[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 53 (Monday, March 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 14876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6756]
[[Page 14875]]
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Part V
Department of the Interior
_______________________________________________________________________
Bureau of Indian Affairs
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Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement for Livestock
Grazing and Prairie Dog Management for the Rosebud and Cheyenne River
Sioux Reservations in South Dakota; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 53 / Monday, March 20, 1995 / Notices
[[Page 14876]]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Impact Statement
for Livestock Grazing and Prairie Dog Management for the Rosebud and
Cheyenne River Sioux Reservations in South Dakota
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that a Final Environmental
Impact Statement (FEIS) for proposed livestock grazing and prairie dog
management for the Rosebud and Cheyenne River Sioux Reservations in
South Dakota is available for final public review. This notice is
furnished as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
Regulations (40 CFR 1503 and 1506.9) to obtain comments from government
agencies and the public on the FEIS.
DATE: Send comments on or before April 19, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Mr. Donald Whitener, Acting Area Director,
Bureau of Indian Affairs, Aberdeen Area Office, 115 4th Avenue SE.,
Aberdeen, South Dakota 57401. Fax (605) 226-7446.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Wayland Lilly, Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Aberdeen Area Office, 115 4th Avenue SE., Aberdeen, South
Dakota 57401. Telephone (605) 226-7621. Fax (605) 226-7358. Copies of
the FEIS are available at this address. All agencies and individuals
who participated in the scoping process and public hearings have been
sent copies.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1991, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
reviewed tribal council proposals to poison black-tailed prairie dogs
on the Cheyenne River and Rosebud Sioux Reservations. An Environmental
Assessment (EA) and a Biological Assessment were prepared, pursuant to
NEPA and to the Endangered Species Act (ESA), respectively. Because of
insufficient personnel, time, and funds, the BIA was unable to meet
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and NEPA requirements for
analyzing impacts on prairie dog/black-footed ferret habitat and
threatened and endangered species, such as the bald eagle, peregrine
falcon, and American burying beetle. The BIA, therefore, only
investigated the effects of prairie dog poisoning programs proposed by
the tribal councils.
The BIA initiated the EIS with a Notice of Intent in the Federal
Register on November 18, 1992, after the USFWS issued an opinion that
the proposed poisoning programs would jeopardize the endangered, black-
footed ferret. The draft EIS was published in June 1994 (Federal
Register, June 16, 1994).
Public involvement in scoping included three (3) open meetings on
each reservation, radio and newspaper announcements, and direct
mailings of scoping notices. The 60-day comment period on the draft EIS
ended on August 20, 1994. Eleven (11) Federal, state, and local
agencies, ten (10) organizations, and twelve (12) individuals provided
comments. Some of these were submitted by letter, in response to
extensive mailings of the draft EIS, summary, and availability notices.
Others were delivered orally, at the public hearing on the draft held
on each reservation. Most comment addressed the proposed action for the
Rosebud Reservation.
The BIA received the draft Biological Opinion for comment from the
USFWS on November 10, 1994. The Aberdeen Area Office responded with
concerns regarding BIA trust responsibilities towards tribes and the
implementation of reasonable and prudent alternatives and conservation
measures. The final Biological Opinion was issued on December 29, 1994.
The alternatives for the Cheyenne River Reservation include No
Action (current management); a Proposed Action (Prairie Management
Plan); four alternatives that would preserve approximately 10,000 acres
of prairie dogs on Indian trust lands along the Moreau River while
treating various proportions of prairie dog acreage on trust lands away
from the river; and a fifth alternative that would treat half of the
prairie dog acres on the reservation, including those along the Moreau
River.
Alternatives for the Rosebud Reservation include No Action; a
Proposed Action that would treat 100 percent of prairie dog acres on
Indian trust lands; an alternative that would not treat prairie dogs
within the 7,416-acre Corn Creek Management Area (CCMA), but would
treat 100 percent of prairie dog acres outside the CCMA; and an
alternative that also would treat all prairie dog towns outside the
CCMA, but would limit those on trust lands within the CCMA to a single
treatment.
All action alternatives for both reservations include grazing
management systems.
The preferred alternative for Cheyenne River is the Proposed
Action, which consists of the tribal Prairie Management Plan. This
would restore the prairie ecosystem to a more natural state, in which
prairie dog populations and other wildlife species coexist with
livestock production. The plan includes: (1) A grazing management
system that would increase water development and fencing to improve
cattle distribution; (2) funding for habitat set-asides, to compensate
landowners for retaining prairie dog colonies in order to maintain
biodiversity and enhance black-footed ferret populations, should the
ferret be reintroduced; (3) conservation measures for threatened and
endangered species; (4) education of permittees, landowners, tribal and
BIA land managers, and the public on the use and benefits of proposed
management techniques; and (5) limitations on the control of prairie
dogs in certain areas, such as cemeteries, pow wow grounds, and near
residences.
The preferred alternative for Rosebud is the Proposed Action. This
consists of a plan that would restore the prairie ecosystem to where
prairie dog populations are maintained at levels that improve range
conditions for livestock production, and thus increase income to the
tribe and to Indian landowners. It includes: (1) A grazing management
system that would increase water development, fencing, mechanical
treatments, and planting to improve cattle distribution; (2) use of
zinc phosphide to eradicate black-tailed prairie dogs on 100% (45,000
acres) of trust lands, with additional treatments in the third and
fifth year following to ensure complete control; and (3) safety and
environmental mitigation measures, as listed on pages 3-14 through 3-15
of the DEIS, for the use of zinc phosphide. The black-footed ferret is
not considered in this alternative, in deference to a Rosebud Sioux
Tribal Council resolution requesting that the ferret not be
reintroduced on or near the reservation.
Dated: March 13, 1995.
Ada E. Deer,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 95-6756 Filed 3-17-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-02-P