[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 60 (Friday, March 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15220-15221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7513]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Notice of Availability of Federal Agency Work Plans and Reports 
for the Klamath River Basin

AGENCY: Klamath River Basin Federal Working Group.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Klamath River Basin Federal Working Group (KRBF) is 
notifying the public of the availability of Federal agency work plans 
and reports of the three departments and their respective agencies/
bureaus for the Klamath River Basin. These work plans and reports are 
intended to communicate to the public the scope of work underway by 
these departments on federal activities in the Klamath River Basin. 
These documents are not intended to be detailed guidelines, schedules, 
funding documents, or project descriptions.
    Work plans and reports for the Klamath River Basin are available 
for the following agencies.
    [sbull] The Department of Agriculture, which includes work under 
the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Forest 
Service (FS);
    [sbull] The Department of the Interior, which includes work under 
the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), 
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and 
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); and
    [sbull] The Department of Commerce, which includes work under the 
National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
    These agency documents are available on the Web and can be accessed 
from one site: http://www.doi.gov/klamath
    Further information on each agency work plan or report can be 
obtained from contacts listed below and listed on the Web sites of each 
agency.
    Agency documents will be modified as changes occur. Each agency 
will make its modified work plans or reports available on the Web as 
they become available.

ADDRESSES: Address all requests for information on the work plans to 
the responsible agency:
    [sbull] Natural Resources Conservation Service, Attn: State 
Conservationist--OR, 101 SW Main, Suite 1300, Portland, OR 97204 or 
State Conservationist--CA 430 G Street, Suite 4164, Davis, CA 95616-
2890.
    [sbull] Forest Service, Fremont-Winema National Forests, Attn: 
Natural Resources Staff, 1301 South G. St., Lakeview, OR 97630; or 
Forest Service, Shasta-Trinity, and Six Rivers National Forests, 
Natural Resources Staff, Attn: Klamath, 1312 Fairlane Road, Yreka, CA 
96097.
    [sbull] National Marine Fisheries Service, Chief, Endangered 
Species Division, 1315 East-West Hwy, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
    [sbull] Department of the Interior, Attn: Director, Office of 
Communications, 1849 C Street, NW., Room 6213, Washington, DC 20240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric Ruff, Director, Office of 
Communications, Department of the Interior, at (202) 208-3752; fax 
(202) 208-5133, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The President's Klamath River Basin Federal 
Working Group was established by Presidential Memo on March 1, 2002. 
The Working Group was created to advise the President on immediate 
steps and long-term solutions to enhance water quality and quantity and 
to address other complex issues in the Klamath River Basin. The Working 
Group consists of: the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of 
Agriculture, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Chairman of the Council 
of Environmental Quality.
    The Federal agency work plans and reports are developed in a 
variety of ways, using a variety of planning and other procedures. 
Descriptions of these documents and procedures are provided below. 
Means for receiving copies of each work plan or report are listed 
below. Copies are available on the Web, by phone and mail, and in 
public offices.

Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

    The Work Plan for Adaptive Management, Klamath River Basin, Oregon 
& California, is designed to be used by NRCS and conservation partners, 
state and local field staffs, private consultants, landowners/
operators, tribal representatives, and others that will be developing 
or assisting in the development of a comprehensive basin plan. Building 
on this basin plan; on-farm individual resource management plans, and 
other documents will be developed to guide the design and 
implementation of conservation practices to mitigate the impacts of 
drought on agriculture in the Klamath River Basin.
    The Work Plan is a preliminary estimate of NRCS activities over the 
next five years in the Klamath Basin. The Work Plan includes an 
adaptive management approach to allow flexibility to respond to change 
as more information and resources become available such as funding, 
scientific assessments, impacts of practices to be used, and land-owner 
objectives. The Work Plan could change dramatically because of these 
and many more factors.
    This Work Plan is based on a rapid assessment of the basin 
including its present and future natural resource conditions, 
conservation practices currently installed, future conservation 
practices and their costs, practice effects, and sources of funds. The 
work plan contains estimates of funds to be available in FY 2003 
through the Farm Bill and other sources along with estimates of 
outcomes.
    The Work Plan describes recent accomplishments, how progress is 
measured, basin-wide conservation needs and a planning process, and on-

[[Page 15221]]

farm planning and implementation using anticipated funds. The rapid 
assessment of the basin will be completed in June 2003.
    The Work Plan will be changed based on a final analysis of the 
rapid assessment information and after funding allowances have been 
issued to the NRCS state offices from the FY 2003 appropriations. A 
more detailed description of NRCS activities over the next five years 
will be prepared early in Phase 2 of the Work Plan. During Phase 2, a 
Basin Team will be assembled, information will be analyzed from the 
sub-basin Rapid Assessments, more precise estimates will be made of 
land-owner willingness to participate, and a basin-wide planning effort 
will be established with state and other federal agencies, conservation 
and irrigation districts, and interested stake holders.

