[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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