Table Of Content

S Cyclone/Coal 333>7515t imber harvest N7ccthd project 1998 m-^vm ocuwEMTS HARVEY TIMBER P Draft Environmental Impact Statement MONTANASTATELIBRARY 3 0864 0014 2601 7 ABBREVIATIONS A 3A-Authorization short term exemption from Montana's surface water quality standards 124 Permit Stream PreservationAct Permit BLM Bureau ofLand Management BMP Best Management Practices BMU Bear Management Unit DBH Diameter at breast height DEIS Draft Environmental Impact Statement DEQ Montana Department ofEnvironmental Quality DFWP Montana Department ofFish, Wildlife and Parks DNRC Montana Department ofNatural Resources and Conservation EGA Equivalent Clearcut Acres EIS Environmental Impact Statement FEIS > Final Environmental Impact Statement FI Forest Improvement FNF Flathead National Forest FRTA National Forest Roads andTrails Act FY Fiscal year GIS Geographic Information System ICRB Interior ColumbiaRiver Basin Project ID Team Interdisciplinary team IGBC Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee MBF Thousand Board Feet MCA Montana Code Annotated MEPA Montana Environmental PolicyAct MMBF Million Board Feet NCDE Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (Grizzly BearRecovery Area) ORD Open Road Density OSHA Office ofSafety and Health Administration SFLMP State Forest Land Management Plan SLl Stand Level Inventory SMZ Streamside Management Zone USES United States Forest Service USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service f„n r^fS rti\ /': # « >»I n •i'sR Y-i It./;/ Lie N MEMO I OFFICE To: Patcharin Williams Montana State Library From: Carole Massman //^ Department ofNatural Resources and Conservation Subject: Cyclone/Coal Timber Harvest Project - Draft EIS Date: August 28, 1998 Here are four copies ofinserts to the Draft EIS on the Cyclone/Coal Timber Harvest Project. I just sent fourcopies ofthe EIS itselfto you via deadhead mail earlier today, before the inserts arrived. Please add one copy ofthe enclosed insert to each copy ofthe EIS before distributing the EISs to the Montana State Library, Montana Historical Society, University ofMontana, and Montana State University. Thank you. if . . stabilize, there would be a long-term benefit to fish habitat by the elimination of long-term and chronic sources of sediment. Fisheries monitoring would continue annually through the duration of the deferral and for at least 1 year after completion of this analysis. At that time, management direction determined by the analysis would determine the need for further monitoring of fish habitat in Cyclone Creek. Monitoring of fish habitat in Coal Creek by MFWP would continue as part of the Coal/Flathead River Basin Monitoring Study. AIR QUALITY EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE A AND F Alternative A and F. would not create impacts over existing levels to air quality. EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVES B, C, D, AND E Log hauling and related traffic on dry roads may increase the amount of road dust. Burning logging residue would produce particulate matter. The smoke column generated by burning would likely reach Glacier National Park, but is not expected to reach populated areas in the park or in Flathead County. The stipulations and specification listed for air quality in Appendix A should prevent road dust from impacting populated areas and limit the impacts from burning to levels not exceeding EPA/State/County/local standards CUMULATIVE EFFECTS Air quality cumulative effects would not exceed the levels defined by the State of Montana Cooperative Smoke Management Plan (1988) and managed by the Montana Airshed Group IV-50b . FISHERIES Sedimentation generated by proposed timber-harvesting activities has the potential to adversely affect the quality of bull trout and westslope cutthroat trout habitat. Sedimentation, a fisheries-related issue, is discussed in the watershed portion of this document. EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE A Fisheries habitat would remain essentially unchanged. Sediment sources would not be remedied under the sale proposal. Changes in fish-habitat quality would occur as a result of natural and preexisting conditions. Monitoring of fisheries habitat by DNRC would be discontinued for Cyclone Creek until future projects presented the need for additional data. The monitoring of fish habitat in Coal Creek by DFWP would continue as part of the Coal/Flathead river Basin Monitoring Study. EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVES B, C, D, AND E As agreed to in the immediate actions for bull trout recovery recommended by the Scientific Group, none of the action alternatives would propose harvesting in an SMZ containing a bull trout stream. Cutting unit boundaries have been proposed well away from SMZ boundaries in all of the action alternatives Each of these action alternatives would replace the Dead Horse bridge over Coal Creek and install surface-drainage and erosion-control features on approximately 32 miles of existing road, so all roads meet current BMP standards as a minimum. These activities would lead to short-term increases in sedimentation during construction. The short-term increases may lead to deposition of fine sediment in spawning and rearing areas. As the sites revegetate and stabilize, there would probably be a long-term benefit to fish habitat by the elimination of long-term and chronic sources of sediment. All proposed harvest activities present a low risk of impact to fisheries habitat or populations due to implementation of BMPs, the SMZ law. Immediate Actions for Bull Trout Restoration, and the Flathead Basin Forest Practices Water Quality and Fisheries Cooperative recommendations. Fisheries monitoring in Cyclone Creek would continue annually through the duration of the project and for at least 1 year after project completion under each of these action alternatives The monitoring of fish habitat in Coal . Creek by MFWP would continue as part of the Coal/Flathead River Basin Monitoring Study. EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE F The effects of Alternative F on fisheries habitat would be similar to the effects described under Alternative A. Under Alternative F, no timber harvesting would take place until a larger analysis area (North Fork) could be analyzed to assess values found in Coal Creek State Forest. Alternative F would complete all of the road improvements and the bridge replacement as described in the previous section. These activities would lead to short-term increases in sedimentation during construction. As the sites revegetate and IV-50a 4064446721 fiUG.25.1998 li:33flt1 BPSEMENT DNRC NO.026 P. 1/1 -44 cyclone/Coal Timber harvest project • draft environmental impact statement