[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 118 (Wednesday, June 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28301-28303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-12951]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Ochoco National Forest, Lookout Mountain Ranger District; Oregon; 
Ochoco Wild and Free Roaming Herd Management Plan Revision Project EIS

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Ochoco National Forest is preparing an Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the effects of revising the 1975 
Ochoco Wild and Free Roaming Herd Management Plan (Herd Management 
Plan). The Herd Management Plan provides guidance for managing wild, 
free roaming horses within the Big Summit Territory on the Lookout 
Mountain Ranger District. The 27,300-acre Big Summit Territory is 
located approximately 30 miles east of Prineville and includes Round 
Mountain and Duncan Butte. The 1975 Herd Management Plan set an 
Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 55-65 horses; the Ochoco National 
Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) states horses will be 
managed at a maximum of 60 head. This project will revise the original 
Herd Management Plan to comply with the Wild Free Roaming Horse and 
Burro Act (WFRHBA) of 1971, as amended, and the federal regulation for 
management of wild and free-roaming horses and burros. The proposed 
action is consistent with the Ochoco National Forest Land and Resource 
Management Plan, as amended.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by July 21, 2017. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected 
to be completed and available for public comment in June 2018. The 
Final Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be completed in 
September 2018.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Ochoco Wild and Free Roaming Herd 
Management Plan Revision Project, c/o Marcy Anderson, Lookout Mountain 
District, Ochoco National Forest, 3160 NE Third Street, Prineville, 
Oregon 97754. Alternately, electronic comments

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may be submitted at https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?project=46228. Electronic comments may be entered directly 
into the online form or submitted as an attachment in plain text 
(.txt), Microsoft Word (.doc), rich text format (.rtf), or portable 
document format (.pdf).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tory Kurtz, Project Leader, at 3160 NE 
Third Street, Prineville, Oregon 97754, or at (541) 416-6500, or by 
email at [email protected].
    Responsible Official: The responsible official will be Stacey 
Forson, Forest Supervisor, Ochoco National Forest, 3160 NE Third 
Street, Prineville, Oregon 97754.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Purpose and Need. The purpose of the proposed action is to revise 
the 1975 Plan to incorporate best available science and to be 
consistent with the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act as 
amended (WFRHBA), 36 CFR 222 Subpart D, the Ochoco NF LRMP, Forest 
Service Manual 2260 and other associated direction. The need for the 
proposed action is to ensure the herd is managed as a self-sustaining 
population of healthy animals in a thriving natural ecological balance 
with other uses and the productive capacity of their habitat as 
required by the WFRHBA.
    Proposed Action. The Ochoco National Forest is proposing the 
following actions to update and revise the 1975 Herd Management Plan:
    1. Determine if the current AML of a maximum of 60 head, as 
established in the Ochoco National Forest LRMP, continues to be valid. 
If it is no longer valid, determine the optimum number of animals the 
Territory can support on a yearlong basis with a thriving natural 
ecological balance as required by the WFRHBA. An AML range will be 
proposed to provide for a thriving natural ecological balance 
incorporating the minimal feasible level of management as required by 
the WFRHBA. The AML analysis will be conducted according to the 
guidance of the Bureau of Land Management Wild Horses and Burros 
Management Handbook (H-4700-1). Under this guidance there is a three 
tier process to determine AML that considers: (1) The four essential 
habitat needs to sustain a healthy wild horse population and healthy 
lands over time; (2) the amount of sustainable forage use available for 
wild horses; and (3) management of the genetic diversity of the wild 
horse herd. In determining the AML, the most limiting factors for 
essential habitat needs must be used to create a thriving natural 
ecological balance and multiple use relationship in the area. The most 
limiting factors for the Big Summit Territory are winter forage and 
space. The AML analysis will calculate the winter forage available for 
horses and allocate the forage for maintenance of healthy horses with 
consideration of the multiple uses in the Territory. Based on an annual 
census, horses above the identified AML range would be considered 
excess animals.
    2. Correct the Territory boundary map to remove private land that 
was mistakenly included in the original Territory map; this would 
revise the Territory acres to 26,975, as opposed to 27,300 acres as 
described in the original Environmental Assessment.
    3. Manage for genetic diversity in the population through 
introduction of new genes, adjustments of the sex ratio or other 
actions. The Forest will continue to work with Texas A&M University and 
monitor genetic diversity with samples collected from captures or other 
opportunities to ensure genetic diversity is managed to the best of our 
ability.
    4. Implement methods to slow the herd's rate of growth 
(reproductive rate) as needed to maintain AML within the identified 
range. Methods to slow the herd growth rate could include adjusting age 
distribution and approved fertility control methods such as Porcine 
Zona Pellucida (PZP).
    5. Develop an Emergency Action Framework for effectively and 
humanely managing situations such as sick, lame, or old horses or 
public safety concerns. This Emergency Action Framework would be used 
to help inform the Forest Service's Responsible Official.
    6. Develop an off-range plan that would include protocols for 
capturing horses, handling horses including identifying facilities and 
needs, adoption of horses, training programs and the sale of horses. At 
a minimum, a corral that is currently located at the Ochoco Ranger 
Station compound on the Lookout Mountain Ranger District would be 
improved to fit the needs of off-range management.
    7. Forest Plan Amendment: If the analysis indicates that a 
different AML or range of AMLs is appropriate for the revised Herd 
Management Plan, a Forest Plan amendment would be required. The 2012 
Planning Rule at 36 CFR 219 includes provisions that must be considered 
when a forest plan amendment is completed. Substantive rule 
requirements that are likely to be directly related to the proposed 
amendment include:

