[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 60 (Thursday, March 29, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14769-14770]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-1533]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Sawtooth National Forest; Supplement to the North Sheep Grazing 
Allotments Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to supplement an environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service will prepare a supplement (Supplement) to 
the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the North Sheep Grazing 
Allotment Final EIS. The Supplement will include additional analyses 
and new information concerning Management Indicator Species (MIS), 
capable and suitable grazing lands, and adaptive management strategies.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
45 days after publication of the draft Supplement. The draft Supplement 
is expected at the end of August 2007 and the final Supplement is 
expected to be available January 2008.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Sawtooth National Forest; Attn: 
North Sheep Allotments Supplement; 5 North Fork Canyon Road, Ketchum, 
Idaho 83340; or via telephone at (208) 727-5000; or you may hand-
deliver your comments to the Sawtooth National Recreation Office, 
located at 5 North Fork Canyon Road, Ketchum, during normal business 
hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 
Federal holidays. Electronic comments must be submitted in a format 
such as an e-mail message, plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), 
and Word (.doc) to: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol Brown, Assistant Forest Planner, 
at the address above.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The original Notice of Intent for the North 
Sheep EIS was published in the Federal Register Vol. 68, No. 87, May 6, 
2003. A revised Notice of Intent was published in the Federal Register 
Vol. 68, No. 145, July 9, 2003. On September 30, 2004, two Records of 
Decision were issued, based on the North Sheep Final EIS. These 
decisions were appealed in

[[Page 14770]]

2004. In 2005, the Appeal Deciding Officer affirmed both decisions.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The Supplement will not change the purpose and need for the North 
Sheep Final EIS which was described on page 1-5.

Proposed Action

    The Supplement will not change the proposed action for the North 
Sheep Final EIS which was described on pages 1-5 through 1-6.

Responsible Official

    There are two Responsible Officials involved. For decisions 
regarding the Baker Creek and North Fork-Boulder allotments, the 
Responsible Official is the District Ranger, Ketchum Ranger District, 
P.O. Box 2356 (206 Sun Valley Road), Ketchum, Idaho 83340. For the 
Smiley Creek and Fisher Creek allotments, the Area Ranger of the SNRA 
is the Responsible Official--5 North Fork Canyon Road; Ketchum, ID 
83340.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    Each Responsible Official will review the information on the 
Supplement and determine if their 2004 Record of Decision based on the 
North Sheep Final EIS should be modified or if the original decision is 
to remain in effect and unchanged.

Scoping Process

    Public scoping for the Supplement will commence with the 
publication of this Notice of Intent. Public notices will be placed in 
local newspapers. Press releases will be distributed to the media.

Comment Requested

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the Supplement to the North Sheep EIS. The comment 
period for scoping is 30 days from the date the EPA publishes this 
notice of intent in the Federal Register. A legal notice will be 
published in the newspaper of record and a Notice of Availability will 
be published in the Federal Register to inform the public when 
supplemental information is available for review and comment. The draft 
Supplement will be distributed to all parties that received the 2004 
North Sheep Final EIS and record of decision and to those parties that 
filed an appeal of the 2004 North Sheep RODs.

Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review

    A draft Supplement to the EIS will be prepared for comment. The 
comment period on the draft Supplement will be 45 days from the date 
the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of 
availability in the Federal Register. 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, 553 (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 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 it can 
meaningfully consider them and respond to them in the final Supplement. 
To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues and 
concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft Supplement 
should be as specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer 
to specific pages or chapters of the draft Supplement. Comments may 
also address the adequacy of the draft Supplement 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 at 40 CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points. Comments 
received, including the names and addresses of those who comment, will 
be considered part of the public record on this proposal and will be 
available for public inspection.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; Forest Service Handbook 
1909.15, Section 21)

    Dated: March 6, 2007.
Jane Kollmeyer,
Sawtooth Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 07-1533 Filed 3-28-07; 8:45 am]
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