Department of Agriculture Forest Service

    The FS Work Plan for the Upper Klamath River Basin, Oregon, and 
Middle and Lower Klamath River Basin, California, display past, 
present, and future projects which will enhance and restore the 
functioning of the basin ecosystem. The plan includes watershed level 
projects and plans as well local projects designed to achieve the 
objectives. Web links are included where available that will give the 
reader additional information for each project.
    The Work Plan displays current activities as well as future 
projects that are in the planning stage. As planning proceeds, changes 
will be made based on the availability of funds, scientific 
assessments, and environmental assessments. Similar projects are 
expected to be implemented in the future.
    The Work Plan describes recent accomplishments as well as planned 
activities. The plan will be changed annually as wider area assessments 
and plans are developed with specific proposed actions. The planning 
will involve state and other federal agencies, the affected Tribes, and 
interested stakeholders.

Department of the Interior

    The Department of the Interior has summarized its work on Klamath 
water, habitat and species issues in two documents. The first of these 
is titled, ``Summary of Ongoing and Planned Work of the Department of 
the Interior Related to the Klamath River Basin.'' That document 
summarizes ongoing and planned work of the five Interior bureaus--FWS, 
BOR, BIA, BLM, and USGS--primarily involved in such work. The document 
highlights two key planning efforts underway--the development of a 
Klamath Basin Conservation Implementation Plan led by the BOR and an 
aquatic habitat restoration scenario being prepared by the FWS. The 
summary also discusses Habitat Conservation Plan initiatives, 
Environmental Impact Statement work underway, the Trinity River 
restoration initiative, the development of a water bank for the Klamath 
Irrigation Project, habitat restoration, water leasing, and water 
storage initiatives in the Wood River valley, work on water-right 
claims, groundwater studies in the upper Klamath River basin, and 
participation in the Federal licensing process for PacifiCorp's Klamath 
River basin hydropower facilities.
    The second document is titled, ``Klamath Basin--Summary of Recent 
Federal Government Activities.'' This document summarizes work that has 
been conducted over the past several years--much of which is continuing 
today--dealing with the basin's difficult and interrelated water, 
habitat and species issues. The summary paper highlights initiatives 
dealing with water resources, land management practices, salmon 
enhancement, fish and wildlife habitat restoration, research, 
monitoring and assessment, Endangered Species Act responsibilities, and 
community outreach.

Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
Fisheries

    The report on Past, Present and Future Activities Being Conducted 
in the Klamath River Basin Related to the Protection and Recovery of 
Fish and Their Habitat describes NOAA Fisheries involvement in a broad 
range of activities in the Klamath Basin under the authorities of the 
Endangered Species Act (ESA), the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 
and Management Act (Magnuson Act), and other federal statutes. Through 
these statutes, NOAA Fisheries endeavors to protect and recover fish 
populations under their jurisdiction. NOAA Fisheries also administers 
grants to state, tribal and local entities in the Klamath River basin 
for salmon restoration and watershed improvement activities. NOAA 
Fisheries activities in the basin principally occur in the lower 
Klamath Basin, where anadromous species occur. However, NOAA Fisheries 
does administer grants to the State of Oregon for watershed 
improvements in the upper Klamath River basin, which in turn benefit 
anadromous species in the lower basin. The report summarizes NOAA 
Fisheries' primary activities in the Klamath Basin that have occurred 
over the past five years as well as those activities that will occur 
into the future. It is intended to inform the user of the involvement 
of NOAA Fisheries in a variety of activities as they relate to 
anadromous fish in the basin. The report will be updated as projects 
and funding levels evolve over the next five years.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on March 25, 2003.
Gale A. Norton,
Secretary of the Interior and Chairman of the President's Klamath River 
Basin Federal Working Group.
[FR Doc. 03-7513 Filed 3-27-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-10-M