[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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