Emigrant Creek Aspen Project out for Objection

By Mindy Gould on Wednesday, May 31st, 2023 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories

Hines(Released by the US Forest Service)-The final environmental assessment (EA) and draft decision notice for the Emigrant Creek Aspen Project is out for review and objection and can be accessed on the Forest Service Website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=62352 . District Ranger Joshua Giles is the Responsible Official for this project.

Only individuals or organizations that submitted specific written or oral comments during a designated opportunity for public participation (scoping or 30-day public comment period) may object (36 CFR 218.5). Notices of objection must meet the requirements of 36 CFR 218.8. Objections can be submitted in writing, either electronically or in hard copy but must be filed with the Reviewing Officer within 45 days from the date of publication of notice of the opportunity to object in the Burns Times Herald, Burns, Oregon. The publication date is the exclusive means for calculating the time to file an objection. Those wishing to file an objection to this decision should not rely upon dates or timeframe information provided by any other source. Objections must be received before the close of the fifth business day after the objection filing period.

Incorporation of documents by reference is not allowed, except for the following list of items that may be referenced by including date, page, and section of the cited document, along with a description of its content and applicability to the objection:

All or any part of a federal law or regulation.
Forest Service directives and land management plans.
Documents referenced by the Forest Service in the subject EA.
Comments previously provided to the Forest Service by the objector during public involvement opportunities for the proposed project where written comments were requested by the responsible official.

All other documents must be included with the objection. Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted specific written comments regarding the proposed project or activity and attributed to the objector, unless the issue is based on new information that arose after the opportunities for comment. The burden is on the objector to demonstrate compliance with this requirement for objection issues.

Minimum requirements of an objection are described at 36 CFR 218.8(d). An objection must include a description of those aspects of the proposed project addressed by the objections, including specific issues related to the proposed project; if applicable, how the objector believes the environmental analysis or draft decision specifically violates law, regulation, or policy; suggested remedies that will resolve the objection; supporting reasons for the reviewing officer to consider; and a statement that demonstrates the connection between prior specific written comments on the particular proposed project or activity and the content of the objection, unless the objection concerns an issue that arose after the designated opportunities for comment.

Objections may be:

The preferred method to submit comments is electronically through this portal: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput?project=62352
Postal Delivery: Reviewing Officer, Forest Supervisor, Malheur National Forest, Attn: 1570 Appeals and Objections, PO Box 909, John Day, Oregon 97845,
Emailed to: objections-pnw-malheur@usda.gov. Please put OBJECTION and the project name in the subject line. Electronic objections must be submitted as part of an actual e-mail message, or as an attachment in Microsoft Word (.doc), rich text format (.rtf), or portable document format (.pdf) only. E-mails submitted to addresses other than the ones listed above or in formats other that those listed above or containing viruses will be rejected. It is the responsibility of the objector to confirm receipt of objections submitted by electronic mail. For electronically mailed objections, the sender should normally receive an automated electronic acknowledgement from the agency as confirmation of receipt.

For questions, please contact:

Melissa Ward at the Malheur National Forest, Emigrant Ranger District at (541) 573-4300 or by email at melissa.ward@usda.gov.