[Federal Register: June 12, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 114)]
[Notices]
[Page 33393-33394]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12jn08-43]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Goose Creek Watershed Livestock Grazing Analysis on the Tongue
Ranger District, Bighorn National Forest, Sheridan and Johnson
Counties, WY
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) to update range management planning on seven (7) cattle
and horse allotments in the Goose Creek area, which will result in
development of new allotment management plans (AMPs). The agency gives
notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making process
that will occur on the proposal so that interested and affected people
may become aware of how they may participate in the process and
contribute to the final decision.
DATES: Comments and input regarding the proposal were requested from
the public, other groups and agencies, via a legal notice published in
the Casper Star-Tribune November 7, 2007. Additional comments may be
made at the addresses below, and would be most helpful if submitted
within thirty days of the publication of this notice. Based on past
actions of this type, the Responsible Official has determined that an
environmental impact statement will be prepared for this project. The
draft environmental impact statement is expected March 2009, and the
final environmental impact statement is expected June 2009.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Clarke McClung, Tongue District
Ranger, 2013 Eastside Second Street, Sheridan, Wyoming 82801.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Laurie Walters-Clark,
Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Bighorn National Forest, phone (307)
674-2600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The allotments are located approximately 25
miles by road, west of Sheridan, Wyoming in the Big Goose drainage.
National Forest System lands within the Bighorn National Forest will be
considered in the proposal. The purpose of the analysis is to determine
if livestock grazing will continue on the analysis area. If the
decision is to continue livestock grazing, then updated management
strategies outlining how livestock will be grazed will be developed to
assure implementation of the 2005 Revised Bighorn National Forest Land
and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan) management direction. The
analysis will consider actions that continue to improve trends in
vegetation, watershed conditions, and ecological sustainability
relative to livestock grazing within the allotments. Management actions
are proposed to be implemented beginning in the year 2011.
The Bighorn Forest Plan identifies livestock grazing as an
appropriate use and makes initial determinations for land scapable and
suitable for grazing by domestic livestock. The seven allotments
involved are: Big Goose, Little Goose, Rapid Creek, Little Goose
Canyon, Walker Prairie, Tourist, and Stull Lakes.
Purpose and Need for Action: The purpose of this project is to
determine if livestock grazing will continue to be authorized on the
seven allotments, and if it is to continue, how to best utilize
adaptive management strategies to maintain or achieve desired
conditions and meet forest plan objectives. Livestock grazing is
currently occurring on most of the allotments under existing allotment
management plans (AMPs) and through direction provided in the Annual
Operating Instructions (AOI). Portions of the Stull Lakes allotment are
vacant; however, livestock grazing is occurring on the Antler Creek
portion. Continuation of livestock grazing will require the review of
existing management strategies and, if necessary, updating them to
implement forest plan direction and meet Section 504 of Public Law 104-
19 (Rescission Bill, signed 7/27/95). The results of this analysis may
require modifying term grazing permits. Modification will be documented
in updated AMPs for the allotments.
Proposed Action: The proposed action is to continue livestock
grazing using adaptive management strategies to meet or move toward
Forest Plan and allotment-specific desired conditions. This includes
changing livestock management strategies and construction of additional
improvements (fences and water developments).
Possible Alternatives: Two additional alternatives have been
identified to date: (1) No action; remove livestock grazing from these
allotments, and (2) No change; continuance of current management
strategies.
Responsible Official: Clarke McClung, District Ranger, Tongue
Ranger District, Bighorn National Forest, 2013 Eastside 2nd Street,
Sheridan, Wyoming 82801.
Nature of Decision To Be Made: The Responsible Official will
consider the results of the analysis and its finding and then document
the final decision in a Record of Decision (ROD). The decision will
determine whether or not to authorize livestock grazing on all, part,
or none of the allotments, 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 in the defined timeframe.
Scoping Process: Formal scoping for this project occurred in
November 2007.
Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent
Environmental Review: A draft environmental impact statement 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,
[[Page 33394]]
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 statement. 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: June 4, 2008.
Clarke McClung,
Tongue District Ranger.
[FR Doc. E8-13060 Filed 6-11-08; 8:45 am]
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