decisions and wise actions by 

 ensuring that relevant environmental 

 information is available to public 

 officials and citizens before 

 decisions are made and actions are 

 taken. MEPA requires the State 

 government to consider environmental 

 impacts in its decisionmaking 

 process. MEPA also requires the 

 State government to inform the 

 public and other interested parties 

 of proposed projects, the resulting 

 environmental impacts, and 

 alternative actions that could 

 achieve the project's objectives. 



PUBLIC SCOPING 



The initial stage of an EA is the 

 public scoping process, which is 

 used to: 



- inform the public that a State 

 agency is proposing an action and 



- invite members of the public who 

 are interested in a proposal to 

 identify issues of concern and, 

 possibly, suggest alternatives to 

 components of the proposal . 



Three mailings and a field trip with 

 an individual have taken place; two 

 mailings were followed by thirty-day 

 public comment periods. The 

 mailings are detailed as follows: 



• Initial Proposal and Comment 

 Period 



DNRC solicited public 

 participation in the Dog/Meadow 

 Timber Sale Project by advertising 

 in the Whitefish Pilot and Daily 

 Interlake newspapers on April 26, 

 2001. Additional public comments 

 were solicited in a newsletter 

 describing the Initial Proposal, 

 which was mailed to neighboring 

 landowners, individuals, agencies, 

 industry representatives, and 

 other organizations that had 

 expressed interest in the 

 management activities of 

 Stillwater State Forest. 



The comment period for the Initial 

 Proposal was open for 3 days. 

 Five letters and 2 phone calls 



were received. 



• Project-Update Newsletter and 

 Comment Period 



The newsletter of July 9, 2001 

 provided people on the mailing 

 list with an update of the Dog/ 

 Meadow Timber Sale Project and 

 explained the basic concepts of 

 the proposal and the action 

 alternative. Concerns raised 

 during the public scoping of the 

 Initial Proposal were also 

 included in this newsletter. The 

 types of proposed management 

 activities, their location in the 

 project area, and a proposed 

 project time line were identified. 



The comment period for this 

 newsletter was open for 30 days. 

 One response was received. 



• Project -Update Letter 



A February 26, 2002 project-update 

 letter informed people on the 

 mailing list that work on the Dog/ 

 Meadow Timber Sale Project would 

 be delayed until completion of 

 DNRC's Moose Fire Salvage and 

 Restoration Project Environmental 

 Impact Statement (EIS) . 



The ID Team, made up of DNRC 

 specialists (see LIST OF PREPARERS 

 AND CONTRIBUTORS at the end of 

 CHAPTER III) , identified and 

 summarized issues and concerns 

 raised during the public scoping. 

 Based on input from the ID Team and 

 issues and concerns from the public, 

 the decision was made to analyze the 

 effects of a no-action alternative 

 and an action alternative. The 

 issues and concerns identified 

 through both periods of public 

 comment are summarized in this 

 chapter. The original comments 

 received during both comment 

 periods, a memorandum documenting 

 the details of a field trip, and the 

 mailing lists developed for this 

 project are located in the project 

 file at the Stillwater State Forest 

 office in Olney. 



Chapter I-Purpose and Need 



Page 1-3 



