[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 78 (Friday, April 24, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18685-18686]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9328]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Lower Trinity Ranger District, Six Rivers National Forest, 
California, Trinity Summit High Country Grazing Analysis

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Six Rivers National Forest will prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement to disclose the impacts associated with the following 
proposed action: The Lower Trinity Ranger District, Six Rivers National 
Forest, proposes to continue livestock grazing in the Trinity Summit 
High Country following an adaptive management process outlined under 
updated Allotment Management Plans.
    The planning area is located on National Forest System lands 
administered by the Lower Trinity Ranger District in Humboldt County, 
California within the Upper Mill Creek and Tish Tang a Tang Creek 
watersheds to the east of Hoopa Reservation. The majority of the 
grazing lands fall within the Trinity Wilderness and are considered to 
be culturally significant. The grazing lands are located in all or 
portions of T.7N., R.6E., R.7E.; T.8N., R.5E.; R.6E., R.7E.; and T.9N., 
R.5E., R.6E., R.7E.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by May 26, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Bill Rice, at Lower Trinity Ranger 
District, Highway 90, P.O. Box 68, Willow Creek, CA 95573 or phone 
(530) 629-2118. Comments may be submitted by e-mail in Word (.doc), 
rich text format (.rtf), text (.txt), and hypertext markup language 
(.html) to [email protected]. Comments may also be hand delivered weekdays 8 a.m.- 
4:30 p.m. at the Lower Trinity Range: District Office.
    It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times 
and in such a way that they are useful to the Agency's preparation of 
the EIS. Therefore, comments should be provided prior to the close of 
the comment period and should clearly articulate the reviewer's 
concerns and contentions. The submission of timely and specific 
comments can affect a reviewer's ability to participate in subsequent 
administrative review or judicial review.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names 
and addresses of those who comment, will become part of the public 
record for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be 
accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide 
the respondent with standing to participate in subsequent 
administratIve review or judicial review.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bill Rice at Lower Trinity Ranger 
District (see address above) by phone at (530) 629-2118. Information 
regarding the Trinity Summit High Country Grazing analysis will also be 
posted on the Six Rivers National Forest Web page (http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sixrivers/).
    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: 
    Where consistent with the goals and objectives of the Six Rivers 
National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan, it is Forest Service 
policy to make forage from lands suitable iou grazing available to 
qualified livestock operators (FSM 2202.1, FSM 2203.1,36 CFR 222.2(c), 
Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act of 1960, Wilderness Act of 1964, 
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, Federal 
Land Management and Policy Act of 1976, National Forest Management Act 
of 1976). The allotments in this analysis include lands identified as 
suitable for grazing in the LRMP and are being managed for grazing. 
Federal actions such as authorization of grazing and approval of 
allotment management plans must be analyzed to determine potential 
environmental consequences (National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 
NEPA; Rescission Act of 1995 Pub. L. 104).

Estimated Dates

    The draft environmental impact statement is expected July 2009 and 
the final environmental impact statement is expected October 2009.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose and need for action centers on maintaining a grazing 
program under updated Allotment Management Plans for the purposes of 
contributing to the economic stability of local livestock owners who 
rely on public land grazing for their livelihood; sustainably managing 
for healthy rangeland ecosystems that maintain biologic diversity, 
water quality, soil productivity, quality fish and wildlife habitat; 
and preserving and enhancing

[[Page 18686]]

the character of culturally significant landscapes.
    As directed by the Six Rivers National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plan (LRMP), the opportunity to graze must also be 
consistent with the values and uses of other resources. Range, as well 
as all other resources within the grazing allotments, should be 
maintained in satisfactory condition. Because unsatisfactory resource 
conditions have been identified at key areas within the allotments, 
action is required that will help restore disturbed areas by using the 
natural resiliency of the landscape in conjunction with conservative, 
adaptive management.
    Range management uses key areas and benchmark sites which are 
designed to serve as examples average use and conditions throughout 
each allotment; therefore, their status is thought to reflect wider 
ecosystem processes and the effects of grazing management across the 
landscape. Current unsatisfactory resource conditions at key areas and 
benchmark sites represent a need to change or refine grazing management 
strategies to achieve resource objectives. Sustaining desired 
conditions at key areas will help to ensure that desired conditions are 
sustained elsewhere within the allotments.

Proposed Action

    The Lower Trinity Ranger District, Six Rivers National Forest, 
proposes to continue livestock grazing in the Trinity Summit High 
Country area under the conditions described below and to implement 
boundary and administrative changes to facilitate improved management. 
The Mill Creek and Trinity Summit grazing allotments would be combined 
into a single allotment. A non-significant Forest Plan amendment is 
proposed to modify the allotment boundary to include a 225-acre area on 
the western boundary of the current allotment (T.8 N., R 6 E. Section 
3).
    The Forest also proposes to authorize cattle grazing following an 
adaptive management process that will meet LRMP goals, objectives, 
standards and guidelines, and other legal requirements while moving 
toward desired conditions. This proposed action establishes a maximum 
stocking rate and season of use based on what the landscape can sustain 
under satisfactory range and riparian conditions.

Responsible Official

    Tyrone Kelley, Forest Supervisor, Six Rivers National Forest, 1330 
Bayshore Way, Eurela, CA 95501.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The responsible official will decide whether to adopt and implement 
the proposed action, an alternative to the proposed action, or the no 
action (no grazing) alternative.

Scoping Process

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the environmental impact statement. Public meetings 
are being scheduled to share information regarding this project. 
Meeting dates and locations will be posted in the newspaper of record 
or contact Bill Rice at (503) 629-2118.

Comment Requested

    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 state, 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 positions 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 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 at these court rulings, 
it is very important that those interested in this proposed action 
participate by the close of the 45 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.

    Dated: April 17, 2009.
Tyrone Kelley,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. E9-9328 Filed 4-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P