CORRECTED
Legal Notice
Malheur National Forest
Cliff Knox Project
45-Day Objection Period
This is a corrected legal notice restarting the objection filing period for a full 45-days. Those who have previously submitted an objection need not resubmit.
The Prairie City and Emigrant Creek Ranger Districts of the Malheur National Forest are releasing the Cliff Knox Project Final Environmental Impact Statement and Draft Record of Decision for 45-day objection period. The responsible official is Craig Trulock, Forest Supervisor, Malheur National Forest.
The Draft Record of Decision identifies the Preferred Alternative as Alternative 2 with modifications. Modifications to the proposed action were made to improve elk security and reduce potential impacts from road construction. The draft decision includes forest and unique habitat restoration activities (commercial, small diameter and non-commercial thinning), landscape scale prescribed burning and managing unplanned ignitions, road activities (road use and maintenance for haul, temporary road construction, and road system changes), designating wildlife connectivity corridors, and forest plan amendments. The documents are available on the Malheur National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=50433. Copies of the final environmental impact statement and draft record of decision are available at the Prairie City Ranger District, 327 SW Front Street, Prairie City, Oregon 97869.
The draft record of decision is subject to an objection process pursuant to Forest Service regulations at 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 218. Specific directions on how to file an objection are provided in 36 CFR 218.8 (see https://www.ecfr.gov). Objections, including attachments, must be filed via this portal, mail, email, hand-delivery, express delivery, or messenger service (Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, excluding Federal holidays). The preferred method for filing objections is electronically via this portal. Objections can also be emailed to:
objections-pnw-regional-office@usda.gov.
Objections may be mailed to:
Glenn Casamassa, Regional Forester, Objection Reviewing Officer
Pacific Northwest Region, USDA Forest Service
Attn: 1570 Objections
1220 SW 3rd Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
For electronically mailed objections, please use OBJECTION and the project name in the subject line. Electronic objections must be submitted as part of an actual e-mail message, or as an attachment in Microsoft Word format (.doc), rich text format (.rtf) or portable document format (.pdf) only. E-mails submitted to addresses other than the ones listed above or in formats other that those listed above or containing viruses will be rejected. 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 the objection, it is the sender's responsibility to ensure timely receipt by other means.
If you are planning to hand deliver your objection to the Regional Office (1220 SW 3rd Ave., Portland, OR 97204), you must contact Debbie Anderson at debra.anderson@usda.gov to schedule a time to deliver your objection.
Objections must be postmarked or received by the Reviewing Officer, Glenn Casamassa, Regional Forester, within 45 days following publication of this legal notice of the objection in the Blue Mountain Eagle, John Day, Oregon. The publication date in the Blue Mountain Eagle is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Those wishing to file an objection should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other sources. The regulations prohibit extending the time to file an objection. The objection filing period is expected to begin on June 9, 2022, one day following publication of the legal notice in the Blue Mountain Eagle.
Objections will only be accepted from individuals and entities as defined in 36 CFR 218.2 who have previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project during either of the 30-day scoping period or 45-day comment period on the draft environmental impact statement in accordance with 36 CFR 218.5(a). Issues raised in objections must be based upon previously submitted timely, specific written comments regarding the proposed project, unless based on new information arising after the designated comment opportunities.
The Responsible Official may not issue a decision for this project until the Reviewing Officer has responded to all pending objections. When no objections are filed within the 45-day period, the decision may occur on, but not before, the fifth business day following the end of the objection-filing period.
For further information contact Lori Bailey at the Emigrant Creek Ranger District Office, 265 Highway 20 South, Hines, Oregon 97738 or at lori.bailey@usda.gov.
Published June 8, 2022
Lori Bailey
