[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 39 (Friday, February 27, 2004)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Page 9298]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-4344]


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 Notices
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
 or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
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 delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
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/ Vol. 69, No. 39 / Friday, February 27, 2004 / Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Wasatch Plateau Sheep Grazing

AGENCY: Forest Service, Manti-La Sal National Forest, Sanpete, Carbon, 
Utah and Emery Counties, Utah.

ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to proceed with an Environmental 
Impact Statement, Wasatch Plateau Sheep Grazing.

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SUMMARY: On June 19, 2001 the Manti-La Sal National Forest published a 
Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in the 
Federal Register (Vol. 66, No. 118) for issuance of 42 Term Grazing 
Permits that would authorize grazing on 31 sheep allotments. Due to 
other priorities, the assessment has been delayed but the Forest is 
initiating action to proceed with the assessment at this time.
    The project analysis area is located on top of the Wasatch Plateau 
approximately 9 miles east of Ephraim, Utah and approximately 16 miles 
west of Castle Dale, Utah, between the Price River drainage on the 
north and Mooseneah Peak on the south.
    The need for this analysis is to meet direction specified by 
Section 504 of Pub. L. 104-19 (The Rescission Act of 1995) and bring 
grazing in compliance with Forest Plan direction, applicable laws, 
regulation and policy. The selected alternative, associated mitigations 
and management strategies will be implemented through the Term Grazing 
Permit and a specific allotment management plan.
    The area being analyzed is National Forest System lands where 
grazing is authorized by permit. This involves approximately 171,000 
acres of which 118,000 acres are suitable for sheep grazing. The 
permitted number of livestock is 33,382 head of sheep that generally 
graze from July 1 to September 30 for 30,587 animal unit months.
    The proposed action is to continue livestock grazing with 
modification of the permitted number of sheep and inclusion of 
additional management requirements in Term Grazing Permits. (Final 
permitted number of sheep, by allotment, is displayed on Table A.)

     Table A.--Part 1--Wasatch Plateau Sheep Grazing Proposed Action
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Permitted
                  Allotment                    number of     Permitted
                                                 sheep    grazing season
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Black Canyon.................................      1,000      7/01-09/30
Clay Banks...................................      1,155      7/01-09/30
Heliotrope...................................      1,205      7/01-09/25
Indian Creek.................................      1,000      7/01-09/30
Little Petes Hole............................        971      7/15-09/30
Joes Valley..................................      1,276      6/13-09/30
Olsen Bench..................................      1,130      6/21-09/30
Peavine......................................      1,000      7/01-09/20
Potters Canyon...............................        600      7/01-09/30
Reeder Ridge.................................      1,100      6/26-09/30
Ridley Ridge.................................      1,090      7/01-09/30
Wagon Road Ridge.............................        993      7/11-09/30
Bob Wright...................................      1,013      7/01-09/30
Booths Canyon................................        565      7/01-09/30
Crandall Canyon..............................        658      7/06-09/25
Crandall Ridge...............................        354      7/01-09/30
Eccles.......................................        750      7/16-09/25
Horse Creek..................................        666      7/01-09/30
South Skyline................................      1,019      7/07-09/30
Spring Lake..................................      1,080      7/08-09/30
Trough Springs Ridge.........................      1,000      7/01-09/30
Candland.....................................      1,060      7/01-09/30
Monument Peak................................        361      7/01-09/30
Swens........................................        559      7/01-09/30
------------------------------------------------------------------------


     Table A.--Part 2--Wasatch Plateau Sheep Grazing Proposed Action
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                               Permitted
                  Allotment                    number of     Permitted
                                                 sheep    grazing season
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mountain Lion................................      1,000      6/14-09/30
Beaver Dams-Boulger..........................      1,200      7/06-10/05
Birch Creek-Bear Canyon......................      1,100      6/06-09/30
Cottonwood-Gooseberry........................        900      7/06-09/30
Island Lake..................................        954      7/05-09/25
Order Mountain...............................      1,095      7/01-09/25
Willow Creek.................................      1,000      7/01-09/25
------------------------------------------------------------------------


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Questions concerning the proposed 
action and EIS should be addressed to John Healy, Supervisory Range 
Management Specialist, Ferron/Price Ranger District, (435) 384-2372.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EIS will tier to the final EIS for the 
Manti-La Sal National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest 
Plan). The Manti-La Sal Forest Plan provides the overall guidance 
(Goals, Objectives, Standards, and Management Area Direction) to 
achieve the desired future condition for the area being analyzed, and 
contains specific management area prescriptions for the entire Forest.
    Initial scoping and issue development identified the following 
tentative issues: water quality, endangered and sensitive plant and 
animal species, cultural resources, social, economic, recreation, 
noxious weeds, riparian, and rangeland health.
    The Forest Service has previously scoped this project on three 
separate occasions, April 1999, April 2000, and June 19, 2001 (Notice 
of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement in the Federal 
Register Vol. 66, No. 118). If you have already commented, your 
comments are part of the record and will be considered in determining 
issues, and alternatives.
    Agency representatives and other interested people are invited to 
visit with Forest Service officials at any time during the EIS process. 
Two specific time periods are identified for the receipt of formal 
comments on the analysis. The two comment periods are, (1) during the 
scoping process, the next 30 days following publication of this Notice 
in the Federal Register, and (2) during the formal review period of the 
Draft EIS.
    The Draft EIS is estimated to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review on September 
30, 2004. At that time, the EPA will publish an availability notice of 
the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the Draft 
EIS will be 45 days from the date the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes it is important to give reviewers 
notice at this early stage of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
Draft EIS's structure their

[[Page 9298]]

participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is 
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewers' position and 
intentions.
    Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. NRDC, 435 U.S. 519,553 
(1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the 
draft environmental impact statement stage but are not raised until 
after completion of the final environmental impact statement may be 
waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F. 2d 
1016, 1022 (9th Circuit, 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 45-day comment period so that 
substantive comments and objections are made available to the Forest 
Service at a time when we can meaningfully consider them and respond to 
them in the Final EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comment on the Draft EIS should be 
as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to 
specific pages or chapters of the Draft EIS. Comments may also address 
the adequacy of the Draft EIS or the merits of the alternatives 
formulated and discussed in the statement. (Reviewers may wish to refer 
to the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing 
the procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 40 
CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points.)
    The Final EIS is expected to be released December 10, 2004.
    The Sanpete and Ferron/Price District Rangers, Manti-La Sal 
National Forest, are the responsible officials for the EIS. They will 
make a decision regarding this proposal, after considering the 
comments, responses, and environmental consequences discussed in the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement, and applicable laws, regulations, 
and policies. The reasons for the decision will be documented in a 
Record of Decision.

    Dated: January 21, 2004.
Alice B. Carlton,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 04-4344 Filed 2-26-04; 8:45 am]
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