Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 3 Bars Ecosystem and Landscape Restoration Project in Eureka County, NV, 59712-59713 [2013-23484]

Download as PDF 59712 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 188 / Friday, September 27, 2013 / Notices Type of response Number of responses annually Time for each response (hours) Annual hour burden (column B × column C) (hours) A. B. C. D. Land Use Application and Permit, 43 CFR Part 2920 Form 2920–1, Individuals ...................... Land Use Application and Permit, 43 CFR Part 2920, Form 2920–1, State and Local Governments ........................................................................................................................................ Land Use Application and Permit, 43 CFR Part 2920, Form 2920–1, Private Sector/Typical ... Land Use Application and Permit, 43 CFR Part 2920, Form 2920–1, Private Sector/Complex 66 1 66 45 286 10 1 1 120 45 286 1,200 Totals .................................................................................................................................... 407 ........................ 1,597 Jean Sonneman, Bureau of Land Management, Information Collection Clearance Officer. [FR Doc. 2013–23483 Filed 9–26–13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–84–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [LLNVB00000.LF3100000. DD0000.LFHFJF500000; 13–08807; MO# 4500053474] Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 3 Bars Ecosystem and Landscape Restoration Project in Eureka County, NV Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability. AGENCY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Battle Mountain District, Mount Lewis Field Office, has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 3 Bars Ecosystem and Landscape Restoration Project (3 Bars Project) and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period. DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive written comments on the 3 Bars Project Draft EIS within 45 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its 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 media releases, Web site postings and/or mailings. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the 3 Bars Project by any of the following methods: • Email: 3Bars_Project@blm.gov. • Fax: 775–635–4034 Attn: Chad Lewis, 3 Bars Project. pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:21 Sep 26, 2013 Jkt 229001 • Mail: BLM, Attn: Chad Lewis, 3 Bars Project, 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, NV 89820. Copies of the Draft EIS are available at the BLM Battle Mountain District Office in Battle Mountain, Nevada. The document can also be downloaded from the 3 Bars Project Web site that can be accessed through a link on the Battle Mountain District’s Web page at: https:// www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/battle_ mountain_field.html. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chad Lewis, 3 Bars Project Manager, telephone: 775–635–4102; address: 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, NV 89820; or email: 3Bars_Project@blm.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 3 Bars Project area in central Eureka County, Nevada, spans approximately 750,000 acres and includes all or portions of three major mountain ranges (Roberts Mountain, Simpson Park Range, and Sulphur Spring Range). Many factors are contributing to an overall downward trend in land condition within this area, including an increasing incidence and severity of wildfire, increasing expansion of downy brome (cheatgrass), increasing expansion and densification of pinyon pine and Utah juniper woodlands, and increasing human impacts. The BLM is proposing a comprehensive treatment program for dramatically improving the health of the 3 Bars Project area and for reducing the risks that are contributing to its decline. The proposed project focuses on restoration at the landscape level. The proposed treatments would range from several acres to several thousand acres, depending on specific treatment and PO 00000 Frm 00066 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 management goals and desired objectives for each resource area. Possible treatment methods would include manual, mechanical, and biological control treatments, prescribed fire or wildland fire for resource benefit, and other management actions. In order to implement the proposed 3 Bars Project, the BLM has developed the All Available Methods Alternative, which is the preferred alternative, with treatments and treatment objectives that meet previously identified resource management goals. These goals are consistent with the 1986 ShoshoneEureka Resource Management Plan which currently guides land management activities within the 3 Bars Project area. These goals pertain to wildlife and habitat enhancement, fire and fuels management, control of weeds, woodland and rangeland values, wetland and riparian restoration, wild horse protection, Native American concerns, and cultural resources. The BLM has identified site-specific treatment projects that it would like to implement to restore and manage the 3 Bars