[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 12 (Tuesday, January 20, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2725-2726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00741]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[14XL LLIDB00100 LF1000000.HT0000 LXSS020D0000 241A 4500069722]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Proposed Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-Grouse Habitat Project, Owyhee County, 
Idaho

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Boise 
District, Boise, Idaho, intends to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) and by this notice is announcing the beginning of the 
scoping process to solicit public comments to identify relevant issues.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the EIS. 
Comments on issues may be submitted in writing until February 19, 2015. 
The date(s) and location(s) of any scoping meetings will be announced 
at least 15 days in advance through local media, newspapers and the BLM 
Web site, http://www.blm.gov/id. In order to be included in the draft 
EIS, all comments must be received prior to the close of the 30-day 
scoping period or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever is 
later. There will be additional opportunities for public participation 
upon publication of the draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Bruneau Owyhee Sage-
Grouse Habitat Project by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/prog/nepa_register/BOSH-juniper-removal.html.
     email: [email protected].
     fax: 208-384-3326.
     mail: 3948 S. Development Avenue, Boise, ID 83705-5339.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the Boise 
District Office at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike McGee, Wildlife Biologist, Boise 
District Fuels Management to have your name added to the mailing list, 
at telephone 208-384-3300; address 3948 S. Development Avenue, Boise, 
ID 83705-5339; email [email protected]. Persons 
who use a telecommunications

[[Page 2726]]

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 project is a collaborative effort among 
Federal, State, and county governments as well as conservation 
organizations and the University of Idaho to improve and maintain 
functioning sage-grouse habitat in Owyhee County, Idaho. The proposal 
is to remove early-stage encroachment of western juniper (Juniperus 
occidentalis) from Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) 
habitat across 1.5 million acres in the BLM Bruneau and Owyhee Field 
Offices. Treatment areas were selected based on the current 
distribution of sage-grouse and focused within a 10 kilometer radius of 
occupied sage-grouse leks. A lek is an area where sage-grouse gather 
each spring for mating and is considered breeding habitat.
    Recent research suggests that sage-grouse populations incur 
negative impacts at a very low level of juniper encroachment, and that 
no leks remain active when conifer cover exceeds 4 percent. Within the 
proposed treatment area, thousands of acres of sage-grouse habitat are 
being encroached upon by western juniper. Removal of early-stage 
juniper encroachment would improve and maintain suitable sage-grouse 
habitat. Many acres within the project area do not meet the criteria 
for treatment, for example, areas where juniper is well established and 
areas where no juniper trees are present. Therefore, actual treatment 
acres would be considerably less than the 1.5 million acres identified 
as the project area.
    Proposed treatments include cutting and lopping juniper, leaving 
the material on site, or cutting followed by jackpot burning. Jackpot 
burning--burning when the ground is saturated, frozen, or covered by 
snow--would be utilized in areas where scattering cut juniper is not 
feasible or desirable. Mastication of juniper using a track-hoe fitted 
with a grinding implement could also occur within 100 feet of existing 
roads. The BLM may use handsaws to implement treatment within 
designated wilderness or wilderness study areas, as determined through 
a minimum requirements analysis.
    The purpose of public scoping is to determine relevant issues that 
will influence the scope of the environmental analysis, including 
alternatives, and to guide the process for developing the EIS. At 
present, the BLM has identified the following preliminary issues:
     Juniper slash near roads posing a threat to the public and 
firefighters during a wildfire,
     Introduction and spread of invasive and noxious 
vegetation,
     Impacts to raptor nests,
     Removal of old growth juniper,
     Disturbance to lekking, nesting or wintering sage-grouse 
during project implementation,
     Disturbance to migratory birds, and
     Effects of juniper management on wilderness 
characteristics.
    Appropriate mitigation measures would be used to minimize impacts 
to sage-grouse habitat, old growth juniper, raptor nests, migratory 
birds, and wilderness characteristics. These mitigation measures would 
be identified in detail in the EIS and would primarily include physical 
avoidance and timing restrictions during implementation.
    The BLM will use NEPA public participation requirements to assist 
the agency in satisfying the public involvement requirements under 
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (16 U.S.C. 
470(f)) pursuant to 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3). Information about historic and 
cultural resources within the area potentially affected by the proposed 
sage-grouse habitat project will assist the BLM in identifying and 
evaluating impacts to such resources in the context of both NEPA and 
Section 106 of the NHPA.
    The BLM will consult with Indian Tribes on a government-to-
government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and other 
policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and 
potential impacts to cultural resources, will be given due 
consideration. Federal, State, and local agencies, that may be 
interested in or affected by the proposed sage-grouse habitat project 
may request or be requested by the BLM to participate in the 
development of the environmental analysis as a cooperating agency.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7.

James M. Fincher,
BLM Boise District Manager.
[FR Doc. 2015-00741 Filed 1-16-15; 8:45 am]
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