[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 4 (Thursday, January 6, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1220-1221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-280]


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 Notices
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  Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 4 / Thursday, January 6, 2005 / 
Notices  

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


North Bridgers Grazing Allotment Management Plan Update; Bozeman 
Ranger District; Gallatin National Forest; Gallatin County, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to update the allotment management plans for eleven 
cattle and horse grazing allotments. The allotments are located in the 
northern end of the Bridger Mountain Range approximately 20 miles north 
of Bozeman Montana.

DATES: Initial comments concerning this project must be received 45 
days after publication of this Notice of Intent. The draft 
environmental impact statement is expected April 2006 and the final 
environmental impact statement is expected September 2006.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to John Councilman, 3710 Fallon Street 
Suite C, Bozeman, Montana 59718. Send e-mail comments to: [email protected]. Please include the name of the project on 
the e-mail subject line.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Councilman, Resource Assistant, 
Bozeman Ranger District, Gallatin National Forest, USDA Forest Service 
(406) 522-2533 (see ADDRESSES above).
    Responsible Official: Jos[eacute] Castro, District Ranger, Bozeman 
Ranger District, 3710 Fallon Street Suite C, Bozeman, Montana 59718.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Gallatin National Forest includes 
approximately 1.9 million acres of public land adjacent the northern 
boundary of Yellowstone National Park. Local communities include 
Bozeman, Big Sky, West Yellowstone, Livingston, Big Timber, Gardiner, 
and Cooke City, Montana. The eleven allotments scheduled for review 
include approximately 63,000 acres of National Forest and private lands 
within boundaries of the allotments.
    The purpose and need of this proposal, in part, is to comply with 
Public Law 104-19, Section 504(a): Establish and adhere to a schedule 
for the completion of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA of 1969 
(42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) analysis and decisions on all grazing 
allotments within the National Forest System unit for which NEPA is 
needed (Pub. L. 104-19, General Provision 1995). Upon completion of the 
NEPA analysis and decisions for the allotments, the terms and 
conditions of existing grazing permits will be modified, as necessary, 
to conform to the NEPA analysis. In addition, the purpose of the action 
is to improve conditions of riparian plant communities, reduce stream-
side trampling by livestock, and achieve desirable vegetative 
conditions on those areas grazed by livestock within the project area.
    The proposed action is to continue grazing the current numbers of 
livestock. Current permitted numbers include about 921 cow/calf pairs 
and 4 horses on National Forest Land plus 1126 cow/calf pairs, 10 
yearlings and 6 horses grazed on the private land portions within the 
allotments. Adaptive management strategies would be implemented. 
Adaptive management allows flexibility in how the livestock are grazed 
and would allow managers to make adjustments and corrections to 
management based on monitoring. Also, changes in the current riparian 
grazing standards are proposed. Modification, additions or removal or 
allotment improvements such as fences and water developments may be 
proposed.
    No Grazing and No Action alternatives will be analyzed during the 
NEPA process. The No Grazing alternative would eliminate domestic 
livestock grazing on the allotments. The No Action alternative would 
allow continued livestock grazing as it is currently being managed. 
Other alternatives, arising from issues identified through scoping, 
could be analyzed as well.
    Comments from the public and other agencies on this proposal will 
be used in preparation of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS). More specifically, comments will be used to modify and refine 
the alternatives and identify potential resource issues (environmental 
effects) that should be considered in the analysis.
    The Draft EIS is expected to be filed with the Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) and available for public review in April in 
2006. At that time, the EPA will publish a Notice of Availability of 
the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment period on the draft 
environmental impact statement will be 45 days from the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability in 
the Federal Register. The Final EIS is scheduled for completion in 
September 2006.
    The notice of intent initiated the scoping process which guides the 
development of the environmental impact statement. Substantive comments 
and objections to the proposed action will be considered during this 
analysis.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important 
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
draft environmental impact statements must structure their 
participation in the environmental review of the proposal so that it is 
meaningful and alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and 
contentions. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v.  NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 
533 (1978). Also, environmental objections that could be raised at the 
draft environmental impact statement stage but that 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 Cir. 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 during comment periods provided so that substantive 
comments and objections are made available to the Forest Service at a 
time when they can meaningfully consider them. To assist the Forest 
Service in identifying and considering issues, comments should be 
specific to concerns associated with the management of livestock 
grazing within the northern Bridger Mountains of the

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Gallatin National Forest. Reviewers may wish to refer to the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations for implementing the procedural 
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 1503.3 in 
structuring comments.
    I am the responsible official and the deciding officer for the 
North Bridgers Grazing Allotment Management Plan Update. My address is 
District Ranger, Bozeman Ranger District, 3710 Fallon Street Suite C, 
Bozeman, MT 59718.

    Dated: December 8, 2004.
Jos[eacute] Castro
District Ranger
[FR Doc. 05-280 Filed 1-5-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M