Colville National Forest, WA; Growden Dam and Sherman Creek Restoration, 20349-20350 [05-7785]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 19, 2005 / Notices the West Indian fruit fly. For example, if an area of the United States has been placed under quarantine because of a fruit fly infestation, then certain plants and plant products that may present a risk of spreading the fruit fly may be moved interstate from the infested area only under certain conditions (e.g., after treatment or inspection). In this way, we prevent the fruit flies from being spread to noninfested areas of the United States via the movement of the plants and plant products. Administering these regulations requires APHIS to collect information from a variety of individuals who are involved in growing, packing, handling, and transporting plants and plant products. The information we collect serves as the supporting documentation required for the issuance of forms and documents that authorize the movement of regulated plants and plant products and is vital to help prevent the spread of injurious plant pests within the United States. Collecting this information requires us to use a number of forms and documents, including certificates, limited permits, transit permits, and outdoor household article documents. We are asking the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to approve our use of these information collection activities for an additional 3 years. The purpose of this notice is to solicit comments from the public (as well as affected agencies) concerning our information collection. These comments will help us: (1) Evaluate whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (2) Evaluate the accuracy of our estimate of the burden of the collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (3) Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, through use, as appropriate, of automated, electronic, mechanical, and other collection technologies; e.g., permitting electronic submission of responses. Estimate of burden: The public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 0.0990402 hours per response. Respondents: State plant regulatory officials, State cooperators, and individuals involved in growing, packing, handling, and transporting plants and plant products. VerDate jul<14>2003 15:12 Apr 18, 2005 Jkt 205001 Estimated annual number of respondents: 191,866. Estimated annual number of responses per respondent: 5.7993026. Estimated annual number of responses: 1,112,689. Estimated total annual burden on respondents: 110,201 hours. (Due to averaging, the total annual burden hours may not equal the product of the annual number of responses multiplied by the reporting burden per response.) All responses to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will also become a matter of public record. Done in Washington, DC, this 13th day of April 2005. Elizabeth E. Gaston, Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. [FR Doc. E5–1838 Filed 4–18–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 20349 ‘‘2005 CSP Enrollment Categories— Criteria by Land Use and Category’’ matrix found on pages 15280 and 15281 of the Federal Register notice. In the ‘‘Pasture’’ portion of the matrix at the bottom of page 15280, the criteria for Category A in the column under ‘‘Stewardship practices and activities (from list below) in place for at least two years,’’ as corrected, is to read as follows: ‘‘At least 2 unique practices or activities from each area of Soil Quality and Water Quality, and 1 from Wildlife Habitat.’’ In addition, in the ‘‘Range’’ portion of the matrix at the top of page 15281, the criteria for Category D in the column under ‘‘Stewardship practices and activities (from list below) in place for at least two years,’’ as corrected, is to read as follows: ‘‘Prescribed Grazing plus at least 1 unique practice or activity from any of the following areas of Soil Quality, Water Quality, and Wildlife Habitat.’’ Commodity Credit Corporation Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Security Program Dated: April 13, 2005. Teressa Davis, Federal Register Liaison, Natural Resources Conservation Service. [FR Doc. 05–7793 Filed 4–18–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–16–P DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Natural Resources Conservation Service and Commodity Credit Corporation, USDA. ACTION: Notice; correction. AGENCY: The administrative actions announced in this notice are effective on April 19, 2005. SUMMARY: The Natural Resources Conservation Service published in the Federal Register of March 25, 2005 (70 FR 15277), a document concerning the FY 2005 CSP sign-up process. The notice contained a typographic error that may impact program implementation. This document corrects that error. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Craig Derickson, Branch Chief— Stewardship Programs, Financial Assistance Programs Division, NRCS, P.O. Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013– 2890, telephone: (202) 720–1845; fax: (202) 720–4265. Submit e-mail to: craig.derickson@usda.gov, Attention: Conservation Security Program. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Natural Resources Conservation Service published a document in the Federal Register on March 25, 2005, (70 FR 15277) announcing the CSP–05–01 signup that is being held from March 28, 2005, through May 27, 2005, in selected 8-digit watersheds in all 50 States and the Caribbean. The sign-up notice contained two typographic errors on the DATES: PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Colville National Forest, WA; Growden Dam and Sherman Creek Restoration Forest Service, USDA. Revised notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. AGENCY: ACTION: SUMMARY: On March 1, 2004, the Forest Service published a Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Growden Dam and Sherman Creek Restoration Project in the Federal Register (69 FR 9569). The Forest Service is revising the project title, the proposed action, the date the EIS is expected to be available for public review and comment, the expected date of release of the final EIS, and the name of the Responsible Official. The project title will be changed to Growden Dam, Sherman Creek Restoration Project and Forest Plan Amendment #28. The proposed action is modified to include Forest Plan Amendment #28, which would change the visual quality objective for the Growden Dam area from ‘‘Retention’’ to ‘‘Restoration’’ until such time as the vegetation recovers. The immediate foreground area around Growden Dam, a significant dispersed recreation site, would be a construction E:\FR\FM\19APN1.SGM 19APN1 20350 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 19, 2005 / Notices zone visible from Washington State Highway 20 under each of the three action alternatives. Depending on the alternative selected, there would be up to eight acres of unvegetated landscape next to the highway in the first year of construction. A change in visual quality objective to ‘‘Restoration’’ would be in effect until vegetation is reestablished. Within one season grass is expected to cover most of the site and trees and shrubs will have been planted. It is expected that trees and shrubs would be established within five years and the area will appear more natural. DATES: The date the draft EIS should be available for comment is April 29, 2005, and the date of release of the final EIS is expected to be in July 2005. Responsible Official The Responsible Official is Rick Brazell, Forest Supervisor, 765 South Main, Colville, WA 99114, phone (509) 684–7000, fax (509) 684–7280. