Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation ...

Final Environmental Impact Statement Rio de los Pinos Vegetation Management Project
The initial scoping letter was sent on January 11, 2008 to 497 individuals, agencies, and
organizations on the Rio Grande National Forest Schedule of Proposed Actions (SOPA) mailing
list. The letter invited comments on the proposed Rio de los Pinos Vegetation Management
Project. The scoping discussed the background, purpose of and need for action, and the
proposed action.
A second scoping effort began on October 9, 2008 after the project became an EIS. The Notice
of Intent to complete an EIS was filed in the Federal Register on October 9, legal notices were
placed in the newspaper of record on October 9 and 10, 2008, and a scoping letter was sent out
on October 9, 2008. The scoping information was also available on the Forest public website.
Comments from both scoping efforts were considered in the preparation of this EIS.
On November 19, 2009 the Draft EIS (DEIS) was sent out for Public Comment. A Notice of
Availability was posted in the Federal Register on December 4, 2009, and public notice was
published in the Valley Courier (December 1, 2009), the newspaper of record. Several
individuals, organizations, and agencies were also contacted, providing notice of the availability
of the DEIS. These parties are listed in Chapter 5.
Three public comments from four individuals or organizations were received in response to the
DEIS. A summary of these responses is displayed below in Table 1.14-2. Actual public
comments are displayed in Appendix E, and USFS responses to the comments are shown in
Chapter 6.
Table 1.14-2. Public Comment to the DEIS
Commenter Contact Type Date Representing
Joanie Berde Letter 12/11/2009 Carson Forest Watch
Rocky Smith/Bryan Bird Letter 01/13/2010 Colorado Wild, WildEarth Guardians
Larry Svoboda Letter 01/14/2010 US EPA, Region 8
1.15 Changes made from the DEIS to the Final EIS
The USFS has incorporated changes in the Final Environmental Impact Statement as a result of
public comments to the DEIS. Following is a brief discussion of the changes made:
• Public comment pointed out minor errors in the text and figures. These errors were
corrected.
• Discussion was added to the Forest Health analysis concerning western spruce budworm.
See Section 3.4.
• Public comment expressed concern that potential for windthrow was not evaluated.
Although windthrow as considered in the DEIS, additional analysis was added specific to
windthrow. See Section 3.5.
• Public comment expressed concern that effects to wetlands were not fully analyzed. A
section specific to the potential effects on wetlands was added to the FEIS to disclose the
wetlands analysis that was conducted. See Section 3.7.
Chapter 1 – Purpose & Need Page 1-12