After careful review of the East Fork Meadow Creek Environmental Assessment (EA), resource reports, the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), comments from the public and the project file, I decided to implement a subset of Alternative 2, referred to as Alternative 2- South. This Alternative is composed of those treatment units in the southern half of the East Fork of Meadow Creek project area, located in sections (or portions of) T63N, R2E; Sections 6-8, of the Boise Meridian.

The decision on whether or what alternative to implement in the northern half of the project area will be deferred until consultation with the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has been completed. Maps and other details can be found in the Decision Notice for this project. The Decision Notice, as well as supporting documents, can be found on the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (IPNF) public website at: http://fs.usda/gov/goto/ipnf/projects.

The decision is to proceed with vegetation restoration activities on approximately 520 acres in the southern half of the project area. These vegetation treatments are designed to improve ecosystem composition, structure, and diversity of the landscape by providing for tree species and stocking levels similar to historic levels, which will better resist insects, diseases, and wildfire. This decision includes approximately 9 miles of road decommissioning, 1.5 miles of road storage, four miles of reconstruction and a half mile of new construction. A comprehensive list of road treatments is provided in the East Fork of Meadow Creek Decision Notice.

This decision is subject to appeal pursuant to 36 CFR 215.11. A written appeal must be submitted within 45 days following the publication date of the legal notice of this decision. It is the responsibility of the appellant to ensure their appeal is received in a timely manner. The publication date of the legal notice of the decision in the newspaper of record is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an appeal. Appellants should not rely on date or timeframe information provided by any other source.

Paper appeals must be submitted to:

USDA Forest Service, Northern Region
ATTN: Appeal Deciding Officer
P.O. Box 7669
Missoula, MT 59807

Or

USDA Forest Service, Northern Region
ATTN: Appeal Deciding Officer
200 East Broadway
Missoula, MT 59802

Office hours: 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Electronic appeals must be submitted to:

appeals-northern-regional-office@fs.fed.us

Faxed appeals must be submitted to:

Fax: (406) 329-3411

In electronic appeals, the subject line should contain the name of the project being appealed. An automated response will confirm your electronic appeal has been received. Electronic appeals must be submitted in MS Word, Word Perfect, or Rich Text Format (RTF).

It is the appellant's responsibility to provide sufficient project- or activity-specific evidence and rationale, focusing on the decision, to show why my decision should be reversed. The appeal must be filed with the Appeal Deciding Officer in writing. At a minimum, the appeal must meet the content requirements of 36 CFR 215.14, and include the following information:

• The appellant’s name and address, with a telephone number, if available;
• A signature, or other verification of authorship upon request (a scanned signature for electronic mail may be filed with the appeal);
• When multiple names are listed on an appeal, identification of the lead appellant and verification of the identity of the lead appellant upon request;
• The name of the project or activity for which the decision was made, the name and title of the Responsible Official, and the date of the decision;
• The regulation under which the appeal is being filed, when there is an option to appeal under either 36 CFR 215 or 36 CFR 251, subpart C;
• Any specific change(s) in the decision that the appellant seeks and rationale for those changes;
• Any portion(s) of the decision with which the appellant disagrees, and explanation for the disagreement;
• Why the appellant believes the Responsible Official’s decision failed to consider the comments; and
• How the appellant believes the decision specifically violates law, regulation, or policy.

If an appeal is received on this project there may be informal resolution meetings and/or conference calls between the Responsible Official and the appellant. These discussions would take place within 15 days after the closing date for filing an appeal. All such meetings are open to the public. If you are interested in attending any informal resolution discussions, please contact the Responsible Official or monitor the following website for postings about current appeals in the Northern Region of the Forest Service: http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/r1/appeal-meetings.