Notice of Opportunity to Object
USDA FOREST SERVICE
Idaho Panhandle National Forests, St. Joe Ranger District
Lacy Lemoosh Project
The USDA Forest Service has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) and Draft Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact (DN/FONSI) for the Lacy Lemoosh Project. The proposed action is located on the St. Joe Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forests across 16,116 acres all or in part of sections 12, 13, and 24 in T43N, R3W; sections 1, 2, 4, 7, 9-28, and 34-36 in T43N, R2W; sections 6, 7, 17-20, 29-32 in T43N, R1W, Boise Meridian. The project area is within the Charlie Creek and Upper Santa Creek subwatersheds, which are tributaries of the St Maries River and flow into the St Joe River. The Responsible Official for this decision is Stas Moszynski, Acting District Ranger.
The Responsible Official has selected Alternative 2, in the Draft Decision notice which proposes the following activities: Vegetation management on approximately 3,729 acres, including 22 openings over 40 acres ranging from 40 to 291 acres; Prescribed fire on approximately 925 acres to reduce fuels; road work to provide access to units, reduce sediment to streams, and improve aquatic and hydrological function. Proposed activities would contribute jobs and other economic benefits to communities. Proposed activities are designed to improve forest health and resiliency to disturbances such as wildfire, drought, insects or diseases; reduce hazardous fuels within the wildland urban interface (WUI) and other areas to lessen the severity of wildfires and to enable safe fire suppression efforts; provide economic benefit to local communities; and reduce sediment delivery to streams from forest routes to maintain or improve water quality and recover degraded aquatic habitat for native species.
The EA and Draft DN/FONSI for the Lacy Lemoosh Project are available to review on the project webpage: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=60853. Documents are available upon request. If you have questions, please contact Amy Thompson, Environmental Coordinator at amy.thompson@usda.gov or (208) 245-6001.
The Lacy Lemoosh project is an activity implementing a land management plan. This activity is subject to pre-decisional objection under subparts A and B of 36 CFR Part 218.
Objections, including attachments, must be filed with the appropriate reviewing officer within 45 calendar days following publication of this notice in the Coeur d’Alene Press, the newspaper of record. The publication date in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Objectors should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source. It is the objector’s responsibility to ensure timely filing of a written objection with the reviewing officer pursuant to 36 CFR 218.9. All objections are available for public inspection during and after the objection process.
Objections will only be accepted from those who have previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project during scoping or other designated opportunities for public comment in accordance with 36 CFR 218.5(a). Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted timely, specific written comments regarding the proposed project unless the issue is based on new information arising after the designated comment opportunities.
The objection must contain the minimum content requirements specified in 36 CFR 218.8(d) and incorporation of documents by reference is permitted only as provided in 36 CFR 218.8(b). Objections that do not adhere to these requirements make review of an objection difficult and are conditions under which the reviewing officer may set aside an objection pursuant to 36 CFR 218.10. All objections received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who object, will be considered part of the public record on these proposed actions and will be available for public inspection during and after the objection process.
Electronic objections are preferred and must be submitted to the Objection Reviewing Officer online at https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=60853, with “Lacy Lemoosh Project Objection” in the subject line. Electronic submissions must be submitted in a format that is readable with optical character recognition software (e.g., Word, PDF, Rich Text) and be searchable. An automated response should confirm your electronic objection has been received.
Written objections may be submitted via regular mail to: Reviewing Officer, Northern Regional Office, Attn: Lacy Lemoosh, 26 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula, MT 59804.
Objections sent by private carrier or hand delivery must be addressed to: Objection Reviewing Officer, Northern Regional Office, 26 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula, MT 59804. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm, excluding Federal holidays, for hand delivery.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.
Amy Thompson
