[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 165 (Thursday, August 26, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46705-46706]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-22130]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs


Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Proposed Navajo Ten-Year Forest Management Plan Alternatives, Navajo 
Nation, Arizona/New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Draft Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (DPEIS) for the proposed Navajo Nation 
Ten-Year Forest Management Plan Alternatives is now available for 
public review and comment. The DPEIS, prepared by the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs in cooperation with the Navajo Nation Forestry Department, 
describes alternative ways to promote the protection and sustained use 
of forest resources and guide the development of multi-year 
implementation programs for the Navajo Nation Forestry Department. A 
description of the proposed project location and of the environmental 
issues addressed in the DPEIS follow as supplementary information. This 
notice also announces a series of public hearings to receive public 
comments on the DPEIS.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before October 20, 1999. The 
dates and locations of the public hearings are listed below. All of 
these public hearings will begin at 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
    September 21, 1999, Fort Defiance Chapter House, Fort Defiance, AZ.
    September 22, 1999, Chinle Chapter House, Chinle, AZ.

[[Page 46706]]

    September 23, 1999, Shiprock Chapter House, Shiprock, NM.

ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment, you may submit your comments by any 
one of several methods. You may mail or hand-deliver comments to Harold 
D. Russell, Area Forester, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Area 
Office, Federal Building, 301 West Hill, P.O. Box 1060, Gallup, New 
Mexico 87305. You may also comment via the Internet to: 
R[email protected]. Please submit Internet comments as an ASCII file 
avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. 
Include your name and return address in your Internet message. If you 
do not receive a confirmation from the system that we have received 
your Internet message, contact the Navajo Area Office directly at (520) 
729-7228. Comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, 
will be available for public review at the above address during regular 
business hours (8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 
excluding Federal holidays. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name and/or address from 
public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 
you must state this prominently at the beginning of your written 
comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. 
However, we will not consider anonymous comments. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.
    The public hearings will be held at the locations listed in the 
DATES section.
    The DPEIS is available for review at two locations: (1) The Branch 
of Environmental Services, Navajo Area Office, Federal Building, 301 
West Hill, Gallup, New Mexico; and (2) the Branch of Forestry, Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, 1 mile north on Route 12, Fort Defiance, Arizona. To 
obtain a copy of the DPEIS, please write to the Navajo Nation Forestry 
Department, P.O. Box 230, Fort Defiance, Arizona 86504, or call (520) 
729-4007.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harold D. Russell, (520) 729-7228.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action is to adopt a ten-year 
management plan for the Navajo Forest. The Navajo Forest lies in the 
Chuska Mountains and Defiance Plateau areas of the Navajo Nation, along 
the Arizona-New Mexico border. The area encompasses nearly 600,000 
acres.
    The DPEIS presents a preferred alternative, the no action 
alternative and three other action alternatives. Under the preferred 
alternative, approximately 79,500 acres out of 253,754 acres designated 
as commercial timberland would be harvested over the next ten years. 
Individual treatment areas would be limited to 100 acres or less, and 
harvesting would incorporate a combination of even-aged and uneven-aged 
management systems designed to promote more diversity in the vegetative 
structure. This alternative also designates 74,735 acres as Special 
Management Areas (SMA's), which would be excluded from commercial 
timberland in order to protect critical wildlife habitat and vital 
watershed areas, even where these SMA's are located within the most 
productive areas of the forest.
    Timber protection activities under the preferred alternative 
include, where needed, fire prevention, prescribed burns, trespass 
control and insect and disease control. An estimated 680 acres per year 
would be subjected to prescribed burns, and 75 acres per year treated 
for insects and disease. Additional activities include monitoring and 
mitigation in accordance with published plans, guidelines or handbooks 
referenced in the DPEIS.
    The no action alternative continues current levels of production--
approximately 88,000 acres over the next ten years, with even-aged 
management and without SMA's. The three other action alternatives 
include: (1) No timber harvesting and no SMA's; (2) even-aged 
management, with a lower rate of harvest--approximately 79,000 acres 
over the next ten years--than the no action alternative, and with 
SMA's; and (3) uneven-aged management, with approximately 84,400 acres 
to be harvested over the next ten years and without SMA's. All of the 
alternatives include timber protection plus monitoring and/or 
mitigation measures.
    The DPEIS addresses the environmental issues identified during 
public scoping. These include timber resources, other forest resources, 
water resources, biological resources, air quality, cultural resources 
and socio-economics.
    This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the 
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500 through 
1508), implementing the procedural requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), 
and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the 
exercise of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian 
Affairs by 209 DM 8.

    Dated: August 20, 1999.
Kevin Gover,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 99-22130 Filed 8-25-99; 8:45 am]
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