Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for the Paiute Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project, Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Alpine County, CA, 32125-32126 [06-4918]
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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 106 / Friday, June 2, 2006 / Notices
withhold your name or address, you
must state this request prominently at
the beginning of your comment. We will
not, however, consider anonymous
comments. To the extent consistent with
applicable law, we will make all
submissions from organizations or
businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available
for public inspection in their entirety.
Information received in response to this
notice and review will be available for
public inspection, by appointment,
during normal business hours (see
ADDRESSES).
Authority: This document is published
under the authority of the Endangered
Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.).
Dated: May 19, 2006.
Wendi Weber,
Assistant Regional Director, Ecological
Services, Region 3.
[FR Doc. E6–8565 Filed 6–1–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Preparation of an Environmental
Impact Statement for the Paiute
Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project,
Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, HumboldtToiyabe National Forest, Alpine
County, CA
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent of public
scoping.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42
U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), the Fish and
Wildlife Service (Service) as the lead
agency, advises the public that we
intend to gather information necessary
to prepare, in cooperation with the
United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Service (Forest Service), an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
on the proposed Paiute Cutthroat Trout
Restoration Project (Project). The Forest
Service is a cooperating agency because
activities within designated wilderness
on National Forest System lands require
Forest Service approval (36 CFR 261.9f,
293.6c).
The Service provides this notice to:
(1) Describe the proposed action and
possible alternatives; (2) advise other
Federal and State agencies, affected
Tribes, and the public of our intent to
prepare an EIS; (3) announce the
initiation of a 30-day public scoping
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:05 Jun 01, 2006
Jkt 208001
period; and (4) obtain suggestions and
information on the scope of issues and
alternatives to be included in the EIS.
DATES: A public meeting will be held
on: June 19, 2006 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Written comments should be received
on or before July 3, 2006.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be
held at Turtle Rock Park Community
Center 17300 State Route 89
Markleeville, California 96120.
Information, written comments, or
questions related to the preparation of
the EIS and the NEPA process should be
submitted to Robert D. Williams, Field
Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service,
Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, 1340
Financial Boulevard, Suite 234, Reno,
Nevada 89502; or FAX (775) 861–6301.
Comments may be submitted
electronically to
fw8pctcomments@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Chad Mellison (See ADDRESSES) at (775)
861–6300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Reasonable Accommodation
Persons needing reasonable
accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public meeting should
contact Chad Mellison (See ADDRESSES)
at (775) 861–6300 as soon as possible.
In order to allow sufficient time to
process requests, please call no later
than one week before the public
meeting. Information regarding this
proposed action is available in
alternative formats upon request.
Authority
This action is done in accordance
with Recovery implementation section
4(f)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of
1973, as amended (ESA).
Background
At the time of its original listing as
endangered under the Endangered
Species Protection Act of 1966, nonnative trout were considered a threat to
the Paiute cutthroat trout (PCT;
Oncorhynchus clarki seleniris). In 1975,
PCT were reclassified as threatened
under the Endangered Species Act of
1973, and a 4(d) rule was issued to
facilitate management between
California Department of Fish and Game
and the Service. In order to recover the
subspecies, non-native trout need to be
removed from their historic habitat and
PCT reintroduced as specified in the
2004 Revised PCT Recovery Plan.
Without this project, PCT in the Silver
King drainage will continue to be at risk
from an illegal introduction of nonnative trout and/or stochastic (one time)
events such as a large fire or flood.
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Frm 00098
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
32125
Recovery of the species cannot be
achieved without this project and the
long-term survival of the species will be
in doubt.
We propose to eradicate non-native
trout with the piscicide rotenone from
14.7 kilometers (9.1 miles) of historic
PCT habitat, in Silver King Creek, from
Llewellyn Falls downstream to Silver
King Canyon as well as the accessible
reaches of three small named tributaries:
Tamarack Creek, Tamarack Lake Creek,
the lower reaches of Coyote Valley
Creek downstream of barrier falls, and
Tamarack Lake.
Environmental Impact Statement
The Service has selected Entrix to
prepare the EIS. Entrix will prepare the
EIS under the supervision of the
Service, which will be responsible for
the scope and content of the NEPA
document.
