[Federal Register: February 22, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 36)]
[Notices]
[Page 9760-9762]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr22fe08-25]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Rangeland Allotment Management Planning on the Fall River West
and Oglala Geographic Areas, Fall River and Pine Ridge Ranger
Districts, Nebraska National Forest
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact
statement (EIS) analyzing the management of rangeland vegetation
resources, which includes livestock grazing, on the National Forest
System (NFS) lands within the Oglala Geographic Area (OGA) of the
Oglala National Grassland on the Pine Ridge Ranger District and the
West Geographic Area (WGA) of the Buffalo Gap National
[[Page 9761]]
Grassland on the Fall River Ranger District of the Nebraska National
Forest (Analysis Area).
Proposed management actions would be implemented beginning in the
year 2009. The agency gives notice of the full environmental analysis
and decision-making process that will occur on the proposal so
interested and affected people may become aware of how they may
participate in the process and contribute to the final decision.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received
within 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The draft
environmental impact statement is expected January 26, 2009 and the
final environmental impact statement is expected April 24, 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments pertaining to this project on the
Oglala Geographic Area to Charles R. Marsh, District Ranger, Pine Ridge
Ranger District, 1240 W. 16th Street, Chadron, Nebraska 69337; send
written comments pertaining to the Fall River West Geographic Area to
Michael E. McNeill, District Ranger, Fall River Ranger District, P.O.
Box 732, Hot Springs, SD 57747.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about the
Oglala Geographic Area on the Oglala National Grassland, mail
correspondence to Lora O'Rourke, Co-Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Pine
Ridge Ranger District, 1240 W. 16th Street, Chadron, Nebraska 69337,
Phone 308-432-4475. For further information about the West Geographic
Area on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, mail correspondence to
Robert Novotny, Co-Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Fall River Ranger
District, P.O. Box 732, Hot Springs, SD 57747.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Vegetation resources on approximately 94,000
acres of NFS lands lying within the Oglala National Grassland in Sioux
and Dawes Counties of northwest Nebraska, and approximately 117,000
acres of NFS lands lying within the Buffalo Gap National Grassland in
Fall River County of southwest South Dakota, are being analyzed to
determine if and how existing conditions differ from desired conditions
outlined in the 2001 Nebraska National Forest Land and Resource
Management Plan (Forest Plan).
Vegetation in the Analysis Area is characteristic of mixed-grass
prairie and lesser amounts of ponderosa pine/juniper habitats. Short-
grass species include blue grama, buffalograss, and upland sedges. Mid-
grass species include western wheatgrass, green needlegrass, and to a
lesser extent sideoats grama. Shrubs include Wyoming big sagebrush,
greasewood, and yucca glauca. Some creeks transverse the area and
support plains cottonwood, green ash, and willow.
A large portion of the Analysis Area evolved under a history of
homesteading in the early twentieth century, and a prolonged drought
period combined with the economic depression of the late 1920s and
early 1930s caused many of these homesteads to fail. Starting in 1930s,
land was purchased through the northwestern Nebraska and southwestern
South Dakota under the Land Utilization Project initiated by the
Agricultural Adjustment Administration. This continued with the
Bankhead Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937, which was designed to develop a
program of land conservation. Administration of these lands was turned
over to the Soil Conservation Service the following year and
transferred to the United States Forest Service in 1954.
Today the Oglala and Buffalo Gap National Grasslands support and
provide a variety of multiple resource uses and values. Livestock
ranching operations in the area depend on National Grassland acreage to
create logical and efficient management units. Cattle and sheep, in
accordance with 10-year term and/or annual temporary livestock grazing
permits, are currently authorized to graze the allotments within the
Analysis Area. In order to determine how existing resource conditions
compare to desired conditions, data from monitoring and analysis
(historical and present) will be used. During the past 5-7 years,
drought conditions have impacted plant vigor, canopy, and litter cover
in most parts of the Analysis Area.
Purpose and Need for Action
Two primary influences help to shape the need for this project.
The Rescission Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-19, Section 504), directed
the Forest Service to complete National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
analysis on all grazing allotments. This analysis will comply with that
direction.
The 2001 Forest Plan established goals, objectives, standards, and
guidelines for resource management on the Nebraska National Forest and
Associated Units. The Forest Plan identifies livestock grazing as an
appropriate multiple use under certain conditions.
The Forest Service will evaluate the existing authorized livestock
use, livestock management, and rangeland vegetative conditions within
the Analysis Area and will assess the relationship with the desired
vegetative conditions identified within the Forest Plan. Any
differences between the two will establish the need for any livestock
management adjustments to meet or move existing vegetative conditions
toward Forest Plan desired conditions.
The purpose of the project is to address any need for adjustments
by determining whether to continue to permit livestock grazing on all,
or part, of the Anaysis Area and under what conditions and management
strategies.
Proposed Action: Implement vegetation management strategies through
an adaptive management process, which includes authorizing livestock
grazing within the Analysis Area that will meet or move toward desired
vegetative conditions as identified in the Forest Plan. Adaptive
management is defined as a process where land managers implement
management practices that are designed to meet Forest Plan standards
and guidelines and that would likely achieve the desired conditions in
a timely manner. If monitoring shows that desired conditions, as
described by Forest Plan Direction, are not being met, then an
alternate set of management actions would be implemented to achieve the
desired results. The proposal may generate the need to develop new or
update existing allotment management plans (AMPs).
The AMPs will be prepared for individual allotments and implemented
in the 2009 grazing season and beyond.
