The Wheel of Project Progress
Four restoration projects progressed through the environmental review; the respective line officers published Records of Decision. Of the twenty-one Idaho collaborative forest restoration projects, a
total of seventeen have now progressed to a decision.
Of the four projects that published decisions this quarter, the forests administered three of the projects under the 2014 Farm Bill Authority. The Farm Bill amended the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003, and authorized categorical exclusions in
designated treatment areas that were approved by Chief Tidwell in 2014. The three projects are:
- Williams Creek - Boise Forest Coalition
- Jasper Mountain - Jasper Mountain Collaborative Process, and
- Bottom Canyon - Panhandle Forest
Collaborative
The elapsed time from publication of the Notice of Intent to the Record of Decision ranged from four to eight months for the three CE projects.
The fourth project, Hellroaring (KVRI supported), completed an Environmental Assessment and
published a Record of Decision. The elapsed time from NOI to the ROD was 23 months.
Litigation
Three groups challenged the Lost Creek-Boulder Creek Record
of Decision on the Payette National Forest: Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Idaho Sporting Congress, and the Native Ecosystem Society. In the complaint filed in District Court on June 4, 2015, the plaintiffs allege that the Forest violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to initiate ESA consultation on the Forest Plan following designation of bull trout critical habitat in 2010.
The third quarter summary is posted in the State of the Forest Archive.
