[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 198 (Friday, October 12, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52148-52149]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-25723]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WO-220-01-1020-JA-VEIS]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Conservation and Restoration of Vegetation, Watershed, and Wildlife 
Habitat Treatments on Public Lands Administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management in the Western United States Including Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a national, programmatic 
environmental impact statement (EIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102 (2) (C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the BLM will prepare a national, 
programmatic EIS and conduct public scoping meetings on (1) management 
opportunities and treatment methods for noxious weeds and other 
invasive species, and (2) the conservation and restoration of native 
vegetation, watersheds, and wildlife habitat. The EIS will cover the 
public lands administered by BLM in eleven western States, including 
Alaska.

DATES: Written or e-mailed comments for this initial scoping phase will 
be accepted for 30 days following publication of this notice. In 
addition, BLM will hold public scoping meetings to focus on relevant 
issues and environmental concerns, identify possible alternatives, and 
help determine the scope of the EIS. Times and locations will be 
announced in a separate Federal Register notice and through local press 
releases and advertisements.

ADDRESSES: For further information, to provide written comments, or to 
be placed on the mailing list, contact Brian Amme, Acting Project 
Manager, Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 12000, Reno, Nevada 89520-
0006; e-mail [email protected] ; telephone, (775) 861-6645. 
Comments will be available for public inspection at the Bureau of Land 
Management Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, Nevada 
89502.
    Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish 
your name and/or address withheld from public review or disclosure 
under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently 
at the beginning of your written or e-mailed comment. Such requests 
will be honored to the extent allowed by law. The BLM will not, 
however, consider anonymous comments. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This national, programmatic EIS will provide 
a comprehensive cumulative analysis of BLM conservation and restoration 
treatments involving vegetation communities, watersheds, and wildlife 
habitats. It will also consider State-specific reasonably foreseeable 
activities, including hazardous fuels reduction treatments. Restoration 
activities may include but are not limited to prescribed fire; riparian 
restoration; native plant community restoration; invasive plants and 
noxious weeds treatments; under-story thinning; forest health 
treatments; or other activities related to restoring fire-adapted 
ecosystems. The analysis area will include all surface estate public 
lands administered by the BLM in the following western States: Alaska, 
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, North 
and South Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and 
Wyoming. The EIS will update analyses that are contained in four 
existing BLM vegetation treatment and noxious weed management EIS's and 
analyze similar activities on public lands in Alaska, which were not 
included in the existing EIS's.
    The BLM has initially identified the following issues for analysis 
in this programmatic EIS: hazardous fuels reduction and treatment 
including mechanical treatments; wildlife habitat improvement; 
restoration of ecosystem processes; protection of cultural resources; 
watershed and vegetative community health; new listings of threatened 
and endangered species and consideration of other sensitive and special 
status species; new chemical formulations for herbicides deemed to be 
more environmentally favorable; smoke management and air quality; 
emergency stabilization and restoration; and watershed and water 
quality improvement. The EIS will also provide human health risk 
assessments for a broad array of newly available chemical herbicides, 
and inert ingredients used in combination with chemical treatment 
activities.


[[Page 52149]]


    Dated: September 14, 2001.
Elena Daly,
Acting Assistant Director, Renewable Resources and Planning.
[FR Doc. 01-25723 Filed 10-11-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P