The Agriculture Department’s Forest Service is seeking comments on how the Mt. Hood National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan should be amended to accommodate the Palomar Gas Transmission LLC pipeline proposed for the Pacific Northwest.

Approximately 47 miles of the pipeline, a joint venture of TransCanada Corp. and Northwest Natural Gas Co., would be located in the Mt. Hood National Forest. The proposed route would directly affect approximately 709 acres of national forest system land, of which about 106 acres would be old-growth forest, and it would also cross the Clackamas River, a federally designated wild and scenic river, according to the notice that was published in the Federal Register Monday.

The Forest Service has identified several aspects of the pipeline project that would not be consistent with the Mt. Hood Forest Plan, specifically the standards and guidelines for late-successional reserves (forests in their mature and/or old-growth stages that are reserved for wildlife habitat) and the wild and scenic river designation for the Clackamas River, which prohibits construction of utility lines within any river segment.

The Forest Service is seeking public comment by Jan. 5. The agency is cooperating with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in its preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) on the Palomar project. In its notice of intent to prepare an EIS, FERC identified the possible need to amend the Mt. Hood plan if it approves the proposed Palomar pipeline.

The proposed pipeline would extend approximately 211 miles from northwestern Oregon to north-central Oregon. Palomar would connect TransCanada’s existing Gas Transmission Northwest Corp. system in central Oregon with Northwest Natural’s distribution system near Molalla, OR, approximately 30 miles southeast of Portland (see Daily GPI, Aug. 7, 2007). The system will provide transportation capacity of up to 1.3 Bcf/d. If approved, Palomar would begin service in late 2011.

The pipeline would would serve markets in Oregon, the Pacific Northwest and the western U.S. and potentially would carry regasified liquefied natural gas (LNG) if an LNG terminal is constructed on the Columbia River, the companies said.

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