The Forest Plan identifies lands within the OGA and FRWGA as
containing lands that are capable and suitable for grazing by domestic
livestock. These lands are to be monitored to evaluate both
implementation and effectiveness of management actions.
In all cases, vegetation management tools will be used that meet
Forest Plan objectives, standards, and guidelines and that will
maintain or move existing resource conditions toward desired conditions
for that geographic area. If monitoring indicates that practices are
being properly implemented and that resource trends are moving toward
meeting desired conditions in a timely manner, management may continue
unchanged. If monitoring indicates that there is a need to modify
management practices, adaptive options as analyzed in the EIS will be
selected and implemented.
The Analysis Area provides habitat for many wildlife species (game
and non-game) including three management indicator species (MIS) and
their
[[Page 9762]]
habitats. These MIS species are the sharp-tailed grouse, sage grouse,
and black-tailed prairie dog. Habitat for the swift fox, a Forest
Service Region 2 sensitive species, also exists.
Consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as required
by the Endangered Species Act (ESA), will be completed on all proposed
activities.
An interdisciplinary team has been selected to do the environmental
analysis, as well as prepare and accomplish scoping and public
involvement activities.
Possible Alternatives: Potential alternatives include:
1. No action, No change from authorized grazing use or current
situation.
2. No Grazing.
3. Livestock grazing incorporating adaptive management to meet the
Forest Plan goals, objectives, standards, and guidelines.
Responsible Officials: Charlie R. Marsh, District Ranger at the
Pine Ridge Ranger District, 1240 W. 16th Street, Chadron, Nebraska
69337; and Michael E. McNeill, District Ranger at the Fall River Ranger
District, P.O. Box 732, Hot Springs, South Dakota 57747-0732 are the
Responsible Officials for making the decision on this action. They will
document their decision and rationale in a Record of Decision.
The Responsible Officials will consider the results of the analysis
and its findings and then document their decisions in two separate
Records of Decision (ROD), one for the OGA and one for the FRWGA. The
decisions will determine whether or not to authorize livestock grazing
on all, part, or none of the Analysis Area, and if so, what adaptive
management design criteria, adaptive options, and monitoring will be
implemented so as to meet or move toward the desired conditions as
specified in the Forest Plan.
Nature of Decision To Be Made: The EIS is not a decision document.
The purpose of the EIS document is to disclose the direct, indirect,
and cumulative effects of the proposed action and other alternatives
that are analyzed. After providing the public an opportunity to comment
on the specific activities described in the alternatives, the
Responsible Officials will review all alternatives and the anticipated
environmental consequences of each in order to make the following
decisions:
1. Whether or not to authorize livestock grazing within the
Analysis Area in whole or in part.
2. If grazing is to be Authorized, (a) what grazing systems and
prescribed livestock use would be implemented; (b) what structural and
non-structural range improvements would be necessary; and (c) what type
of monitoring program would be proposed.
3. Identify any ``mitigation measure'' needed to implement the
decision.
Individual Allotment Management Plans (AMPs) would then be
developed to incorporate conditions outlined in the Record of Decision.
These AMPs will become part of each associated term grazing permit
issued.
Scoping Process: Concurrent with this notice of intent, letters
requesting comments will be sent to interested parties. Anyone who
provides comments to the draft EIS or expresses interest during the
comment period will have standing in the process.
Public involvement will be especially important at several points
during the analysis, beginning with the scoping process. The Forest
Service will seek information, comments, and assistance from Federal,
State, local agencies, tribes, and other individuals or organizations
who may be interested in, or affected by, the proposal. The scoping
activities will include: (1) Engaging potentially affected or
interested parties by written correspondence, (2) contacting those on
our Forest media list, and (3) hosting public information meeting(s).
Preliminary Issues: Preliminary issues include:
1. Effects of proposed management strategies on natural ecosystems.
This includes elements such as native and desirable nonnative plant and
animal communities, black-tailed prairie dog management, riparian
areas, upland grasslands, wooded draws, ponderosa pine forested areas,
areas of hazardous fuels, and threatened, endangered, sensitive, and
management indicator species.
2. Social-economic effects (positive or negative) on livestock
grazing permittees and the local economy from changes in livestock
management.
3. Effects of proposed livestock grazing strategies on recreational
activities and/or experiences.
Comment Requested: This notice of intent initiates the formal
scoping process that guides the development of the environmental impact
statement.
Early Notice of Importance for Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: A draft environmental impact statement (DEIS)
will be prepared for comment. The comment period on the draft
environmental impact statement will be 45 days from the date the
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in
the Federal Register.
The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of
draft environmental impact statements must structure their
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,
553 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the
draft environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised
until after completion of the final environmental impact statement may
be waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490
F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). Because of these court rulings,
it is very important that those interested in this proposed action
participate by the close of the 45-day comment period so that
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest
Service at a time when it can meaningfully consider them and respond to
them in the final environmental impact statement.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft
environmental impact statement or the merits of the alternatives
formulated and discussed in the document. Reviewers may wish to refer
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at
40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.
Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who
comment, will be considered part of the public record on this proposal
and will be available for public inspection.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook
1909.15, Section 21)
Dated: February 7, 2008.
Charles R. Marsh,
District Ranger, Pine Ridge Ranger District.
Dated: February 7, 2008.
Michael E. McNeill,
District Ranger, Fall River Ranger District.
[FR Doc. E8-2880 Filed 2-21-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P