[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 41 (Thursday, March 2, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11655-11656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-5149]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 41 / Thursday, March 2, 1995 /
Notices
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[[Page 11655]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
[4310-84]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
Interim Strategy for Managing Anadromous Fish-Producing
Watersheds on Federal Lands in Eastern Oregon and Washington, Idaho,
and Portions of California
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA; Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of decision and availability of environmental assessment
and finding of no significant impact.
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SUMMARY: On February 24, 1995, the Chief of the Forest Service and the
Acting Director of the Bureau of Land Management signed a decision
adopting an interim strategy for managing anadromous fish-producing
watersheds on lands administered by the Forest Service and Bureau of
Land Management in Eastern Oregon and Washington, Idaho, and portions
of California. The decision amends Regional Guides and Forest land and
resource management plans that guide the management of National Forest
System lands and where compatible, provides management direction
consistent with Bureau of Land Management land use plans and, thereby,
establishes interim goals, objectives, and standards and guidelines for
these anadromous fish-producing watersheds. The intended effect of this
decision is to provide additional protective management to the
watersheds in the affected areas so as to avoid limiting the choice of
reasonable alternatives that may be developed in the geographically
specific environmental analyses of long-term management strategies are
being conducted.
EFFECTIVE DATE: For the Forest Service, this decision is effective on
March 9, 1995. For the Bureau of Land Management, this decision is
effective on April 3, 1995.
ADDRESSES: The decision documents, Finding of No Significant Impact,
and Environmental Assessment may be reviewed at the Office of the
Wildlife, Fish, and Rare Plants Staff, Forest Service, USDA, Auditors
Building, 14th and Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC. Single
copies of these documents are available by request from this office as
well as from Forest Service regional offices and national forests or
Bureau of Land Management state offices in the affected areas.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Harv Forsgren (Forest Service) at (202) 205-1791, or Richard Hardt
(BLM) at (202) 452-5074. To request a copy of the decision document,
Finding of No Significant Impact, and Environmental Assessment by
phone, call (202) 205-1791.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Forest Service and Bureau of Land
Management have developed an ecosystem-based interim management
strategy for Pacific anadromous fish (i.e., salmon, steelhead, and sea-
run cutthroat trout) in response to large declines in anadromous fish
populations and widespread degradation of habitat conditions. For the
Forest Service the decision amends the Regional Guides for the Forest
Service's Northern, Intermountain, Pacific Southwest, and Pacific
Northwest Regions and 15 National Forest land and resource management
plans (forest plans) to incorporate explicit goals and riparian
objectives, and identify those areas where the new interim standards
and guidelines will apply. For the Bureau of Land Management, the
decision incorporates management direction consistent with seven Bureau
of Land Management land use plans to arrest the degradation and begin
restoration of anadromous fish-producing watersheds.
Alternative 4 was selected as the interim management direction from
five alternatives analyzed in the March 1994 environmental assessment.
Notice of the availability of the environmental assessment was
published in the Federal Register on March 25, 1994 [58 FR 14356].
Comments received from the general public as well as other Federal
agencies and state and local government were considered in arriving at
a final decision to adopt Alternative 4, which applies additional
protective measures to all new activities and ongoing activities that
are likely to adversely affect listed salmon or contribute to the need
to list additional anadromous fish species under provisions of the
Endangered Species Act. The direction is to be in place for an 18-month
period while geographically-specific environmental analyses of long
term management strategies are being conducted.
Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management biologists have
prepared a biological evaluation and assessment, analyzing the
potential effects of the alternatives on species listed under the
Endangered Species Act and those species identified as sensitive by the
agencies. The biologists determined the selected alternative ``may
effect'' listed species and designated critical habitat within the
anadromous fish-producing watersheds covered by the decision. Pursuant
to that finding, the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management
have consulted with the Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife
Service, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries
Service. The Fish and Wildlife Service, through a letter of
concurrence, has indicated that the proposed decision would have a
neutral or beneficial effect on listed species under their
jurisdiction. The National Marine Fisheries Service, through a
biological opinion, has determined that the proposed decision is not
likely to jeopardize the continued existence of listed species under
their jurisdiction or result in destruction or adverse modification of
critical habitat.
Pursuant to section 102(2)(2) of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 and the Council on Environmental Quality Guidelines (40 CFR
1508.27), the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management hereby give
notice that the actions allowed under Alternative 4 (as adopted) are
not a major Federal action and will not significantly affect, either
individually or cumulatively, the quality of the human environment.
Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not being
prepared. [[Page 11656]]
For the Forest Service, this decision may be appealed in accordance
with the provisions of 36 CFR 217.7(a) by filing a written notice of
appeal with the Secretary of Agriculture, in duplicate, within 45 days
of the date of publication of this notice of availability. Review by
the Secretary is discretionary. For the Bureau of Land Management, this
decision may be appealed to the Department of the Interior, Board of
Land Appeals, in accordance with the provisions of 43 CFR 4.20 to 4.31
and 43 CFR 4.400 to 4.415, by filing a written notice of appeal. The
notice must be filed with the Director of the Bureau of Land Management
within 30 days of the date of publication of this legal notice of
availability.
Dated: February 24, 1995.
For the Forest Service:
Jack Ward Thomas,
Chief, USDA Forest Service.
Dated: February 24, 1995.
For the Bureau of Land Management:
Mike Dombeck,
Acting Director, USDI Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 95-5149 Filed 3-1-95; 8:45 am]
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