[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 115 (Monday, June 16, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34275-34277]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-13991]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Tongass National Forest; Alaska; Shoreline II Outfitter/Guide 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, will prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to allocate a portion of the 
overall visitor capacity to outfitter and guide (O/G) use within four 
ranger districts of the Tongass National Forest. The project will 
consider marine shoreline-based commercial non-motorized recreation use 
on Admiralty Island National Monument and Juneau, Hoonah and Sitka 
Ranger Districts. The Shoreline II project area includes all areas used 
by non-motorized outfitter and guide activities that originate from the 
marine shoreline areas. The project area generally extends \1/2\ mile 
inland. The project area extends further inland where specific 
outfitter and guide activities and locations are accessed from the 
shoreline (i.e., goat/deer hunting, canoe route/portage, freshwater 
fishing on anadromous and other fish-bearing streams and lakes). The 
Record of Decision will disclose how the Forest Service decides to 
allocate (or distribute) shoreline-based recreation capacity for O/G 
uses. This decision will replace the 2004 Shoreline Outfitter/Guide 
Record of Decision.

DATES: Comments concerning the project must be received by July 31, 
2014. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be 
released in spring 2015 and the Final Environmental Impact Statement is 
expected to be released in winter 2016.

ADDRESSES: Comments can be submitted via the project Web site at http://go.usa.gov/Pzi. Click on the link ``Comment on Project'' to submit 
comments and attach documents. Comments may also be sent via email to 
[email protected] or sent via fax to 907-747-
4253. Send written comments to Jay Kinsman, Shoreline II Team Leader, 
Sitka Ranger District, 204 Siginaka Way, Sitka, AK 99835.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jay Kinsman, Shoreline II Team Leader 
by phone: 907-747-4228 or email: [email protected]. Additional 
information about the project and project area is available on the 
Internet at http://go.usa.gov/Pzi. 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 Time, Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of this action is to manage outfitters and guides on 
the Tongass National Forest marine shoreline zone consistent with the 
2008 Tongass Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). A 
decision is needed to determine new outfitter and guide use allocations 
for the project area. This is necessary to balance commercial and non-
commercial recreational opportunities and to provide and maintain high 
quality recreation experiences without degrading forest resources.
    This action is needed to meet Forest Plan goals and objectives for 
recreation, tourism, and to support local and regional economies. In 
addition, the 2004 Shoreline ROD required a review after 5 years to 
determine whether to continue implementing the decision, or to 
supplement it. A 5-year review was never conducted; this environmental 
analysis is intended to fulfill the role of that review. This 
environmental analysis will replace the Shoreline ROD with a new 
Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision.
    Since the Shoreline ROD was completed in 2004, demand for non-
motorized recreation commercial services that originate in the marine 
shoreline zone has increased. The need for recreation commercial 
services has expanded both in terms of number of visitors, and the 
types of services being offered. There has been an increase in the 
fleet of small to mid-size cruise ships desiring to guide on the 
Tongass, and the demand for guided big game hunting continues to grow. 
Also, the traditionally low-use seasons (April-May; September-October) 
are seeing increased use, with additional interest for commercial use 
in the winter use season (January-March). Fourteen of the use areas 
defined in the 2004 Shoreline

[[Page 34276]]

decision are at 80 percent or more of their allocation during one or 
more seasons, and operators are dispersing to areas traditionally less 
used. At some locations, outfitters and guides have requested to 
operate beyond the \1/2\-mile zone. There is a need to revisit the 
decision to better align with current market demand for non-motorized 
commercial recreation services.
    Also, in 2008, the Forest Service updated the national directives 
for outfitting and guiding. These updates simplified procedures and 
clarified policies for priority use permits governing performance, 
inspections, and allocation of use. Additionally, data gathered 
recently through monitoring and reported use by guides shows that some 
information used in the 2001 Visitor Capacity Analysis required 
updating based on information gathered through Forest Service 
monitoring and reported use by guides.