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires
that Federal agencies conduct and
environmental analysis of their
proposed actions to determine if the
actions may significantly affect the
human environment. Under NEPA, a
reasonable range of alternatives to
proposed projects is developed and
considered in the Services’
environmental review. Alternatives
considered for analysis in an EIS may
include: Variations in the scope of
proposed activities; variations in the
location, amount, and types of
conservation; variations in activity
duration; or, a combination of these
elements. In addition, the EIS will
identify potentially significant direct,
indirect, and cumulative impacts on
biological resources, land use, air
quality, water quality, water resources,
socio-economics, and other
environmental issues that could occur
with the implementation of the
proposed action and alternatives. For all
potentially significant impacts, the EIS
will identify avoidance, minimization,
and mitigation measures to reduce these
impacts, where feasible, to a level below
significance.
The EIS will consider the proposed
action, no action, and a reasonable range
of alternatives. A detailed description of
the impacts of the proposed action and
each alternative will be included in the
EIS. The alternatives to be considered
for analysis in the EIS may include:
Various fish removal methods;
variations in timing; or, a combination
of these elements.
Request for Comments
The primary purpose of the scoping
process is for the public to assist the
Services in developing the EIS by
identifying important issues and
E:\FR\FM\02JNN1.SGM
02JNN1
32126
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 106 / Friday, June 2, 2006 / Notices
alternatives related to the proposed
action. A public meeting will be held on
June 19, 2006 as noted in the DATES
section above.
Written comments from interested
parties are welcome to ensure that the
full range of issues related to the
proposed action are identified.
All comments and materials received,
including names and addresses, will
become part of the administrative record
and may be released to the public.
Comments and materials received will
be available for public inspection, by
appointment, during normal business
hours at the office listed in the
ADDRESSES section of this notice.
The Service requests that comments
be specific. In particular, we request
information regarding: Direct, indirect,
and cumulative impacts of
implementation of the proposed action;
other possible alternatives that meet the
purpose and need; potential adaptive
management and/or monitoring
provisions; existing environmental
conditions in the project area; other
plans or projects that might be relevant
to this proposed project; and
minimization and mitigation efforts.
The environmental review of this
project will be conducted in accordance
with the requirements of the NEPA of
1969 as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), Council on the Environmental
Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–
1518), other applicable Federal laws and
regulations, and applicable policies and
procedures of the Services. This notice
is being furnished in accordance with
40 CFR 1501.7 to obtain suggestions and
information from other agencies and the
public on the scope of issues and
alternatives to be addressed in the EIS.
Dated: May 23, 2006.
John Engbring,
Acting Deputy Manager, California/Nevada
Operations Office, Sacramento, California.
[FR Doc. 06–4918 Filed 6–1–06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–55–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[ID 111 1610 DP 049D DBG060003]
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Notice of Availability of Draft Snake
River Birds of Prey National
Conservation Area Resource
Management Plan and Environmental
Impact Statement, Idaho
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
SUMMARY: In accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of
VerDate Aug<31>2005
18:05 Jun 01, 2006
Jkt 208001
1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and
the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43
U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft
Resource Management Plan/
Environmental Impact Statement (Draft
RMP/EIS) for the Snake River Birds of
Prey National Conservation Area (NCA).
DATES: To assure that they will be
considered, BLM must receive written
comments on the Draft RMP/EIS within
90 days following the date the
Environmental Protection Agency
publishes this Notice of Availability in
the Federal Register. The BLM will
announce future meetings or hearings
and any other public involvement
activities at least 15 days in advance
through public notices, media news
releases, and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: The Draft RMP/EIS will be
posted on the Internet at https://
www.id.blm.gov/planning and will be
mailed to those who have indicated that
they want a hard copy or a compact
disk.
You may submit comments by any of
the following methods:
• E-mail:
srbp@contentanalysisgroup.com.
• Fax: 801–397–2601.
• Mail: Snake River Birds of Prey
NCA, C/O Content Analysis Group, P.O.
Box 2000, Bountiful, UT 84011–2000.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John
Sullivan, NCA Manager, Bureau of Land
Management, Four Rivers Field Office,
3948 Development Ave., Boise, Idaho
83705, phone—208–384–3300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NCA
encompasses approximately 484,000
acres of public land along 81 miles of
the Snake River. The NCA was
established on August 4, 1993 by Public
Law 103–64 for the conservation,
protection, and enhancement of raptor
populations and habitats and the natural
and environmental resources and values
associated with the area.
