The Quartzville-Middle Santiam (QMS) draft Decision Notice and final Environmental Assessment (EA) have been completed. This is a notice for the start of the Pre-Decisional Administrative Review (Objection) period. The QMS Project is proposing various restoration activities, including commercial thinning. The planning area covers approximately 89,000 acres in the Quartzville Creek-Green Peter Lake and Headwaters Middle Santiam River watersheds on the Sweet Home Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest.
Four alternatives were analyzed in the EA: a no action alternative (1) and the proposed action alternative (2) and two additional action alternatives (3 and 4). The selected Alternative 4 proposes treatments for 7,800 acres including commercial thinning (5,300 acres), shelterwood with reserves (140 acres), gap creation (170 acres), dominant tree release (DTR – 620 acres), and skips (1,570 acres). This alternative will utilize ground-based systems (4,556 acres), skyline yarding systems (2,755 acres), and helicopter yarding systems (480 acres) and would produce an estimated 50 to 60 MMBF. Alternative 4 would maintain and reconstruct about 287 miles of system roads. About four miles of new non-system roads and 27 miles of existing non-system roads would be temporarily used and subsequently decommissioned. Other activities proposed include road decommissioning (14 miles), road closure (19 miles), noxious weed treatments, meadow restoration, snag and downwood creation, planting native conifers and post-harvest piling and burning.
The legal description for the project is: Township 10 South, Range 4 East, Sections 33-36; T11 S, R4 E, Sections 1-4, 8-17, 20-29 and 31-36; T11 S, R5 E, Sections 6, 7, 17-23, 25-36; T11 S, R6 E, Sections 32 and 33; T12 S, R 4E, Sections 12, 13 and 24; T12 S, R5 E, Sections 1-36; T12 S, R6 E, Sections 2-36; T13 S, R5 E, Sections 1-3, 10-12, 13, 14, 19-26, 35 and 36; T13 S, R6 E, Sections 4-6, 7-9, 13-22, 29 and 30; Willamette Meridian, Linn County, Oregon.
The Draft Decision Notice, EA and other related documents are available on the Forest Service Website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57351
Objections may be submitted in the following ways: 1) Electronic Submission: Electronic objections will be accepted through the Forest Service online comment system available at https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=57351; 2) Mailed to: Duane Bishop, Acting Forest Supervisor, Willamette National Forest, Attention: Objections, 3106 Pierce Parkway, Suite D, Springfield, Oregon 97477. Objections delivered by mail must be received before the close of the fifth business day after the objection filing period. We cannot accept hand delivered objections at this time.
The project is subject to pre-decisional administrative review pursuant to 36 CFR 218, Subpart B. The 45-day objection period begins the day following publication of notice of objection in the Eugene- Register Guard, the newspaper of record. Only individuals or organizations who submitted specific written or oral comments (36 CFR 218.2) during the designated opportunity for public participation (scoping or 30-day comment period) may object (36 CFR 218.5). Objections must meet the requirements of 36 CFR 218.2.
Incorporation of documents by reference is not allowed, except for the following list of items that may be referenced by including date, page and section of the cited document, along with a description of its content and applicability to the objection: 1) all or any part of a federal law or regulation; 2) Forest Service directives and land management plans; 3) documents referenced by the Forest Service in the subject EA; or 4) comments previously provided to the Forest Service by the objector during public involvement opportunities for the proposed project where written comments were requested by the Responsible Officials. All other documents must be included with the objection (36 CFR 218.8(b)). Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project or activity and attributed to the objector, unless the issue is based on new information that arose after the opportunities for comment. The burden is on the objector to demonstrate compliance with the requirement for objection issues 36 CFR 218.8(c). Minimum requirements of an objection are described at 218.8(d).
Objections can be submitted in several forms, but must be received by the Forest Supervisor, the Objection Deciding Officer, within 45 days from the date of publication of notice of objection in the Eugene Register-Guard. The publication date in the Eugene Register-Guard is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Attachments to the Objection received after the 45 day objection period will not be considered. Those wishing to object to this Draft Decision Notice should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source.
If you have any questions concerning this project, please contact Joanie Schmidgall, District Planner at (541) 259-9804 or Nikki Swanson, Sweet Home District Ranger at (541) 367-3145 or visit the above QMS EA project website.
Published in the Eugene Register-Guard on May 23, 2022
Joan Schmidgall
