[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 41 (Friday, February 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11138-11139]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3784]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[ID-300-2824-DS-PJ04]


Notice of Availability of Fire, Fuels and Related Vegetation 
Management Direction Proposed Plan Amendment and Final Environmental 
Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Fire, Fuels, and Related Vegetation 
Management Direction Proposed Plan Amendment (FMDA) and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS).

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SUMMARY: The Burley and the Shoshone Field Offices of the Twin Falls 
District and the Pocatello and Upper Snake Field Offices of the Idaho 
Falls District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), located in 
south-central and eastern Idaho, have prepared a proposed land use plan 
amendment and environmental impact statement to establish management 
guidance and objectives for vegetation resources as they relate to fire 
and fuels. This planning process is in conformance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), and the Federal Wildland Fire 
Management Policy of 1995, as revised. The Proposed Plan Amendment is 
Alternative E, developed in response to public comment. Alternative E, 
which emphasizes protection and restoration of both rangeland and 
forest resources, is also considered to be the environmentally 
preferred alternative.

DATES: No decision on the proposed plan will be made for at least 30 
days after the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of 
Availability of this Final EIS in the Federal Register. BLM regulations 
(43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any person who participated in the 
planning process and has an interest that may be adversely affected may 
protest the BLM's approval of the FMDA FEIS. The protest must be filed 
within 30 days of the date that the Environmental Protection Agency 
publishes its Notice of Availability.
    Instructions for filing protests with the BLM are included in the 
Dear Reader letter of the FMDA FEIS and in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS are available upon request from the 
Pocatello Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, 4350 Cliffs Drive,

[[Page 11139]]

Pocatello, Idaho 83204, phone 208-478-6340, or at http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/prog/planning/firefuels_and_related.html via the internet. 
Upon request additional copies in both paper and digital format are 
available in limited numbers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Terry Lee Smith, FMDA Project Manager, 
4350 Cliffs Drive, Pocatello, Idaho 83204, phone 208-478-6392, email 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of the FMDA FEIS have been sent to 
affected Tribes, Federal, State, and local government agencies and to 
interested parties. The FMDA FEIS was developed with broad public 
participation through a five year collaborative planning process. It 
addresses management on approximately 5 million acres of public land 
comprising the Burley, Shoshone, Pocatello and Upper Snake Field 
Offices in south-central and eastern Idaho.
    The FMDA FEIS would incorporate the National Fire Plan's Cohesive 
Strategy and the Federal Wildland Fire Management Policy into existing 
BLM land use plans. The FEIS displays the environmental effects of 
implementing those amended plans. The purpose of the proposed fire 
management plan amendments is to:
     Establish fire management guidance, objectives, policies, 
and management actions;
     Identify resource goals and methods, including desired 
future condition of the fire-related vegetation resources, and 
management actions necessary to achieve objectives;
     Form the basis to update fire management plans and 
integrate them with allotment management plans, wildlife management 
plans, recreation management plans, Idaho Standards for Rangeland 
Health and Guidelines for Livestock Grazing, and other applicable 
plans, to the greatest extent possible; and
     Provide consistent land use plan level direction to enable 
incremental steps toward a long-term resource goal of conditions that 
minimize risk to human life and property and maintain or restore 
vegetation that is resistant to catastrophic wildfire.

Five alternatives were analyzed in the FEIS. Alternative A, the No 
Action alternative, reflects current Land Use Plan direction, 
emphasizes wildland fire suppression, and minimizes the use of wildland 
fire for resource benefit. Alternative B emphasizes the increased use 
of fire, including prescribed fire and wildland fire use to more 
closely approximate the historical role of fire and the preparation of 
sites for restoration treatments. Alternative C identifies full 
implementation of the Cohesive Strategy from the National Fire Plan 
(treats more acres with prescribed fire than the other alternatives). 
Alternative D focuses on maintaining or restoring the sagebrush steppe 
ecosystem and its associated wildlife species, including sage grouse. 
Alternative E, the proposed plan amendment, proposes maintaining or 
restoring the sagebrush steppe ecosystem and its associated wildlife 
species, including sage grouse as well as the maintenance and 
restoration of forested vegetation types.
    The Draft Plan Amendment/DEIS was released to the public on 
November 5, 2004 for a 90-day public comment period. Copies of the 
Draft Plan Amendment/DEIS were mailed to interested publics, the 
document was posted on the BLM Idaho internet site, news releases were 
published in area local newspapers announcing the availability of the 
document. In early December 2004, public meetings were held in Idaho 
Falls, Pocatello, Boise, and Twin Falls, Idaho to facilitate public 
review and comment by providing summary information and answering 
questions during the public comment period. Based on public comments, 
Alternative E was developed from a combination of Alternative D with 
the forested vegetation component of Alternative C to provide an 
alternative that focuses on the fire management needs of both forested 
and rangeland vegetation types. Alternative E is analyzed in the FMDA 
FEIS.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the FMDA FEIS may be found at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. Electronic 
mail and facsimile protests will be considered only if the protesting 
party provides BLM with the original letter by either regular or 
overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period. Under 
those conditions, the BLM will consider the electronic or faxed version 
as an advance copy, and it will receive full consideration. If you wish 
to provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed 
protests to the attention of the BLM Protest Coordinator at (202) 452-
5112 and electronic mails to [email protected]. All 
protests, including the follow-up letter (if electronically mailed or 
faxed) must be in writing and mailed to one of the following addresses:

Regular Mail, Director (210), Attn: Brenda Hudgens-Williams, P.O. Box 
66538, Washington, DC 20036.
Overnight Mail, Director (210), Attn: Brenda Hudgens-Williams, 1620 L 
Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20036.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Thomas H. Dyer,
Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State Director.
 [FR Doc. E8-3784 Filed 2-27-08; 8:45 am]
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