted communities, water security,
and biodiversity conservation. Actions are needed to: (1) Restore
forest structure and species composition to develop heterogeneous
forest stands and a forested landscape resilient to severe impacts from
wildfire, insect and disease infestation, drought, and anticipated
future conditions resulting from climate change; (2) reduce hazardous
forest fuels to reduce wildfire spread and intensity and facilitate
reintroduction of more frequent, low- to moderate-severity fires; (3)
reduce hazardous forest fuels and stand densities in strategic
locations to help protect communities and critical infrastructure in
the event of a wildfire and to facilitate wildfire management
operations; (4) reduce sedimentation from existing roads, trails,
ditches, and other diversions and restore the natural hydrologic
function of soils, meadows, and fens; and (5) maintain, enhance, and
restore important terrestrial, riparian, and aquatic habitats.
Proposed Action
The Tahoe National Forest is proposing multiple actions to meet the
Project's purpose and need, including prescribed fire; thinning;
opening creation; strategic tree planting; sanitation cutting and stand
improvement; restoration of aspen stands, meadows, and fens; stream
channel restoration; soil decompaction; road repair, maintenance, and
decommissioning; and removal of non-native invasive plants. In
addition, project-specific amendments to the Tahoe National Forest Land
and Resource Management Plan (1990 and 2004, as amended) are proposed.
Actions are proposed in the following emphasis areas: (1) Forest
matrix; (2) infrastructure, strategic fuel area, and designated
recreation site; and (3) unique ecological communities. Landscape-wide
actions are proposed for roads, soils, and non-native invasive plant
treatments.
Vegetation and fuels management treatments include prescribed fire,
thinning from below, variable density thinning, creation of one to
three-acre openings, strategic tree planting, and sanitation cutting
and stand improvement. Prescribed fire includes underburning and piling
and burning as well as activities needed to prepare areas for burning,
such as mastication, chipping and hand cutting and/or pruning shrubs
and small trees, lopping and scattering cut material, and/or machine or
hand cutting and piling of material and fire-control line construction.
Different types and combinations of activities are proposed in key
areas designated in the Forest Plan: (1) Inventoried roadless areas
(IRAs), (2) California spotted owl and northern goshawk protected
activity centers (PACs), (3) California spotted owl home range core
areas (HRCAs), and (4) other forested areas, which include wildland
urban intermix (WUI) threat zones, old forest emphasis areas, and
general forest areas. The proposed action recognizes the importance of
re-introducing fire in the Landscape. In all designated areas, forest
stands needing treatment would first be evaluated to determine whether
prescribed fire could be applied as a stand-alone treatment. In such
cases, prescribed fire would need to be effective in meeting treatment
objectives for the stand(s) without resulting in excessive rates of
fire spread and fire-caused mortality of large trees.
Encroaching trees would be removed as needed in approximately 1,716
acres of meadows and fens. Roads and/or trails impacting the meadow or
fen would be realigned or reconstructed to reduce or eliminate their
impact to the meadow or fen. Ditches would be plugged, and other
diversions disconnected from the meadow or fen to restore natural
hydrology. Incised stream channels in meadows or fens would be
restored.
Proposed road management actions include maintenance, improvement,
realignment, and decommissioning. All temporary roads used for project
implementation would be decommissioned upon completion of project
activities. No new permanent roads are proposed for construction.
Manual, cultural, and chemical methods would be used for invasive plant
removal.
Forest Plan Amendment
The proposed action includes several project-specific amendments to
the Tahoe National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP 1990)
as amended by the Sierra Nevada Forest Plan Amendment Record of
Decision (SNFPA ROD 2004). Proposed changes include modifying,
removing, and adding specific forest plan components to: (1) Protect
California spotted owl protected activity centers (PACs) by enhancing
their resilience to severe disturbances, thereby providing for their
long-term sustainability on the Landscape; (2) address needs for
enhancing habitat resiliency in California spotted owl home range core
areas (HRCAs); (3) balance needs for protecting PACs with protecting
public and firefighter safety and reducing fire hazards near
communities, critical access roads, and infrastructure for emergency
services, communications, and power delivery; (4) enhance forest
resilience by retaining large conifer trees (greater than or equal to
30 inches diameter at breast height [DBH]) while allowing some large
trees to be removed under specific circumstances to enhance stand
heterogeneity and meet project objectives for tree species composition
and stand density; (5) effectively manage forest stand density for
improved resilience in light of anticipated climate change. The
proposed forest plan amendments would apply only to the North Yuba
Landscape Project.
