Helena National Forest

Projects & Plans

Warm Springs Habitat Enhancement Project

The Forest Service, Helena National Forest, Helena Ranger District, has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Warm Springs Habitat Enhancement Project. The project is focused on restoring and promoting key wildlife habitat components by managing vegetation, reducing fuels, and promoting a more resilient, fire-adapted ecosystem. This project responds to current vegetation conditions in the project area, including the mountain pine beetle infestation. The Proposed Action would treat approximately 4,200 acres with a combination of regeneration harvest, intermediate harvest, and prescribed fire. The project area is approximately 10 miles south of Helena, Montana.

Additional information regarding this action can be obtained from: Lois Olsen, Forest Supervisor’s Office, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT 59601; phone (406) 449-5201.

How to Comment and Timeframe

The Environmental Protection Agency published a Notice of Availability (NOA) for the Warm Springs Habitat Enhancement Project DEIS in the Federal Register on Friday, November 12, 2010. The opportunity to provide comments in order to establish eligibility to appeal under 36 CFR 215 ends 45 days starting the day after the NOA appears in the Federal Register. Written, facsimile, hand-delivered, oral, and electronic comments concerning this action will be accepted and must be postmarked or received by 11:59 p.m. on the 45th calendar day. The publication date of the NOA in the Federal Register is the exclusive means for calculating the comment period for this DEIS. Those wishing to comment should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source.

Written comments must be submitted to: Attn. Liz Van Genderen, Helena National Forest, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT, 59602. The office business hours for those submitting hand-delivered comments are 8 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

Oral comments must be provided at the Responsible Official’s office during normal business hours via telephone 406-449-5201 or in person, or at an official agency function (i.e. public meeting) that is designed to elicit public comments.

Electronic comments must be submitted in a format such as an email message, plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), or Word (.doc) to comments-northern-helena@fs.fed.us. The subject line must contain the name of the project for which you are submitting comments. In cases where no identifiable name is attached to a comment, a verification of identity will be required for appeal eligibility. If using an electronic message, a scanned signature is one way to provide verification. For electronically mailed comments, 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 the receipt of comments, it is the sender’s responsibility to ensure timely receipt by other means.

It is the responsibility of persons providing comments to submit them by the close of the comment period. Only those who submit timely comments will have eligibility to appeal the subsequent decision under 36 CFR 215. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public record and will be available for public inspection.

Individuals and organizations wishing to be eligible to appeal must meet the information requirements of 36 CFR 215.6.

Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Cover, Summary, Table of Contents, Chapter 1 & 2

Chapter 3 and Index

Appendices

Maps

Alternative 2 Map

Alternative 3 Map

 

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USDA Forest Service - Helena National Forest
Last Modified: Wednesday, 05 January 2011 at 12:22:45 EST