Project Area. Treatment projects were identified through an iterative process involving the BLM and other Federal and State agencies. Treatments would focus on four priority vegetation management concerns: • Riparian—treatments in riparian habitats would focus on restoring functionality in areas where structural integrity (incised channel, headcuts, knickpoints, developments, and diversions) and/or appropriate species composition are compromised. • Aspen—treatments in quaking aspen management habitats would focus on improving the health of aspen stands by stimulating aspen stand suckering and sucker survival. • Pinyon-juniper—treatments in singleleaf pinyon pine and Utah juniper habitats would focus on thinning historic pinyon-juniper communities to promote woodland health and removing pinyon-juniper where it encroaches into E:\FR\FM\27SEN1.SGM 27SEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 188 / Friday, September 27, 2013 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES riparian areas and upland habitats, including sagebrush habitat. • Sagebrush—treatments in sagebrush habitats would focus on restoring the sagebrush community by removing encroaching pinyon-juniper, promoting the reestablishment of native forbs and grasses in sagebrush communities, and promoting the development of sagebrush in areas where it occurred historically. The proposed 3 Bars Project has been identified by the BLM as a major Federal action and is appropriately analyzed by an EIS. The 3 Bars Project Draft EIS identifies and evaluates treatment alternatives to implement the proposed project to meet resource management goals. In addition to the All Available Methods Alternative, three other alternatives are analyzed in the Draft EIS. The No Fire Use Alternative would target the same treatment areas, but the methods of treatment would not include prescribed fire or wildland fire for resource benefit. The Minimal Land Disturbance Alternative also targets the same areas for treatment, but further limits the methods of treatment to exclude fire use, mechanical treatments, and nonclassical biological controls. The BLM anticipates that more acres would be treated under the preferred alternative due to the lower cost of some of the treatment methods that would not be available under the other alternatives. A No Action alternative has also been included for comparison purposes with existing management conditions. Three additional alternatives were considered but eliminated from detailed analysis. The BLM has prepared the Draft EIS in conjunction with its three cooperating agencies: The Nevada Department of Wildlife, Eureka County Board of Commissioners, and the National Park Service—National Trails Intermountain Region. On January 25, 2010, the BLM published a Notice of Intent (75 FR 3916) to initiate scoping for the preparation of the EIS. The scoping period ended March 10, 2010. Public scoping meetings were held in Battle Mountain, Nevada, on February 22 and Eureka, Nevada on February 23, 2010. The BLM received 24 scoping comment letters on the proposed 3 Bars Project. In addition, comments were recorded during informal discussions with the public at the public scoping meetings. Based on written and oral comments given during the scoping period, 637 catalogued individual comments were recorded during scoping for the 3 Bars Project EIS. VerDate Mar<15>2010 14:21 Sep 26, 2013 Jkt 229001 Vegetation treatment planning and management and vegetation treatment methods were the primary topics of concern to the public. Respondents were also concerned with the impacts that treatment actions would have on the spread of invasive species, the viability of wild horses and livestock, preservation of old growth woodlands, and protection of habitat for wildlife and special status species. All relevant issues identified through public scoping have been analyzed in this EIS to the extent practicable. The Draft EIS describes and analyzes the proposed project’s site-specific impacts (including cumulative) on all affected resources. Three action alternatives (including the preferred alternative) were analyzed in addition to the No-Action Alternative and three alternatives were considered but eliminated from further analysis. Please note that public comments and information submitted including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who submit comments will be available for public review and disclosure at the above address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10. Christopher J. Cook, Field Manager, Mount Lewis Field Office. [FR Doc. 2013–23484 Filed 9–26–13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Land Management [LLMT923000 L16100000.DP0000] Notice of Availability of the North Dakota Greater Sage-Grouse Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement Bureau of Land Management, Interior. ACTION: Notice of Availability. AGENCY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00067 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 59713 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a North Dakota Greater Sage-Grouse (GRSG) Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the North Dakota Field Office and by this notice is announcing the opening of the comment period. DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive written comments on the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS within 90 days after the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its notice of the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce future meetings or hearings and any other public participation activities at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases, and/or mailings. ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the North Dakota GRSG Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS by any of the following methods: • Web site: https://www.blm.gov/mt/ st/en/fo/north_dakota_field.html. • Email: blm_mt_nd_sage_grouse@ blm.gov. • Fax: 406–896–5293. • Mail: BLM—North Dakota Greater Sage-Grouse EIS, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings MT 59101. Copies of the North Dakota GRSG Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EIS are available at the North Dakota Field Office at: 99 23rd Ave. W., Dickinson, ND, or on the Web site at: https:// www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/north_ dakota_field.html. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ruth Miller, Team Lead, telephone 406– 896–5023; see address and email above. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–253–4093 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM prepared the North Dakota GRSG Draft RMP Amendment and Draft EIS to address a range of alternatives focused on specific conservation measures across the North Dakota range of the GRSG. This Draft RMP Amendment/ Draft EIS is one of 15 separate planning efforts that are being undertaken as part of the BLM’s and U.S. Forest Service’s (USFS) National GRSG Planning Strategy. The Draft RMP Amendment/ E:\FR\FM\27SEN1.SGM 27SEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 188 (Friday, September 27, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59712-59713]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-23484]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLNVB00000.LF3100000.DD0000.LFHFJF500000; 13-08807; MO 
4500053474]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the 3 Bars Ecosystem and Landscape Restoration Project in 
Eureka County, NV

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Battle Mountain 
District, Mount Lewis Field Office, has prepared a Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for the 3 Bars Ecosystem and Landscape 
Restoration Project (3 Bars Project) and by this notice is announcing 
the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the 3 Bars Project Draft EIS within 45 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its 
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 media releases, Web site postings 
and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the 3 Bars Project by any 
of the following methods:
     Email: 3Bars_Project@blm.gov.
     Fax: 775-635-4034 Attn: Chad Lewis, 3 Bars Project.
     Mail: BLM, Attn: Chad Lewis, 3 Bars Project, 50 Bastian 
Road, Battle Mountain, NV 89820.
    Copies of the Draft EIS are available at the BLM Battle Mountain 
District Office in Battle Mountain, Nevada. The document can also be 
downloaded from the 3 Bars Project Web site that can be accessed 
through a link on the Battle Mountain District's Web page at: https://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/battle_mountain_field.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chad Lewis, 3 Bars Project Manager, 
telephone: 775-635-4102; address: 50 Bastian Road, Battle Mountain, NV 
89820; or email: 3Bars_Project@blm.gov. Persons who use a 
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to contact the above 
individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours 
a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with the above 
individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 3 Bars Project area in central Eureka 
County, Nevada, spans approximately 750,000 acres and includes all or 
portions of three major mountain ranges (Roberts Mountain, Simpson Park 
Range, and Sulphur Spring Range). Many factors are contributing to an 
overall downward trend in land condition within this area, including an 
increasing incidence and severity of wildfire, increasing expansion of 
downy brome (cheatgrass), increasing expansion and densification of 
pinyon pine and Utah juniper woodlands, and increasing human impacts.
    The BLM is proposing a comprehensive treatment program for 
dramatically improving the health of the 3 Bars Project area and for 
reducing the risks that are contributing to its decline. The proposed 
project focuses on restoration at the landscape level. The proposed 
treatments would range from several acres to several thousand acres, 
depending on specific treatment and management goals and desired 
objectives for each resource area. Possible treatment methods would 
include manual, mechanical, and biological control treatments, 
prescribed fire or wildland fire for resource benefit, and other 
management actions.