Proposed Action

    The Forest Service is proposing to allocate a portion of the 
overall visitor capacity to outfitter and guide use. The 2014 Shoreline 
II Project Visitor Capacity Analysis (located at http://go.usa.gov/Pzi) 
establishes the total visitor capacity for the project area. Visitor 
capacity and the proposed allocations are described in terms of service 
days. A service day is defined as a day, or any part of a day, for 
which an outfitter or guide provides service to a client on National 
Forest System (NFS) lands. Service days were calculated and allocated 
to 48 geographic units defined as Use Areas.
    The Forest Service proposes to allocate up to 79,901 service days 
of the total visitor capacity of 636,448 service days within the 
project area to outfitter and guide use. These allocations are proposed 
by season and Use Area. The Forest Service proposes to allocate guided 
brown bear hunts in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Unit 
4 Game Management Unit based on the recommended number of hunts in the 
Alaska Board of Game Brown Bear Management Strategy (BBMS, 2000). The 
number of hunts will be allocated by ADF&G Guide Use Area to the spring 
and fall seasons proportionally based on the 5-year average from actual 
use reports (2008-2012). For example, the BBMS recommends ten hunts in 
the 04-01 ADF&G Guide Use Area (which contains 04-01A, B, and C 
Shoreline II Use Areas). Based on the 5-year average, 66 percent of the 
hunts have occurred in the spring season and 34 percent have occurred 
in the fall season. We propose to allocate seven of the ten hunts (66 
percent) to the spring season and three hunts (34 percent) to the fall 
season. Since Shoreline II Use Areas are smaller subunits of the ADF&G 
Guide Use Areas, the location of the hunts could occur across multiple 
Shoreline II Use Areas. The service days used for each hunt would be 
part of the total outfitter/guide allocation proposed for the Use Area 
and season.
    We propose that no more than 50 percent of the total outfitter/
guide allocation for a Use Area, by season, would be allowed at a large 
group area (LGA), with exceptions in Use Areas with hardened LGA sites. 
At hardened LGA sites the authorized officer would have the ability to 
authorize more than 50 percent of that season's Use Area allocation 
(not to exceed the total commercial allocation for the season). For 
example, George Island LGA in Use Area 04-16E is a hardened site that 
can accommodate more than the 2,356 service days available (50 percent 
of the proposed summer allocation) for LGA use in the summer. The 
authorized officer could raise the allowed use at this LGA above 2,356 
service days.
    The project area overlaps with six congressionally designated 
wilderness areas. The Wilderness Act of 1964 prohibits commercial 
services, except for those that may be necessary to meet the 
recreational or other purposes of the area. The need for commercial 
services in wilderness has been documented in Wilderness Commercial 
Needs Assessments, which are available at http://go.usa.gov/Pzi. Twenty 
Use Areas are within designated wilderness. In addition to the proposed 
outfitter and guide use allocations, the Forest Service will seek to 
expand voluntary wilderness best management practices agreements with 
recreation service providers where appropriate.
    The Proposed Action would allocate a total of 79,901 service days 
across the four districts for use by outfitters and guides. The use 
will be authorized by special use permits to outfitters and guides, and 
may be temporary in nature (less than 1 year) or for multiple years. 
For outfitters and guides who have demonstrated satisfactory 
performance, the authorized officer may issue priority use permits, for 
up to 10 years, in accordance with Forest Service Handbook 2709.14. The 
Proposed Action does not limit non-commercial use by the public.

Possible Alternatives

    A no-action alternative will be considered. This alternative will 
be a continuation of outfitting and guiding resembling the current 
management and reflect the decision in the 2004 Shoreline Outfitter/
Guide Record of Decision. At this time, no other alternatives are being 
considered because no preliminary issues have been identified that 
would require developing another alternative.

Responsible Official

    The forest supervisor of the Tongass National Forest is the 
responsible official for this decision.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The decision based on this EIS will allocate a portion of the total 
visitor capacity to outfitter and guide use in the marine shoreline 
zone. The decision, which will be documented in a Record of Decision, 
will:
    1. Specify the amount of the carrying capacity in service days that 
are allocated to commercial recreation use for each Use Area in each 
season,
    2. specify the types of commercial recreation activities permitted,
    3. determine what, if any, management strategies to implement for 
brown bear, wilderness, and large group use areas and other issues 
identified through the analysis,
    4. specify any mitigation measures for commercial recreation 
activities to reduce user conflicts and resource impacts, and establish 
monitoring requirements.

Permits or Licenses Required

    Some outfitter and guide activities authorized by this decision may 
require outfitters and guides to obtain permits from other Federal and 
State agencies.

Scoping Process

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides 
the development of the Environmental Impact Statement. Since February 
2012, the four districts have been gathering information and comments 
on recreation use and outfitter and guide use of the Shoreline II area. 
Newsletters about the project were mailed to interested individuals, 
and a Web site, http://go.usa.gov/Pzi, was established to provide 
information. Input to help develop the Proposed Action was sought 
through public meetings and a hard copy and online comment form.
    In June 2014, the four ranger districts plan to send out a scoping 
letter seeking information and comments from Federal, State, and local 
agencies, tribal organizations, individuals, businesses, and 
organizations that may be interested in, or affected by, the Proposed 
Action. Comments received as a result of this scoping will be included 
in the analysis and will be analyzed to identify issues to be 
considered in the Draft EIS. Public information meetings will be held 
this

[[Page 34277]]

summer at the following locations: July 8 from 5-8 p.m. at Harrigan 
Centennial Hall in the Exhibits Room in Sitka, Alaska; and June 24 from 
5-7 p.m. at the Admiralty National Monument and Juneau Ranger District 
office located at 8510 Mendenhall Loop Road, Juneau, Alaska. Dates for 
the meeting at the Hoonah Ranger District office at 430 Airport Way, 
Hoonah, Alaska will be announced in a public service announcement. If 
you are unable to attend one of the above public meetings, webinars 
will also be held this summer. You can contact us via email for 
directions and links.
    The Web site will provide electronic methods for providing comments 
through direct online entry. The Web site is the preferred method for 
receiving comments. It is important that reviewers provide their 
comments at such times and in such manner that they are useful to the 
agency's preparation of the Environmental Impact Statement. Therefore, 
comments should be provided prior to the close of the comment period 
and should clearly articulate the reviewer's concerns and contentions. 
Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and 
addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record for 
this Proposed Action. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted 
and considered.

    Dated: June 6, 2014.
Forrest Cole,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2014-13991 Filed 6-13-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-P