Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland; Wyoming; Thunder Basin Analysis Area Vegetation Management, 9302-9303 [07-919]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Forest Service

[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 40 (Thursday, March 1, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9302-9303]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-919]


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Notices
                                                Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 40 / Thursday, March 1, 2007 / 
Notices

[[Page 9302]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National 
Grassland; Wyoming; Thunder Basin Analysis Area Vegetation Management

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service is analyzing the management of rangeland 
vegetation resources, which includes livestock grazing, on the National 
Forest Service (NSF) lands within the Thunder Basin National 
Grasslands. NSF lands that comprise the Thunder Basin Analysis Area 
will be assessed to determine how existing resource conditions compare 
to the desired conditions outlined in the Thunder Basin National 
Grassland Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP). A management 
strategy will be developed in order to maintain or improve rangeland 
and vegetation conditions toward LRMP desired conditions.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by 30 days from the date of publication in the Federal Register. The 
draft environmental impact statement (EIS) is expected July 1, 2007 and 
the final environmental impact statement is expected September 1, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Written comments concerning this notice should be addressed 
to Marilee Houtler at 2250 E. Richards, Douglas, WY 82633. Comments may 
also be sent via e-mail to rocky-mountain-medicine-bow-routt-douglas-
thunder-basin@fs.fed.us.
    All comments including names and addressed when provided, are 
placed in the record and are available for public inspection and 
copying. The public may inspect comments received at Douglas Ranger 
District, 2250 E. Richards, Douglas, WY 82633. Visitors are encouraged 
to call ahead to (307) 358-4690 to facilitate entry into the building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle Schmitt, Rangeland Management 
Specialist or Misty Hays, Deputy District Ranger, Douglas Ranger 
District, at the above address (307) 358-4690.
    Individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) 
may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, Monday through 
Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Vegetation resources on approximately 
351,192 acres of NFS lands, lying within the Thunder Basis National 
Grassland boundaries portions of Campbell, Converse, and Weston 
Counties, Wyoming (Townships 37-44 North, Ranges 66-72 West) are being 
analyzed to determine if and how existing conditions differ from 
desired conditions outlined in the 2001 LRMP. Vegetation in the 
Analysis Area is characteristic of shortgrass prairie, but is mainly 
comprised of mixed-grass prairie species. Johnson and Larson (1999) 
describe the Analysis Area as a Big Sagebrush-Wheatgrass Plains Major 
Vegetation Type, dominated by fairly dense dwarf shrubs, of which most 
are Wyoming big sagebrush.
    A large portion of the Thunder Basin Analysis Area evolved under a 
history of homesteading in the early twentieth century, but a prolonged 
drought period combined with the economic depression of the late 1920's 
and early 1930's caused many of these homesteads to fail. Starting in 
1935, land was purchased through the Northeastern Wyoming Land 
Utilization Project initiated by the Agricultural Adjustment 
Administration, and continued with the Bankhead Jones Farm Tenant Act 
of 1937, which was designed to develop a program of land conservation. 
Administration of these lands was turned over to the Soil Conservation 
Service the following year, and transferred to the United States Forest 
Service in 1954.
    Today the Thunder Basin National Grassland supports and provides a 
variety of multiple resource uses and values, which include 
recreational opportunities, mineral development, wildlife habitat, 
historical and cultural remnants, as well as domestic livestock 
grazing. Livestock ranching operations in the area depend on National 
Grassland acreage to create logical and efficient management units. 
Cattle, sheep, and horses, in accordance with 10-year term and/or 
annual temporary livestock grazing permits, are currently authorized to 
graze the allotments within the Analysis Area.
    In order to determine how existing resource conditions compare to 
desired conditions, data collection was conducted from 2003 to 2006. 
During this period, drought conditions impacted plant vigor, canopy and 
litter cover in some parts of the Analysis Area. Data analysis 
indicates that seral stage and structural objectives are currently not 
meeting vegetation health desired conditions within some portions of 
the Analysis Area. Other areas of concern based on data analysis 
include enhancing vegetation conditions in riparian areas and 
decreasing the frequency and density of non-native invasive species 
within the Analysis Area.