Issues identified through public
scoping to be addressed in the planning
process include the following:
• Vegetation: Substantial losses of
native shrub and perennial grass
communities have resulted in smaller
and less stable small mammal raptor
prey populations, which have
secondarily impacted raptor
populations.
• Fuels Management: The landscapescale change from perennial to annual
plant communities has altered the
natural fire regime, resulting in more
frequent fires, and greater potential for
damage to private improvements in the
wildland urban interface.
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Frm 00099
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
• Recreation: The burgeoning human
population and associated development
in the surrounding area have increased
recreation-related impacts on soils and
vegetation, predominately through offroad vehicle use. In addition,
unregulated recreational shooting has
caused safety conflicts with military
training activities.
• National Guard: Military activities
need to be conducted in a way that
reduces impacts to soils and vegetation,
especially shrub communities.
Four alternative strategies are
described and analyzed, as follows:
Alternative A: (No-Action) Serves as a
baseline for comparison with the other
three alternatives, and proposes no
major changes in resource management.
Alternative B: Emphasizes a moderate
level of raptor and raptor prey habitat
restoration and rehabilitation, while
accommodating recreation, military, and
commodity uses that are compatible
with the purposes of the NCA.
Alternative C: Places a heavy
emphasis on restoration and
rehabilitation of all non-shrub areas
outside the National Guard’s Orchard
Training Area (OTA) to improve raptor
and raptor prey habitat. Livestock
grazing preference would be eliminated,
and recreation and military training
would be substantially restricted to
support habitat restoration projects.
Alternative D: (Preferred Alternative)
Places a heavy emphasis on restoration
of all non-shrub areas outside the OTA
to improve raptor and raptor prey
habitat, with moderate restrictions on
recreation, military, and commodity
uses.
Decision Process: Depending on the
number and types of comments on the
Draft RMP/EIS, the Proposed RMP/Final
EIS is expected to be published in late
2006. A Notice of Availability of the
Proposed RMP/Final EIS will be
published in the Federal Register and
through local news media. A notice of
an approved Record of Decision will be
published in the Federal Register
following resolution of any protests or
appeals on the Proposed RMP/Final EIS.
The official responsible for the decision
is the BLM Idaho State Director.
Individual respondents may request
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold
your name or street address from public
review or from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act, you must
state this prominently at the beginning
of your written comment. Such requests
will be honored to the extent allowed by
law. All submissions from organizations
and businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as
representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, will be
E:\FR\FM\02JNN1.SGM
02JNN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 106 (Friday, June 2, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32125-32126]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-4918]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement for the Paiute
Cutthroat Trout Restoration Project, Carson-Iceberg Wilderness,
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Alpine County, CA
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent of public scoping.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42
U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) as the
lead agency, advises the public that we intend to gather information
necessary to prepare, in cooperation with the United States Department
of Agriculture Forest Service (Forest Service), an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) on the proposed Paiute Cutthroat Trout Restoration
Project (Project). The Forest Service is a cooperating agency because
activities within designated wilderness on National Forest System lands
require Forest Service approval (36 CFR 261.9f, 293.6c).
The Service provides this notice to: (1) Describe the proposed
action and possible alternatives; (2) advise other Federal and State
agencies, affected Tribes, and the public of our intent to prepare an
EIS; (3) announce the initiation of a 30-day public scoping period; and
(4) obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues and
alternatives to be included in the EIS.
DATES: A public meeting will be held on: June 19, 2006 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Written comments should be received on or before July 3, 2006.
ADDRESSES: The public meeting will be held at Turtle Rock Park
Community Center 17300 State Route 89 Markleeville, California 96120.
Information, written comments, or questions related to the preparation
of the EIS and the NEPA process should be submitted to Robert D.