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Honeycutt, Fisheries Biologist, Colville National Forest (see address above). Dated: April 13, 2005. Donald N. Gonzalez, Acting Forest Supervisor. [FR Doc. 05–7785 Filed 4–18–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3410–11–M DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service McNally Reforestation EIS Forest Service, USDA. Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. AGENCY: ACTION: SUMMARY: The Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) to re-establish conifers and hardwoods in key areas that burned during the McNally and Manter fires on the Sequoia National Forest. DATES: The public is asked to submit any issues (points of concern, debate, dispute, or disagreement) regarding potential effects of the proposed action by May 23, 2005. The draft EIS is expected to be available for public comment in June, 2005, and the final EIS is expected to be published in December, 2005. ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Jim Whitfield, EIS Team Leader, USDA Forest Service, Sequoia National Forest, 900 West Grand Avenue, Porterville, CA 93257. VerDate jul<14>2003 15:12 Apr 18, 2005 Jkt 205001 Jim Whitfield, EIS Team Leader, Sequoia National Forest, at the address listed above. The phone number is (559) 784– 1500. Public field trips will be held to allow the public to view the project areas prior to a decision on the project. Information on the times, dates, locations, and agendas for these meetings will be provided in local newspapers, on the Sequoia National Forest and Giant Sequoia National Monument Web site, and by direct mailings. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background In July and August of 2000 and 2002, the Sequoia National Forest and the Giant Sequoia National Monument experienced two large wildfires that burned extensive areas of the forest and fragmented important wildlife habitats. The Manter fire in 2000, burned over 74,000 acres and the McNally fire in 2002, burned over 150,000 acres for a total of approximately 224,000 acres. Restoration projects were analyzed and approved in an environmental assessment for the Manter fire area and in an environmental impact statement for the Sherman Pass portion of the McNally fire area. Following initial implementation of these two decisions, the site conditions in portions of the burned areas that were already planned for reforestation changed. In addition, portions of the Chico and Rincon Roadless Areas and the Giant Sequoia National Monument, which were not dealt with in either the Manter or McNally-Sherman Pass environmental documents, are in need of treatment. In all, surveys indicate that up to 8,000 acres will need treatment to re-establish desired forest conditions within 200 years. Competing vegetation and populations of pocket gophers have become established at levels that will reduce the survival of planted trees. Due to the current condition of these areas, successful reforestation in a timely manner will require planting in some areas and may require the use of herbicides, pesticides, and rodenticides to control competing vegetation, the spread of root disease, and the harmful effects from gophers. Purpose and Need for Action The need for management action arises when conditions on the ground do not meet desired conditions. It is important to restore certain burned areas of native forest habitat, both conifer and hardwood, in order to move the land toward its desired conditions, as fully described in the Sequoia’s Land PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 and Resource Management Plan, as amended. The desired conditions for the project area are briefly described below: (1) Provide forest structure and function across old forest emphasis areas that generally resemble presettlement conditions, with high levels of horizontal and vertical diversity. (2) Maintain on re-establish key wildlife habitat for species including the California spotted owl, northern goshawk, and Pacific fisher. Conditions on the ground are not moving toward desired conditions in a timely manner without active management, primarily due to vegetation competition for water. The areas affected by the fires experience extended summer drought, typical of our Mediterranean climate, and the coarse, rocky soils do not hold much water. Due to these conditions, moisture is the most limiting factor for timely conifer establishment and growth in the project area. Shrubs, forbs, and grasses have colonized and now fully occupy portions of the burned areas. Where the roots of these competing plants occupy the soil profile, very little moisture is available to planted or natural conifer seedlings unless the competing plants are treated in some manner. Experience in the Sequoia National Forest, the Giant Sequoia National Monument, and throughout the region clearly shows that successful reforestation of conifers is dependent on active management to control competing shrubs, forbs, and grasses for the first one to five years following planting. This allows the young conifers to establish and develop. Once the planted trees are established and their roots well developed, more competing plants can be tolerated. In addition to competing vegetation, pocket gopher populations have increased in the burned areas. Gophers feed on young trees, as well as forbs and grasses. In the winter, when other vegetation is unavailable to the gophers, evergreen conifers become a primary source of food. Gophers feed on the roots and stems of the trees as they burrow underground and through the snow. Roots and bark of young seedlings are totally stripped away and the girdled seedlings die. Even a few active gopher colonies per acre can decimate young plantations. In order to assure successful reforestation where gophers are present, it is essential to control their populations before planting and during the first few years of conifer establishment, until the planted trees reach a size where they are more resistant to damage. There are large areas of the fire where all or most of the conifers were killed. In these areas there will be little or no E:\FR\FM\19APN1.SGM 19APN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 19, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20349-20350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-7785]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Colville National Forest, WA; Growden Dam and Sherman Creek 
Restoration