Purpose and Need for Action

    Need: To continue to authorize livestock grazing and associated 
vegetation management actions with appropriate identified management 
options within the Thunder Basin Analysis Area, and to do so in a 
manner that will resolve any disparities between existing and desired 
conditions in a suitable timeframe.
    Purpose: To implement vegetation management objectives in the 
Thunder Basin National Grassland Land and Resource Management Plan with 
goals of increasing native forb and perennial grass diversity, 
improving riparian area conditions, improving vegetation health, and 
slowing or decreasing the frequency and density of non-native invasive 
species. This analysis will serve as a guide for implementation of LRMP 
vegetation management objectives aimed at improving vegetation and 
riparian area conditions, providing desired mixes of seral and 
structural stages of vegetation, as well as establishing appropriate 
monitoring techniques that will measure the effectiveness of management 
activities.

Proposed Action

    The Forest Service proposes the following actions to meet the need 
and purpose described above:

--Manage vegetation through an adaptive management process, which

[[Page 9303]]

includes authorizing livestock grazing on allotments within the Thunder 
Basin Analysis Area of the Thunder Basin National Grasslands, that will 
meet or move toward desired resource conditions.
--Define an allotment specific starting point in which management is 
believed to be capable of meeting or moving toward desired conditions 
in a timely manner.
--Monitor to evaluate both implementation and effectiveness of 
management actions.

    In all cases, management will use vegetation management tools that 
will meet LRMP Objectives, Standards and Guidelines, and maintain or 
move existing resource conditions toward Geographic Area desired 
conditions. If monitoring indicates that practices are being properly 
implemented and that resource trends are moving toward meeting desired 
conditions in a timely manner, management may continue. If monitoring 
indicates that there is a need to modify management practices, adaptive 
options as analyzed in the EIS will be selected and implemented.

Possible Alternatives

    (1) No action.
    (2) Continued current management.

Responsible Official

    Robert M. Sprentall, District Ranger, Douglas Ranger District, 2250 
East Richards Street, Douglas, Wyoming 82633, is the official 
responsible for making the decision on this action. He will document 
his decision and rational in a Record of Decision.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The Responsible Official will consider the results of the analysis 
and its findings and then document the final decision in a Record of 
Decision (ROD). The decision will determine whether or not to authorize 
livestock grazing on all, part, or none of the allotments within the 
Thunder Basin analysis Area, and if so, what adaptive management design 
criteria, adaptive options, and monitoring will be implemented so as to 
meet or move toward the desired conditions in the defined timeframe.

Scoping Process

    The Forest Service has publicly scoped the proposed action in 
August 2006 as the Thunder Basin Analysis Area Vegetation Management 
Environmental Assessment. Individuals who submitted comments on this 
scoping will still have standing. These comments have been reviewed and 
are being considered as the analysis continues.

Preliminary Issues

    The Forest Service has identified the following preliminary issues: 
(1) Current impacts to soil resources from the continuing drought, and 
livestock and wildlife grazing/browsing; (2) Potential impacts to 
livestock grazing permits on National Grasslands.

Comment Requested

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process which guides 
the development of the draft environmental impact statement.
    Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review: A draft EIS will be prepared for comment. The 
comment period on the draft environmental statement will be 45 days 
from the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice 
of availability in the Federal Register. While public participation is 
strictly optional at this stage, the Forest Service believes that it is 
important to give reviewers notice of several court rulings related to 
public participation in the subsequent environmental review process. 
First, reviewers of draft statements 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 
environmental impact statement stage but that are not raised until 
after completion of the final environmental impact statement may be 
waived or dismissed by the courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 
1016, 1022 (9th Cir. 1986) and Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 
F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980).
    Because of these court rulings, it is very important that those 
interested in this proposed action participate by the close of the 45 
day draft environmental impact statement comment period so that 
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 environmental impact statement. To assist the Forest Service in 
identifying and considering issues and concerns on the proposed action, 
comments on the draft environmental impact statement should be as 
specific as possible. It is also helpful if comments refer to specific 
pages or chapters of the draft statement. Comments also may address the 
adequacy of the draft environmental impact statement or the merits of 
the alternatives formulated and discussed in the statement. In 
addressing these points, reviewers may wish to refer to the Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations which implement the procedural 
provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act of 40 CFR 1503.3.

    Dated: February 21, 2007.
Misty A. Hays,
Deputy District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 07-919 Filed 2-28-07; 8:45 am]
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