[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 174 (Monday, September 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52004-52005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-20762]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Recreation Resource Advisory Committees

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to renew the Recreation Resource Advisory 
Committees.

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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Agriculture intends to renew five Forest 
Service Recreation Resource Advisory Committees (Recreation RACs) 
pursuant to Section 4 of the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act 
passed into law as part of the 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Act 
(Pub. L. 108-447) on December 8, 2004. The Recreation RACs operate in 
the Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Eastern, and Southern Regions 
of the Forest Service and the State of Colorado, and provide recreation 
fee recommendations to both the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) as appropriate. As required by the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act, charters for Federal advisory committees must be renewed 
every two years.

DATES: The current charter for the Recreation RACs expires September 
28, 2008.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie Cox, National Recreation RAC 
Coordinator, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region, 333 SW. 1st 
Avenue, Portland, OR 97208, (503) 808-2984.
    Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through 
Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    The Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act (REA), signed in 
December 2004, directs the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of 
the Interior, or both to establish Recreation RACs, or use existing 
advisory committees to perform the duties of Recreation RACs, in each 
State or region for Federal recreation lands and waters managed by the 
Forest Service or the BLM. These committees make recreation fee program 
recommendations on implementing or eliminating standard amenity fees; 
expanded amenity fees; and noncommercial, individual special recreation 
permit fees; expanding or limiting the recreation fee program; and fee-
level changes.

[[Page 52005]]

    The REA grants flexibility to Recreation RACs by stating that the 
Secretaries:
     May have as many additional Recreation RACs in a State or 
region as the Secretaries consider necessary;
     Shall not establish a Recreation RAC in a State if the 
Secretaries determine, in consultation with the Governor of the State, 
that sufficient interest does not exist to ensure that participation on 
the committee is balanced in terms of the points of view represented 
and the functions to be performed; or
     May use a resource advisory committee established pursuant 
to another provision of law and in accordance with that law.
    The Forest Service and BLM elected to jointly use existing BLM RACs 
in the States of Arizona, Idaho, the Dakotas, Montana, Nevada, New 
Mexico, and Utah. The Forest Service also chartered new Recreation RACs 
for the Forest Service Pacific Northwest, Pacific Southwest, Eastern, 
and Southern Regions, and for the State of Colorado. The Forest Service 
is using an existing advisory board for the Black Hills National Forest 
in South Dakota. In addition, the Governors of three States--Alaska, 
Nebraska, and Wyoming--requested that their states be exempt from the 
Recreation RAC requirement, and the Secretary concurred with the 
exemptions.
    Members were appointed to the Forest Service established Recreation 
RACs in February 2007 for three regions (Pacific Northwest, Eastern, 
and Southern), and July 2007 for one region (Pacific Southwest) and one 
State (State of Colorado).
    The Secretaries have signed an Interagency Agreement that 
authorizes the Forest Service to using existing BLM RACs and the BLM to 
use Forest Service established Recreation RACs for the purposes stated 
in the REA.

    Dated: September 2, 2008.
Boyd K. Rutherford,
Assistant Secretary for Administration.
[FR Doc. E8-20762 Filed 9-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P