Agriculture Department, Forest Service
The St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest is considering vegetation, watershed restoration, and access management activities in the Hidden Cedar Project. The project area is located approximately 26 miles south of the town of St. Maries on the St. Maries River. The proposed action was designed to meet the primary objectives listed below. The interdisciplinary team reviewed the Natural Resource Agenda, the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, the Idaho Panhandle Forest Plan, and the St. Joe Geographic Assessment. Using these documents and information specific to the project area, the interdisciplinary team completed an Ecosystem Analysis at the Watershed Scale for the Hidden Cedar Project Area (located in the project file) to document resource conditions and note where activities were needed to improve them. The following needs for the Hidden Cedar area were derived from the Ecosystem Analysis: (1) Improve soil conditions; (2) Reduce sedimentation from past activities, which have caused streambank instability, channel erosion and increased sedimentation; (3) Provide or improve wildlife security; (4) Reduce the impacts of existing roads such as influences on hydrologic properties, fish migration barriers (culverts), while providing adequate and appropriate access for management, recreation and adjacent landowners; (5) Move vegetation toward historical conditions in terms of species composition and size where feasible and acceptable to other resources, and (5) Reduce fuel build-up where it poses a risk to human uses in the project area.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Agriculture Forest Service AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. SUMMARY: The St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest is considering vegetation, watershed restoration, and access management activities in the Hidden Cedar Project. The project area is located approximately 26 miles south of the town of St. Maries on the St. Maries River. The proposed action was designed to meet the primary objectives listed below. The interdisciplinary team reviewed the Natural Resource Agenda, the Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project, the Idaho Panhandle Forest Plan, and the St. Joe ( printed page 15302) Geographic Assessment. Using these documents and information specific to the project area, the interdisciplinary team completed an Ecosystem Analysis at the Watershed Scale for the Hidden Cedar Project Area (located in the project file) to document resource conditions and note where activities were needed to improve them. The following needs for the Hidden Cedar area were derived from the Ecosystem Analysis: (1) Improve soil conditions; (2) Reduce sedimentation from past activities, which have caused streambank instability, channel erosion and increased sedimentation; (3) Provide or improve wildlife security; (4) Reduce the impacts of existing roads such as influences on hydrologic properties, fish migration barriers (culverts), while providing adequate and appropriate access for…
Citation: 65 FR 15301
