[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 207 (Friday, October 25, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64003-64004]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-25351]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLID9310000.L10200000.EE0000. LXSSD0010000]


Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Jump Creek, Succor Creek, and Cow Creek Watersheds 
Grazing Permit Renewal, Owyhee County, ID

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has 
prepared a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Owyhee 
Field Office Jump Creek, Succor Creek and Cow Creek Watersheds grazing 
permit renewal, and by this notice is announcing its availability.

DATES: The BLM will not issue a final decision on the proposal for a 
minimum of 30 days after the date that the Environmental Protection 
Agency publishes this notice in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Jump Creek, Succor Creek and Cow Creek 
Watersheds Grazing Permit Renewal Final EIS are available for public 
inspection at Owyhee Field Office, 20 First Avenue West, Marsing, ID 
83639; the BLM Boise District Office, 3948 Development Ave., Boise ID 
83705; the BLM Idaho State Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise ID 83709. 
Interested persons may also review the Final EIS online at http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/prog/nepa_register/owyhee_grazing_group/grazing_permit_renewal0.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jake Vialpando, Project Manager; 
telephone 208-373-3814; address 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise ID 83709; 
email [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device 
for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service 
(FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal 
business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to 
leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive 
a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The area covered by the permit renewal 
requests is located in Owyhee County, Idaho, and encompasses 
approximately 120,000 acres of public land. In addition to livestock 
grazing, a variety of other multiple uses exist within this area, 
including year-long recreation activities, particularly hiking, 
boating, fishing, hunting, and off-road vehicle use; wild horse 
management; potential wind energy development and electrical 
transmission line development. The Owyhee Field Office will continue to 
consult with the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes and other parties, as 
applicable, on this action during regular consultation proceedings and 
briefings. Federal, State, and local agencies, along with other 
stakeholders who may be interested or affected by the BLM's decision on 
this project were invited to comment as well.
    The purpose of the action in the Final EIS is to provide for 
livestock grazing opportunities on public lands using existing 
infrastructure where such grazing is consistent with meeting management 
objectives, including the 1997 Idaho Standards for Rangeland Health and 
Guidelines for Livestock Grazing Management (Idaho S&Gs).
    The need is established by the Taylor Grazing Act (TGA), FLPMA, and 
the 1999 Owyhee Resource Management Plan (ORMP), which require the BLM 
to respond to new applications or renewals for permits to graze 
livestock on public land. A detailed analysis of actions and 
alternative actions identified in the applications for grazing permit 
renewals is needed because:
     The BLM-Idaho adopted the Idaho S&Gs in 1997. Rangelands 
should be meeting or making significant progress toward meeting the 
standards and must provide for proper nutrient cycling, hydrologic 
cycling, and energy flow. Guidelines direct the selection of grazing 
management practices and, where appropriate, livestock facilities to 
promote significant progress toward, or the attainment and maintenance 
of, the standards.
     The ORMP identifies resource management objectives and 
management actions that guide the management of a broad spectrum of 
land uses and allocations for public lands in the Owyhee Field Office. 
The ORMP allocated public lands within the 25 allotments available for 
domestic livestock grazing. Where consistent with the goals and 
objectives of the ORMP and Idaho S&Gs, allocation of forage for 
livestock use and the issuance of grazing permits to qualified 
applicants are provided for by the TGA and FLPMA.
    Issues were identified by BLM personnel, Federal, State, and local 
agencies, and other stakeholders during scoping. Some of these key 
issues include the effects of livestock grazing on rangelands, wild 
horse herd management areas, wildlife habitats (including Greater Sage-
Grouse (GRSG) habitats), as well as the potential for disease 
transmission between domestic and bighorn sheep. Livestock management 
modifications are required where current livestock grazing management 
is determined by the authorized officer to be a significant causal 
factor for not meeting or not making significant progress toward 
meeting the Idaho Standards for Rangeland Health, and not achieving 
ORMP objectives. Evidence suggests that contact between bighorn sheep 
and

[[Page 64004]]

domestic sheep can result in the transmittal of the disease, cause 
mortality to individual bighorn sheep, and affect herd health.
    Other key issues identified and analyzed in the Final EIS involve 
the impact of livestock grazing on riparian area conditions and aquatic 
habitat causing the alteration of the health and composition of 
riparian vegetation communities, especially fish and amphibian habitat 
conditions; GRSG habitat conditions and the maintenance and enhancement 
of GRSG populations in accordance with BLM policy. Additionally, 
livestock grazing that may result in the reduction or removal of native 
vegetation communities that protect watershed soil and hydrologic 
function are analyzed in the Final EIS. Also included is an analysis of 
the potential effects of livestock grazing and trailing on special 
status plant species and their sustainability, as well as on the spread 
of noxious and invasive weeds. The BLM analyzed the potential effects 
of six alternative grazing systems. Alternative 1 is the No Action 
alternative, which analyzes the consequences of allowing current 
grazing management actions to continue. Alternative 2 reflects the 
applications proposed by the permittees currently authorized to graze 
in these allotments. This alternative is described as the Proposed 
Action and is, in this case, one that was developed by non-BLM parties. 
Alternative 3 analyzes the incorporation of a deferred grazing schedule 
where postponement or delay of grazing is used to achieve management 
objectives. Alternative 4 incorporates a grazing schedule that 
prescribes seasons-of-use changes including rest and deferment to 
protect and enhance high-value resources during certain times of the 
year. Both alternatives 3 and 4 may include animal unit month (AUM) 
reductions at varying levels. Alternative 5 addresses the effects 
specific to a change in livestock classification from sheep to cattle 
on a single allotment. Alternative 6 analyzes the effects of 
authorizing no grazing in the allotments for a period of 10 years. The 
Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) directs the BLM to ``identify 
the agency's preferred alternative or alternatives, if one or more 
exists, in the draft statement and identify such alternative in the 
final statement unless another law prohibits the expression of such a 
preference (40 CFR 1502.14 (e)).'' The BLM did not identify a preferred 
alternative during the Draft EIS public comment period but has 
identified a preferred alternative in the Final EIS, as required in the 
CEQ regulations and in BLM policy. The preferred alternative is an 
allotment-specific composite of the different action alternatives, the 
effects of which are analyzed in the Final EIS. The preferred 
alternative includes a reconfiguration of two allotments into one, as 
requested by the permittees. Alternative 2 is identified for 6 of the 
allotments, Alternative 4 for 7 allotments, and Alternative 3 for the 
remaining 11 allotments in the group, including for the newly combined 
Wild Rat allotment.
    Comments on the Draft EIS received from the public and internal BLM 
review were considered and incorporated, as appropriate, into the Final 
EIS. Public comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text but 
did not significantly change proposed decisions.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

Loretta V. Chandler,
BLM Owyhee Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 2013-25351 Filed 10-24-13; 8:45 am]
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