[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 89 (Friday, May 7, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25542-25543]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10235]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR-930-6334-DT]


Notice of Availability (NOA) Record of Decision (ROD) To Remove 
or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and 
Guidelines

AGENCIES: Forest Service, USDA; Bureau of Land Management, USDI.

ACTION: Notice of availability of record of decision.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the National Forest 
Management Act, the USDI Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest 
Service announce the decision to amend selected portions of the 1994 
Record of Decision for the Northwest Forest Plan by removing the Survey 
and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines. Survey and 
Manage provided conservation measures for rare and little known species 
associated with late successional, old growth forests. These Standards 
and Guidelines were frustrating the Agencies' ability to meet the other 
resource management goals of the Northwest Forest Plan (timber harvest, 
hazardous fuels treatment, forest restoration). Although the Survey

[[Page 25543]]

and Manage Standards and Guidelines will be removed with this decision, 
conservation of rare and little known species will continue to be 
accomplished through the other elements of the Northwest Forest Plan 
and the Agencies' Special Status Species Policies. This ROD also 
complies with the Settlement Agreement between the Secretaries of 
Agriculture and Interior and Douglas Timber Operators and American 
Forest Resource Council.

ADDRESSES: To request copies of the document, contact: Survey and 
Manage ROD, 333 SW., First Avenue, P.O. Box 2965, Portland, Oregon 
97208; fax: (503) 326-2396 (please address fax to: ``Survey and Manage 
ROD''). The ROD may also be accessed on line at http://www.or.blm.gov/nwfpnepa.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Hubbard, Survey & Manage ROD 
Team Logistics Coordinator; telephone (503) 326-2355; or e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A limited number of individual copies of the 
Draft or Final SEIS may also be obtained by contacting Jerry Hubbard. 
Copies are also available for inspection at public libraries and Forest 
Service or BLM offices in western Washington, western Oregon, and 
northwestern California.
    Three alternatives, including no action, were considered in detail 
in the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). The 
decision in the ROD selects Alternative 2, which would remove the 
Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure. The additional mitigation that 
was identified in the Final SEIS for Alternative 2 is not selected. 
This decision amends the management direction in all 28 Forest Service 
land and resource management plans and BLM resource management plans in 
the Northwest Forest Plan area as well as for the Coquille Forest 
(managed by the Coquille Tribe).
    Readers should note that the Under Secretary of Agriculture for 
Natural Resources and the Environment and the Assistant Secretary of 
the Interior for Land and Minerals Management are the responsible 
officials for this proposed action. Therefore, no administrative review 
(``appeal'') through the Forest Service will be available on the Record 
of Decision under 36 CFR part 217 and no administrative review 
(``protest'') through the BLM was available on the Proposed Decision 
under 43 CFR 1610.5-2.

    Dated: April 6, 2004.
Elaine M. Brong,
State Director, OR/WA, USDI Bureau of Land Management.
    Dated: April 6, 2004.
Linda Goodman,
Regional Forester, Region 6, USDA Forest Service.
[FR Doc. 04-10235 Filed 5-6-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P