[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 16, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27540-27541]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-9386]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Beaver Creek Allotment Management Plan on the Medicine Wheel/
Paintrock Ranger Districts, Bighorn National Forest, Big Horn County, 
WY

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to update range management planning on fourteen (14) 
cattle/horse and sheep/goat grazing allotments in the Beaver Creek 
area, which will result in development of new allotment management 
plans (AMPs). The agency gives notice of the full environmental 
analysis and decision-making process that will occur on the proposal so 
that interested and affected people may become aware of how they may 
participate in the process and contribute to the final decision.

DATES: Comments and input regarding the proposal were requested from 
the public, other groups and agencies, via a legal notice published in 
the Casper Star-Tribune on March 4, 2007. Additional comments may be 
made at the addresses below, and would be most helpful if submitted 
within thirty days of the publication of this notice. Based on the 
comments received and preliminary analysis, the Responsible Official 
has determined that an environmental impact statement will be prepared 
for this project. The draft environmental impact statement is expected 
in December, 2007 and the final environmental impact statement is 
expected April, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments and suggestions concerning this 
proposal to

[[Page 27541]]

Dave Sisk, District Ranger, Medicine Wheel/Paintrock Ranger District, 
Bighorn National Forest, 604 E. Main, Lovell, Wyoming 82431.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Direct questions to Bernie Bornong, 
Interdisciplinary Team Leader, Bighorn National Forest, phone (307) 
674-2600.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The allotments are located approximately 35 
miles, by road, southeast of Lovell, Wyoming in the Bighorn River 
drainage. National Forest System lands within the Bighorn National 
Forest will be considered in the proposal. The purpose of the analysis 
is to determine if livestock grazing will continue on the analysis 
area. If the decision is to continue livestock grazing, then updated 
management strategies outlining how livestock will be grazed will be 
developed to assure implementation of Forest Plan management direction. 
The analysis will consider actions that continue to improve trends in 
vegetation, watershed conditions, and ecological sustainability 
relative to livestock grazing within the allotments. Management actions 
are proposed to be implemented beginning in the year 2009.
    The Bighorn National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan 
(Forest Plan) identifies livestock grazing as an appropriate use and 
makes initial determinations for lands capable and suitable for grazing 
by domestic livestock.
    The fourteen allotments involved are: Bear/Crystal Creek Sheep and 
Goat (S&G), Beaver Creek S&G, Finger Creek Cattle and Horse (C&H), 
Grouse Creek S&G, Hunt Mountain S&G, Matthews Ridge C&H, Red Canyon 
S&G, Red Canyon C&H, Sunlight Mesa C&H, South Park C&H, Whaley Creek 
S&G, Wiley Sundown C&H, Antelope Ridge S&G, and Little Horn S&G 
Allotments.
    Purpose and Need for Action: The purpose of this project is to 
determine if livestock grazing will continue to be authorized on the 
fourteen allotments, and if it is to continue, how to best to utilize 
adaptive management strategies to maintain or achieve desired 
conditions and meet forest plan objectives. Livestock grazing is 
currently occurring on most of the allotments under the existing 
allotment management plan (AMP) and through direction provided in the 
Annual Operating Instructions. A few of the allotments are currently 
vacant. Continuation of livestock grazing will require reviewing 
existing management strategies and, if necessary, updating them to 
implement forest plan direction and meet Section 504 of Public Law 104-
19 (Rescission Bill, signed 7/27/95). The results of this analysis may 
require modifying term grazing permits and AMPs. Modifications will be 
documented in updated AMPs for the allotments.
    An additional purpose of this project is to maintain or move toward 
desired conditions for sagebrush/grassland communities; specifically, 
to maintain a mosaic of vegetation composition and structure that 
emulates, or moves toward, natural processes. The need to provide a 
mosaic of sagebrush cover densities has been identified in the project 
area.
    Proposed Action: The proposed action is to continue livestock 
grazing using adaptive management strategies to meet or move toward 
Forest Plan and allotment-specific desired conditions. This includes 
changing livestock management strategies, constructing additional 
improvements (fences and water developments), and treating sagebrush.
    Possible Alternatives: Two additional alternatives have been 
identified to date: (a) Remove livestock grazing from these allotments; 
and, (b) Continue current management strategies.
    Responsible Official: Dave Sisk, District Ranger, Medicine Wheel/
Paintrock Ranger District, Bighorn National Forest, 604 E. Main, 
Lovell, Wyoming 82431.
    Nature of Decision to be Made: The Responsible Official will 
consider the results of the analysis and its findings and then document 
the final decision in a Record of Decision (ROD). The decision will 
determine whether or not to authorize livestock grazing on all, part, 
or none of the allotments, and if so, what adaptive management design 
criteria, adaptive options, and monitoring will be implemented so as to 
meet or move toward the desired conditions in the defined timeframe.
    Scoping Process: Formal scoping for this project occurred in March 
2007.
    Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review: A draft environmental impact statement will be 
prepared for comment. 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 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 environmental impact statement.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft 
environmental impact statement should be as specific as possible. It is 
also helpful if comments refer to specific pages or chapters of the 
draft statement. Comments may also address the adequacy of the draft 
environmental impact statement 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 4, 2007.
Dave Sisk,
Medicine Wheel/Paintrock District Ranger.
 [FR Doc. E7-9386 Filed 5-15-07; 8:45 am]
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