Williams, Field Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service, Nevada Fish and
Wildlife Office, 1340 Financial Boulevard, Suite 234, Reno, Nevada
89502; or FAX (775) 861-6301. Comments may be submitted electronically
to fw8pctcomments@fws.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chad Mellison (See ADDRESSES) at (775)
861-6300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Reasonable Accommodation
Persons needing reasonable accommodations in order to attend and
participate in the public meeting should contact Chad Mellison (See
ADDRESSES) at (775) 861-6300 as soon as possible. In order to allow
sufficient time to process requests, please call no later than one week
before the public meeting. Information regarding this proposed action
is available in alternative formats upon request.
Authority
This action is done in accordance with Recovery implementation
section 4(f)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended
(ESA).
Background
At the time of its original listing as endangered under the
Endangered Species Protection Act of 1966, non-native trout were
considered a threat to the Paiute cutthroat trout (PCT; Oncorhynchus
clarki seleniris). In 1975, PCT were reclassified as threatened under
the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and a 4(d) rule was issued to
facilitate management between California Department of Fish and Game
and the Service. In order to recover the subspecies, non-native trout
need to be removed from their historic habitat and PCT reintroduced as
specified in the 2004 Revised PCT Recovery Plan. Without this project,
PCT in the Silver King drainage will continue to be at risk from an
illegal introduction of non-native trout and/or stochastic (one time)
events such as a large fire or flood. Recovery of the species cannot be
achieved without this project and the long-term survival of the species
will be in doubt.
We propose to eradicate non-native trout with the piscicide
rotenone from 14.7 kilometers (9.1 miles) of historic PCT habitat, in
Silver King Creek, from Llewellyn Falls downstream to Silver King
Canyon as well as the accessible reaches of three small named
tributaries: Tamarack Creek, Tamarack Lake Creek, the lower reaches of
Coyote Valley Creek downstream of barrier falls, and Tamarack Lake.
Environmental Impact Statement
The Service has selected Entrix to prepare the EIS. Entrix will
prepare the EIS under the supervision of the Service, which will be
responsible for the scope and content of the NEPA document.
NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requires that Federal agencies
conduct and environmental analysis of their proposed actions to
determine if the actions may significantly affect the human
environment. Under NEPA, a reasonable range of alternatives to proposed
projects is developed and considered in the Services' environmental
review. Alternatives considered for analysis in an EIS may include:
Variations in the scope of proposed activities; variations in the
location, amount, and types of conservation; variations in activity
duration; or, a combination of these elements. In addition, the EIS
will identify potentially significant direct, indirect, and cumulative
impacts on biological resources, land use, air quality, water quality,
water resources, socio-economics, and other environmental issues that
could occur with the implementation of the proposed action and
alternatives. For all potentially significant impacts, the EIS will
identify avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures to reduce
these impacts, where feasible, to a level below significance.
The EIS will consider the proposed action, no action, and a
reasonable range of alternatives. A detailed description of the impacts
of the proposed action and each alternative will be included in the
EIS. The alternatives to be considered for analysis in the EIS may
include: Various fish removal methods; variations in timing; or, a
combination of these elements.
Request for Comments
The primary purpose of the scoping process is for the public to
assist the Services in developing the EIS by identifying important
issues and
[[Page 32126]]
alternatives related to the proposed action. A public meeting will be
held on June 19, 2006 as noted in the DATES section above.
Written comments from interested parties are welcome to ensure that
the full range of issues related to the proposed action are identified.
All comments and materials received, including names and addresses,
will become part of the administrative record and may be released to
the public.
Comments and materials received will be available for public
inspection, by appointment, during normal business hours at the office
listed in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
The Service requests that comments be specific. In particular, we
request information regarding: Direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts
of implementation of the proposed action; other possible alternatives
that meet the purpose and need; potential adaptive management and/or
monitoring provisions; existing environmental conditions in the project
area; other plans or projects that might be relevant to this proposed
project; and minimization and mitigation efforts.
The environmental review of this project will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of the NEPA of 1969 as amended (42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), Council on the Environmental Quality Regulations
(40 CFR parts 1500-1518), other applicable Federal laws and
regulations, and applicable policies and procedures of the Services.
This notice is being furnished in accordance with 40 CFR 1501.7 to
obtain suggestions and information from other agencies and the public
on the scope of issues and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS.
Dated: May 23, 2006.
John Engbring,
Acting Deputy Manager, California/Nevada Operations Office, Sacramento,
California.
[FR Doc. 06-4918 Filed 6-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P