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Draft Environmental Impact Statement North Steens Ecosystem Restoration Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement Public Lands USA: Use, Share, Appreciate Photo by Bureau of Land Management U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management North Steens Ecosystem Restoration Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement Prepared by Burns District Office Burns District December 2005 ________________________________________ Dana R. Shuford Burns District Manager ________________________________________ Karla Bird Andrews Resource Area Field Manager North Steens Ecosystem Restoration Project Environmental Impact Statement 1. Responsible Agency: United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management 2. Cooperating Agencies: Burns Paiute Tribe United States Fish and Wildlife Service Ecological Services Malheur National Wildlife Refuge United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Department of Environmental Quality Harney County Court Harney Soil and Water Conservation District 3. Draft (X) Final ( ) 4. Administrative Action (X) Legislative Action ( ) 5. Abstract: The Bureau of Land Management, cooperating agencies, and private landowners propose to utilize a combination of prescribed and wildfire, western juniper treatments, fencing, seeding, planting, and other methods to reduce juniper-related fuel loading and restore a healthy and natural ecosystem on Steens Mountain. The result would provide ecological and economic benefits to intermingled public and private property totaling 336,000 acres. The alternatives detailed in this Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) propose landscape level juniper management of public land including wilderness, Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), and Wild and Scenic River (WSR) corridors as well as on adjacent private lands. This would be a multiyear project with the extent and types of treatment varying from year to year. The Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act of 2000 requires reintroduction of fire and management of juniper within the Cooperative Management and Protection Area. Alternatives analyzed in the Draft EIS represent a range of potential actions and approaches to juniper management. The No Treatment Alternative includes no treatment in the project area. The Continuation of Current Management Alternative proposes to continue existing limited levels of juniper management within the project area. The Partial Treatment Alternative involves extensive juniper management on private and public lands but no management within wilderness, WSAs, and WSR corridors. The Limited Treatment Alternative proposes extensive juniper management on private and public lands including limited juniper management within wilderness, WSAs, and WSR corridors. The Full Treatment Alternative includes broad scale juniper management on private and public lands and within wilderness, WSAs, and WSR corridors. The BLM has determined the two No Action Alternatives would not meet the objectives of the proposal, but they are being analyzed for purposes of comparison and utilization of current baseline conditions for data analysis. The three action alternatives are considered preferable to no action. 6. Date comments must be received: The close of the 45-day comment period will be announced in news releases, legal notices, and/or individual mailings and will begin upon publication of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. 7. For further information contact: North Steens Ecosystem Restoration Project EIS Lead Attn: Douglas Linn Burns District BLM 28910 Hwy 20 West Hines, Oregon 97738 (541) 573-4543 Email: [email protected] United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Burns District Office 28910 Hwy 20 West, Hines, OR 97738 [email protected] www.or.blm.gov/Burns/ IN REPLY REFER TO: 2821 (OR-026/027) P Dear Interested Party: You are invited to assist the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) by providing comments for an on-the-ground project that may be important to you and your interests. Enclosed for your review and comment is the North Steens Ecosystem Restoration Project (North Steens Project) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The goal of the project is to reduce the hazardous fuels created by an unnatural increase in western juniper and to restore appropriate wildfire regimes, native levels of western juniper trees, and appropriate land uses. Reintroducing the historic fire regime and restoring a more natural ecosystem would implement provisions of the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act of 2000 (Steens Act) and would conform with the recently completed Resource Management Plan for the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area (CMPA). This action would result in restored native habitats in aspen, sagebrush-grassland, old-growth juniper, mountain mahogany and riparian plant communities as well as increased forage for wild and domestic herbivores. The proposed project area is located within the Andrews Resource Area, primarily within the Steens Mountain CMPA. The area includes 336,000 acres containing both private lands and public lands managed by the BLM. Coordination and cooperation with these private landowners is directed by the Steens Act (Section 121) and is essential for achievement of project objectives. The BLM initially considered this an Environmental Assessment (EA) level project, but because of input gathered in initial public scoping (January 2005) and the enlarged scope and scale of the project, the BLM determined an EIS should be prepared. As a result, a Notice of Intent (to prepare an EIS) was published in the Federal Register (July 2005) providing for an additional 15-day public scoping period on the proposal. Five management alternatives have been identified, described, and analyzed in this draft plan. Public scoping and internal discussions played an important role in shaping both the issues and the alternatives. Suggestions and comments received (January and July 2005) from private individuals, interest groups, other governmental entities, the Steens Mountain Advisory Council, and from cooperating agencies (including Harney County, Burns Paiute Tribe, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Ecological Services, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Harney County Soil and Water Conservation District, and Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Station) were thoroughly considered in the development of this draft EIS. 2 The BLM has determined the two No Action Alternatives would not meet the objectives of the proposal, but they are being analyzed for purposes of comparison and utilization of current baseline conditions for data analysis. The three action alternatives are considered preferable to no action. Your review and comments are needed at this time to ensure your concerns are adequately addressed in the EIS process. A 45-day public comment period is provided for your review of the document. Two public meetings will be held in Harney County, Oregon during the comment period. The comment period closing date and specific dates and locations of public meetings will be announced through local media and newsletters. Written comments should be sent to Douglas Linn, EIS Project Lead, Bureau of Land Management, 28910 Highway 20 West, Hines, Oregon 97738, or e-mail to [email protected]. All written comments will be fully considered and evaluated in the preparation of the Final EIS. Additional copies of the document and other supporting records may be obtained by contacting Douglas Linn at the above address. Comments, including the names and addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the Burns District Office during regular business hours 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays, and may be published as part of the Final EIS. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street address from public review, or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written comments. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. Anonymous comments will not be considered. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety. Your review of this document and help in this EIS effort are appreciated, as are your continued interest and participation. For additional information or clarification regarding this document or the EIS process, please contact Douglas Linn at (541) 573-4400. Sincerely, Dana R. Shuford Burns District Manager Enclosure (as stated) TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1. Introduction: Purpose of and Need for Action .............................................................................................1 1.1 Summary of the Proposal ................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Background .....................................................................................................................................................2 1.3 Purpose for Action ..........................................................................................................................................3 1.4 Need for Action...............................................................................................................................................4
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