    In order to implement the proposed 3 Bars Project, the BLM has 
developed the All Available Methods Alternative, which is the preferred 
alternative, with treatments and treatment objectives that meet 
previously identified resource management goals. These goals are 
consistent with the 1986 Shoshone-Eureka Resource Management Plan which 
currently guides land management activities within the 3 Bars Project 
area. These goals pertain to wildlife and habitat enhancement, fire and 
fuels management, control of weeds, woodland and rangeland values, 
wetland and riparian restoration, wild horse protection, Native 
American concerns, and cultural resources. The BLM has identified site-
specific treatment projects that it would like to implement to restore 
and manage the 3 Bars Project Area. Treatment projects were identified 
through an iterative process involving the BLM and other Federal and 
State agencies. Treatments would focus on four priority vegetation 
management concerns:
     Riparian--treatments in riparian habitats would focus on 
restoring functionality in areas where structural integrity (incised 
channel, headcuts, knickpoints, developments, and diversions) and/or 
appropriate species composition are compromised.
     Aspen--treatments in quaking aspen management habitats 
would focus on improving the health of aspen stands by stimulating 
aspen stand suckering and sucker survival.
     Pinyon-juniper--treatments in singleleaf pinyon pine and 
Utah juniper habitats would focus on thinning historic pinyon-juniper 
communities to promote woodland health and removing pinyon-juniper 
where it encroaches into

[[Page 59713]]

riparian areas and upland habitats, including sagebrush habitat.
     Sagebrush--treatments in sagebrush habitats would focus on 
restoring the sagebrush community by removing encroaching pinyon-
juniper, promoting the reestablishment of native forbs and grasses in 
sagebrush communities, and promoting the development of sagebrush in 
areas where it occurred historically.

    The proposed 3 Bars Project has been identified by the BLM as a 
major Federal action and is appropriately analyzed by an EIS. The 3 
Bars Project Draft EIS identifies and evaluates treatment alternatives 
to implement the proposed project to meet resource management goals. In 
addition to the All Available Methods Alternative, three other 
alternatives are analyzed in the Draft EIS. The No Fire Use Alternative 
would target the same treatment areas, but the methods of treatment 
would not include prescribed fire or wildland fire for resource 
benefit. The Minimal Land Disturbance Alternative also targets the same 
areas for treatment, but further limits the methods of treatment to 
exclude fire use, mechanical treatments, and non-classical biological 
controls. The BLM anticipates that more acres would be treated under 
the preferred alternative due to the lower cost of some of the 
treatment methods that would not be available under the other 
alternatives. A No Action alternative has also been included for 
comparison purposes with existing management conditions. Three 
additional alternatives were considered but eliminated from detailed 
analysis.
    The BLM has prepared the Draft EIS in conjunction with its three 
cooperating agencies: The Nevada Department of Wildlife, Eureka County 
Board of Commissioners, and the National Park Service--National Trails 
Intermountain Region.
    On January 25, 2010, the BLM published a Notice of Intent (75 FR 
3916) to initiate scoping for the preparation of the EIS. The scoping 
period ended March 10, 2010. Public scoping meetings were held in 
Battle Mountain, Nevada, on February 22 and Eureka, Nevada on February 
23, 2010. The BLM received 24 scoping comment letters on the proposed 3 
Bars Project. In addition, comments were recorded during informal 
discussions with the public at the public scoping meetings. Based on 
written and oral comments given during the scoping period, 637 
catalogued individual comments were recorded during scoping for the 3 
Bars Project EIS.
    Vegetation treatment planning and management and vegetation 
treatment methods were the primary topics of concern to the public. 
Respondents were also concerned with the impacts that treatment actions 
would have on the spread of invasive species, the viability of wild 
horses and livestock, preservation of old growth woodlands, and 
protection of habitat for wildlife and special status species. All 
relevant issues identified through public scoping have been analyzed in 
this EIS to the extent practicable. The Draft EIS describes and 
analyzes the proposed project's site-specific impacts (including 
cumulative) on all affected resources. Three action alternatives 
(including the preferred alternative) were analyzed in addition to the 
No-Action Alternative and three alternatives were considered but 
eliminated from further analysis.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who 
submit comments will be available for public review and disclosure at 
the above address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), 
Monday through Friday, except holidays.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority:  40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10.

Christopher J. Cook,
Field Manager, Mount Lewis Field Office.
[FR Doc. 2013-23484 Filed 9-26-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-HC-P
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