219.8(a)(2) Air, soil, and water; 219.8(a)(3) Riparian areas; 
219.9(a)(1) Ecosystem integrity; 219.10(a)(1) Aesthetic values, air 
quality, cultural and heritage resources, ecosystem services, fish 
and wildlife species, forage, geologic features, grazing and 
rangelands, habitat and habitat connectivity, recreation settings 
and opportunities, riparian areas, scenery, soil, surface and 
subsurface water quality, timber, trails, vegetation, viewsheds, 
wilderness, and other relevant resources and uses; 219.10(a)(5) 
Habitat conditions, subject to the requirements of 219.9, for 
wildlife, fish, and plants commonly enjoyed and used by the public; 
for hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering, observing, subsistence, 
and other activities (in collaboration with federally recognized 
Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations, other Federal agencies, and 
State and local governments); and 219.10(a)(10) Opportunities to 
connect people with nature.

    Comment: Public comments about this proposal are requested in order 
to assist in identifying issues, determine how to best manage the 
resources, and to focus the analysis. Comments received on this notice, 
including names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered 
part of the public record on this proposed action and will be available 
for public inspection. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted 
and considered; however, those who submit anonymous comments will not 
have standing to file an objection to the Record of Decision under 36 
CFR 218. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 1.27(d), any person may 
request the Agency to withhold a submission from the public record by 
showing how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits such 
confidentiality. Persons requesting such confidentiality should be 
aware that, under FOIA, confidentiality may be granted in only very 
limited circumstances, such as to protect trade secrets. The Forest 
Service will inform the requester of the Agency's decision regarding 
the request for confidentiality, and where the request is denied, the 
Agency will return the submission and notify the requester that the 
comments may be resubmitted with or without name and address within a 
specified number of days.
    Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires 
Agency officials to determine whether a proposed Federal action is an 
undertaking that has the potential to cause effects to historic 
properties. In addition, the Forest Service is required to provide 
those with significant interests in historic preservation issues the 
opportunity to participate in the consultation process as a consulting 
party. Participating in consultation during the early stages of a 
proposed

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undertaking is in everyone's best interest to avoid having problems 
emerge later as a project develops. If effects are identified, the 
Forest must reduce or eliminate those effects through avoidance, data 
recovery, or other forms of mitigation and in consultation with the 
State Historic Preservation Office, Native American tribes, and 
interested parties. In order for you to be considered as a consulting 
party, you must submit a written request to me in response to this 
letter. Each request will be reviewed in consultation with the State 
Historic Preservation Office, Tribal Historic Preservation Office and 
Native American tribes to determine which should be consulting parties.
    A draft EIS will be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA) and available for public review by June, 2018. The EPA will 
publish a Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in the Federal 
Register. The final EIS is scheduled to be available September, 2018.
    The comment period on the draft EIS will be 45 days from the date 
the EPA publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.
    The Forest Service believes, at this early stage, it is important 
to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to public 
participation in the environmental review process. First, reviewers of 
a draft EIS must structure their participation in the environmental 
review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and alerts an agency to 
the reviewer's position 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 EIS stage, but that are 
not raised until after completion of the final EIS, may be waived or 
dismissed by the courts [City of Angoon v. Harris, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 
1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980)]. It is very important that those interested in 
this proposed action participate by the close of the 45-day 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 EIS.
    To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues 
and concerns on the proposed action, comments on the draft EIS 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 EIS of 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.
    In the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to 
substantive comments received during the comment period for the draft 
EIS. The Forest Service is the lead agency and the responsible official 
is the Forest Supervisor, Ochoco National Forest. The responsible 
official will decide whether and how to revise the Ochoco Wild Horse 
Herd Management Plan.
    The Ochoco Wild Horse Herd Management Plan decision and the reasons 
for the decision will be documented in the record of decision. That 
decision will be subject to the Forest Service Project-level 
Predecisional Administrative Review Process (``Objection Process'' at 
36 CFR 218).

    Dated: June 7, 2017.
Jeanne M. Higgins,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2017-12951 Filed 6-20-17; 8:45 am]
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