[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 61007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24576]



[[Page 61007]]

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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Natural Resources Conservation Service


Adoption of Final Environmental Impact Statement (DOI-BLM-ID-
B000-2014-0002-EIS) Prepared for the Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-Grouse Habitat 
Project

AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department 
of Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Adopt Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS).

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SUMMARY: NRCS announces its intent to adopt the FEIS, titled ``Bruneau-
Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project'' (BOSH), prepared by the U.S. 
Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM), under the 
provisions of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations. 
The proposed action will improve and maintain suitable sage-grouse 
habitat within southwestern Idaho by removing early stage encroaching 
western juniper.

DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by December 12, 2019.

ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this notice. In your 
comments, include the volume, date, and page number of this issue of 
the Federal Register. Comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRCS-2019-0018. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail, or Hand Delivery: Trisha Cracroft, State Biologist, 
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 9173 or W Barnes Drive, Suite C 
Boise, Idaho 83709.
    NRCS will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. In 
general, personal information provided with comments will be posted. If 
your comment includes your address, phone number, email, or other 
personal identifying information (PII), your comments, including PII, 
may be available to the public. You may request that your PII be 
withheld from public view, but this cannot be guaranteed. The copies of 
the BOSH FEIS is available at https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage&currentPageId=56816.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Trisha Cracroft, State Biologist, 
NRCS, at (208) 378-5725 or [email protected]. Persons with 
disabilities who require alternative means for communication should 
contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NRCS announces its intent to adopt the 
Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project Final EIS, as prepared by 
the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 
under the provisions of the CEQ regulations (40 CFR 1506.3). In 
response to the threat of sagebrush steppe habitat loss posed by the 
encroachment of western juniper, the proposed action is vegetative 
treatments to address early stage juniper encroachment in southwestern 
Idaho in order to maintain and improve sagebrush steppe habitat for the 
benefit of sage-grouse and other wildlife that rely on these habitats. 
Treatment methods would include cutting junipers with handsaws or 
chainsaws, lopping with pruning shears, and using heavy equipment such 
as a track-hoe fitted with a grinding implement (masticator) or a 
shearing implement (large, powerful pruning shears). Material may be 
scattered on site and left in place, or the material may be piled and 
burned or jackpot burned. Jackpot burning is a type of prescribed fire 
used to reduce concentrations (or jackpots) of vegetative fuel. Jackpot 
burning consumes surface fuels but not the overstory vegetation and is 
used following a pre-treatment such as thinning and/or pile burning to 
further reduce the surface fuels, help maintain the desired vegetation 
conditions and enhance the overall health and resiliency of the plant 
community. Old growth juniper would not be cut or burned regardless of 
encroachment phase, proximity to leks, or proximity to sage-grouse 
migration corridors. Cut juniper would be burned in areas near roads 
for public and fire fighter safety, areas where viewshed issues are a 
concern, and/or areas where fuel loading is a concern. Burning may also 
be completed to remove slash from meadow areas that would provide 
suitable sage-grouse brood rearing habitat. Jackpot and pile burning 
would take place once the juniper biomass has dried sufficiently and 
when soils are moist, frozen, or covered by snow. Project 
implementation would be in accordance with the methods (Section 2.2.4 
in the FIES) and design features (Section 2.2.5 in the FEIS) to 
minimize or eliminate adverse impacts by the proposed action to the 
identified resources (i.e., cultural resources, soils, vegetation, 
wildlife).
    Sage-grouse inhabit sagebrush ecosystems that are at risk from 
juniper encroachment in areas including southwest Idaho and the BOSH 
project area. The BOSH project will improve and maintain suitable sage-
grouse habitat by removing early stage encroaching western juniper on 
BLM-managed lands within the Bruneau and Owyhee field office boundaries 
in southwest Idaho. As described in the FEIS the project is 1.67 
million acres with up to 726,000 acres proposed for treatment. 
Privately-owned land within the project area totals 241,820 acres. 
Private landowners in the project area may voluntarily choose to 
conduct the vegetative treatments described above on their own lands. 
NRCS proposes to provide technical and financial assistance through 
Farm Bill conservation program contracts with landowners to implement 
these vegetative treatments to remove early stage encroaching juniper 
for the purpose of improving sagebrush habitat. Each landowner will be 
responsible for ensuring that treatment methods meet NRCS conservation 
practice standards and specifications and may choose to do the work 
themselves, hire a contractor or coordinate with BLM (or its 
contractors) to complete the vegetative treatments.
    Prior to recommending adoption, NRCS completed an internal 
checklist per NRCS's Title 190--, National Environmental Compliance 
Handbook, Part 610, subpart F, section 610.83(D) and subpart H, section 
610.134. NRCS was not a cooperating agency on the development of the 
FEIS. NRCS proposed action is substantially similar to that analyzed in 
the FEIS therefore, it was determined that the FEIS does not need to be 
supplemented prior to adoption because circumstances have not changed 
nor is there new information indicating a new or supplemental EIS 
should be prepared.
    NRCS requests feedback from the public, other agencies, tribes, and 
other interested parties on the proposal to adopt the BOSH FEIS, the 
FEIS itself, and any associated issues and concerns.

Mary Goode,
Acting Idaho State Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation 
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-24576 Filed 11-8-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P