[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 237 (Thursday, December 10, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68245-68246]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-32860]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Revised Land and Resource Management Plans for Some National
Forest System Lands in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and
Wyoming
AGENCY: USDA Forest Service.
ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement in conjunction with the revision of land and resource
management plans and modifications to existing oil and gas leasing
decisions for several National Grasslands (NG) and Forests (NF) on the
Northern Great Plains.
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The planning area includes these National Forest System lands:
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Administering unit National Grassland/Forest State County
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Dakota Prairie Grasslands Little Missouri NG.............. ND Billings, Dunn, Golden
(formerly known as Custer NF). Valley, McHenry,
McKenzie, Slope.
Cedar River NG.................. ND Grant, Sioux.
Sheyenne NG..................... ND Ransom, Richland.
Grand River NG.................. SD Corson, Perkins.
Nebraska NF..................... Oglala NG....................... NE Dawes, Sioux.
Nebraska NF..................... NE Blaine, Dawes, Sioux,
Thomas.
Samuel R. McKelvie NF........... NE Cherry.
Buffalo Gap NG.................. SD Custer, Fall River,
Jackson, Pennington.
Fort Pierre NG.................. SD Jones, Lyman, Stanley.
Medicine Bowe-Routt NF.......... Thunder Basin NG................ WY Campbell, Converse,
Crook, Niobrara,
Weston.
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SUMMARY: This planning effort is called the ``Northern Great Plains
Management Plans Revision.'' Land and Resource Management Plans
(hereafter referred to as Management Plan or Plans) will be prepared
for each participating administrative unit, while one environmental
impact statement for all affected units will be issued. In conjunction
with the Plan revisions, existing oil and gas leasing decisions will be
modified based on the analysis in the environmental impact statement.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis were requested to
be received in writing by July 31, 1997. The agency expects to file a
draft environmental impact statement with the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and make it available for public comment in February 1999.
The agency expects to file the final environmental impact statement in
May 2000.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Dave Cawrse, Team Leader, Northern
Great Plains Planning Team, USDA Forest Service, 125 North Main,
Chadron NE 69337.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dave Cawrse, Planning Team Leader, (308) 432-0300.
RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS: Dale Bosworth, Northern Regional Forester at 200
East Broadway, Missoula, MT 59807; and Lyle Laverty, Rocky Mountain
Regional Forester at P.O. Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225-0127.
COOPERATING AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management and National Park
Service.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a revised Notice of Intent for the
prior notice promulgated in the Federal Register, Vol. 62, No. 38, on
Wednesday, February 25, 1997. The Notice of Intent is being revised for
the following reasons:
(1) The draft EIS has been delayed more than six months. The
original expected release date was June 1998; the new expected date is
February 1999. The final EIS is expected to be published May 2000.
(2) Two cooperating agencies have been added. Bureau of Land
Management (State offices in Montana and Wyoming) will cooperate on the
preparation of the EIS and decisions regarding mineral leasing, and the
National Park Service (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) will cooperate
on the preparation of the EIS and decisions regarding federally
designated Wild and Scenic Rivers (specifically the Little Missouri
River).
(3) The Custer National Forest Management Plan will now be referred
[[Page 68246]]
to as the Dakota Prairie Grasslands Management Plan.
Pursuant to Part 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 219.10(g),
the Regional Foresters for the Northern and Rocky Mountain Regions give
notice of the agency's intent to prepare an environmental impact
statement for the revision effort described above. According to 36 CFR
219.10(g), land and resource management plans are ordinarily revised on
a 10- to 15-year cycle. The existing Management Plans were approved as
follows:
Custer National Forest--June 10, 1987;
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest--November 20, 1985;
Nebraska National Forest--December 14, 1984.
The Regional Foresters give notice that they are completing an
environmental analysis and decision-making process for this proposed
action so that interested or affected people can participate in the
analyses and contribute to the final decisions. One environmental
impact statement will be prepared. Separate decisions, documented in
Records of Decision, will be issued for each administrative unit. The
combined revision effort makes sense because of common issues and
concerns, and similar ecological landscapes. This effort will enable
the administrative units to share assessments, plan-related analyses,
and resource expertise, and will reduce costs.
Management plans describe the intended management of National
Grasslands and Forests. Agency decisions in these plans will do the
following things:
Establish multiple-use goals and objectives (36 CFR
219.11);
Establish grasslandwide and forestwide management
requirements (standards and guidelines) to fulfill the requirements of
16 U.S.C. 1604 applying to future activities (resource integration
requirements, 36 CFR 219.13 to 219.27);
Establish management areas and management area direction
(management area prescriptions) applying to future activities in that
management area (resource integration and minimum specific management
requirements) 36 CFR 219.11(c);
Establish monitoring and evaluation requirements (36 CFR
219.11(d));
Determine suitability and potential capability of lands
for producing forage for grazing animals and for providing habitat for
management indicator species (36 CFR 219.20), designate lands not
suited for timber production, and, where applicable, establish
allowable timber sale quantity (36 CFR 219.14, 219.15, and 219.21);
Where applicable to oil and gas resources, determine the
planning area leasing decision (lands administratively available for
leasing) and the leasing decision for specific lands [36 CFR
228.102(4)(d) & (e)]. Where applicable, BLM will issue a decision
document on leasing for federal minerals, both under Forest Service
administered surface and under private surface.
Where applicable, recommend Wild and Scenic River
designations, in cooperating with the National Park Service, in
accordance with 16 U.S.C. 1274; and
Where applicable, recommend non-Wilderness allocations or
Wilderness recommendations for roadless areas (36 CFR 219.17).
The authorization of project level activities within the planning
area occurs through project decision-making, the second stage of forest
and grassland planning. Project-level decisions must comply with
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures and must include a
determination that the project is consistent with the Management Plan.
RELEASE AND REVIEW OF THE EIS: The DEIS is expected to be filed with
the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for
public comment by February 1999. At that time, the EPA will publish a
notice of availability for the DEIS in the Federal Register.
The comment period on the DEIS will be 90 days from the date the
EPA publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
Reviewers of the DEIS 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 Com. v. NRDC. 435 U.S. 519,553 (1978). Also,
environmental objections that could be raised at the DEIS stage but are
not raised until after completion of the Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS) 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
three-month comment period so that substantive comments and objects are
made available to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully
consider them and respond to them in the FEIS.
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues
and concerns on the proposed actions, comments on the DIES 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 DEIS or the merits of the alternatives formulated and
discussed in the statements. 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.
After the comment period ends on the DIES, comments will be
analyzed, considered, and responded to by the Forest Service in
preparing the Final EIS. The FEIS is scheduled to be completed in May
2000. The responsible officials will consider the comments, responses,
environmental consequences discussed in the FEIS, and applicable laws,
regulations and policies in making decisions regarding these revisions.
The responsible officials will document their decisions and reasons for
their decisions in the separate Record of Decision for each Management
Plan. Each decision will be subject to appeal in accordance with 36 CFR
217.
The responsible official for each of the Management Plans is the
appropriate Regional Forester.
Dated: November 19, 1998.
Dale Bosworth,
Regional Forester, Northern Region.
Dated: November 9, 1998.
Lyle Laverty,
Regional Forester, Rocky Mountain Region.
[FR Doc. 98-32860 Filed 12-9-98; 8:45 am]
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