The proposed forest plan amendments pertaining to the California
spotted owl are based on the Conservation Strategy for the California
Spotted Owl in the
[[Page 51652]]
Sierra Nevada (USDA Forest Service 2019, referred to as the
Conservation Strategy). The Conservation Strategy provides updated
management recommendations, based on best available science, that focus
on maintaining high-quality spotted owl habitat while increasing
habitat resiliency across landscapes.
Substantive Provisions
In accordance with 36 CFR 219.13, the Responsible Official has
determined the following specific substantive requirement(s) within
Sec. Sec. 219.8 through 219.11 are directly related to the plan
direction being added, modified, or removed by the proposed amendments:
36 CFR 219.8(a)(1): Sustainability, (a) Ecological sustainability. (1)
Ecosystem Integrity; 36 CFR 219.9(a)(1) and (2) and (b): Diversity of
Plant and Animal Communities, (a) Ecosystem plan components, (1)
Ecosystem integrity and (2) Ecosystem diversity and (b) Additional
Species-Specific Plan Components; 36 CFR 219.10(a)(1), (5), (7), and
(8): Multiple Use, (a) Integrated resource management for multiple use;
(1) Aesthetic values, cultural and heritage resources, ecosystem
services, fish and wildlife species, forage, geologic features, grazing
and rangelands, habitat and habitat connectivity, recreation settings
and opportunities, riparian areas, scenery, soil, surface and
subsurface water quality, timber, trails, vegetation, viewsheds, and
other relevant resources and uses; (5) Habitat conditions, subject to
the requirements of Sec. 219.9, for wildlife, fish, and plants
commonly enjoyed and used by the public; for hunting, fishing,
trapping, gathering, observing, subsistence, and other activities (in
collaboration with federally recognized Tribes, Alaska Native
Corporations, other Federal agencies, and State and local governments);
(7) Reasonably foreseeable risks to ecological, social, and economic
sustainability; and (8) System drivers, including dominant ecological
processes, disturbance regimes, and stressors, such as natural
succession, wildland fire, invasive species, and climate change; and
the ability of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems on the plan area
to adapt to change (Sec. 219.8).
Preliminary Alternatives
An alternative that does not adopt the proposed project-specific
forest plan amendments would be developed and analyzed. Other
alternatives would be developed based on scoping input.
Expected Impacts
Among the significant impacts expected to be analyzed in the EIS
are: Effects on habitat for the California spotted owl and other old
forest-associated species, impacts on roadless area characteristics in
IRAs, and impacts on the density and distibution of trees greater than
30 inches DBH.
Responsible Official
The Responsible Official is the Forest Supervisor of the Tahoe
National Forest.
Scoping Comments and the Objection Process
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides
the development of the environmental impact statement. In this process,
the Agency is requesting comments on potential alternatives and
impacts, and identification of any relevant information, studies or
analyses of any kind concerning impacts affecting the quality of the
human environment. Please visit the North Yuba Forest Partnership
website for information about public meetings: <a href="https://yubaforests.org">https://yubaforests.org</a>.
It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times
and in such manner 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. Commenting during
scoping and any other designated opportunity to comment provided by the
Responsible Official will also establish standing to object once the
final EIS and Draft Record of Decision has been published. Comments
received in response to this solicitation, including names and
addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record for
this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted
and considered, however, they will not be used to establish standing
for the objection process.
Nature of Decision To Be Made
The EIS will support staged decision-making, which will be
documented in multiple records of decisions for sub-project areas that
have completed surveys. For all decisions, the Responsible Official
will consider all reasonable alternatives in light of the purpose and
need and environmental effects to decide whether to implement the
proposed action, implement one of the other action alternatives, or
decide to take no action for one or more of the sub-project areas
within the Landscape. In the initial record of decision, the
Responsible Official will also determine whether to modify, remove, and
add specific forest plan components that would apply to actions in the
North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project area during the life of the
Project. Subsequent decisions will be made as required surveys are
completed and sub-project areas reviewed for possible new information
and/or changed circumstances.
Dated: September 10, 2021.
Barnie Gyant,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2021-20044 Filed 9-15-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P
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