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Revised notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact 
statement.

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SUMMARY: On March 1, 2004, the Forest Service published a Notice of 
Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the Growden Dam 
and Sherman Creek Restoration Project in the Federal Register (69 FR 
9569). The Forest Service is revising the project title, the proposed 
action, the date the EIS is expected to be available for public review 
and comment, the expected date of release of the final EIS, and the 
name of the Responsible Official.
    The project title will be changed to Growden Dam, Sherman Creek 
Restoration Project and Forest Plan Amendment 28.
    The proposed action is modified to include Forest Plan Amendment 
28, which would change the visual quality objective for the 
Growden Dam area from ``Retention'' to ``Restoration'' until such time 
as the vegetation recovers. The immediate foreground area around 
Growden Dam, a significant dispersed recreation site, would be a 
construction

[[Page 20350]]

zone visible from Washington State Highway 20 under each of the three 
action alternatives.
    Depending on the alternative selected, there would be up to eight 
acres of unvegetated landscape next to the highway in the first year of 
construction. A change in visual quality objective to ``Restoration'' 
would be in effect until vegetation is reestablished. Within one season 
grass is expected to cover most of the site and trees and shrubs will 
have been planted. It is expected that trees and shrubs would be 
established within five years and the area will appear more natural.

DATES: The date the draft EIS should be available for comment is April 
29, 2005, and the date of release of the final EIS is expected to be in 
July 2005.

Responsible Official

    The Responsible Official is Rick Brazell, Forest Supervisor, 765 
South Main, Colville, WA 99114, phone (509) 684-7000, fax (509) 684-
7280.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Karen Honeycutt, Fisheries Biologist, 
Colville National Forest (see address above).

    Dated: April 13, 2005.
Donald N. Gonzalez,
Acting Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 05-7785 Filed 4-18-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-11-M
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