Environmental Impact Statement for a Bison Management Plan, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, 18929-18930 [2014-07349]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 2014 / Notices office (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT). Public Availability of Comments Before including your address, phone number, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—might 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. Next Steps We will evaluate the permit application, including the HCP, and comments we receive to determine whether the application meets the requirements of section 10(a) of the Act. If the requirements are met, we will issue a permit to the applicant for the incidental take of the California redlegged frog from the implementation of the covered activities described in the Low-Effect Habitat Conservation Plan for California Red-legged Frog, Level 1 New Vineyard, 24129 Turkey Road, Sonoma County, California. We will make the final permit decision no sooner than 30 days after publication of this notice in the Federal Register. Authority We publish this notice under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347 et seq.; NEPA), and its implementing regulations in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 40 CFR 1500–1508, as well as in compliance with section 10(c) of the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1531–1544 et seq.; Act). Dated: March 31, 2014. Jennifer M. Norris, Field Supervisor, Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office, Sacramento, California. [FR Doc. 2014–07521 Filed 4–3–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4310–55–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES [NPS–IMR–GRCA–0014472; PPWONRADE2, PMP00EI05.YP0000, 13XP103905] Environmental Impact Statement for a Bison Management Plan, Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona National Park Service, Department of the Interior. ACTION: Notice of Intent. AGENCY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:37 Apr 03, 2014 Jkt 232001 Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a plan to address the impacts of the current abundance, distribution, and movement of bison on the natural and cultural resources of the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park (GRCA). DATES: Interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are encouraged to provide written comments regarding the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS. To be most helpful to the planning process, the NPS requests comments be submitted by June 3, 2014. The NPS intends to hold public scoping meetings on the Bison Management Plan EIS during this period and has tentatively identified the following locations for the meetings: Kanab, Utah; Flagstaff, Arizona, and Phoenix, Arizona. Specific dates, times, and locations will be made available via a press release to local media, a public scoping newsletter to be mailed or emailed to interested parties, and on the NPS’s Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_ bison_eis. The NPS will provide additional opportunities for the public to offer written comments upon publication of the draft EIS. ADDRESSES: Information will be available for public review online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_ bison_eis; in the NPS and USFS offices at 1824 Thompson Street, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001; the USFS North Kaibab Ranger District offices at 430 South Main Street, Fredonia, Arizona 86022; and in the Arizona Game and Fish Department offices at 3500 South Lake Mary Road, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A herd of bison was brought to the Grand Canyon region in the early 1900’s as part of a private bison-cattle breeding experiment. The herd was eventually sold to the state of Arizona in 1925 and subsequently came under the jurisdiction of the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD). In 1950, the AGFD (through an agreement with the U.S. Forest Service ((USFS)) established the House Rock Wildlife Area (HRWA) near GRCA as a place for the bison to reside. The AGFD managed the herd at a stable level (around 100 animals) through annual roundups and culling until the early 1970s, when they transitioned to public hunting as the sole means of managing the bison population. Between the late 1990’s and 2000, fires in the area created opportunities SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00053 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 18929 for the bison herd to move out of the HRWA, onto the Kaibab Plateau of the Kaibab National Forest, and into the park. Initially, bison would return to the HRWA to calve; however, over the past eight years, very few have returned to HRWA and most now spend a majority of their time inside GRCA, with many not leaving the park at all. In the last few years, the abundance, distribution, and movement of bison in and near the park have affected the NPS’s ability to conserve the natural and cultural resources on the North Rim of GRCA. In addition, the current situation limits the ability of the AGFD and USFS to meet their goal for managing a huntable, freeranging bison herd on the Kaibab National Forest. Since 2008, a workgroup consisting of staff from NPS (GRCA), AGFD, and USFS, has identified research needs and administrative and operational challenges of long-term cooperative management. As the lead agency in this planning and EIS process, the NPS has invited the AGFD and the USFS to be cooperating agencies. Ultimately, the NPS selected action will provide the basis for GRCA’s participation in a longterm, interagency approach to manage the current and future impacts of bison in the park, while supporting AGFD and USFS goals for a free-ranging bison population on the Kaibab National Forest. If you wish to comment during the scoping process, you may use any one of several methods. The preferred method for submitting comments is on the NPS PEPC Web site at https:// parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_bison_eis. You may also mail or hand-deliver your comments to the Superintendent, Grand Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023. Comments will also be accepted during public meetings; however, comments in any format (hard copy or electronic) submitted on behalf of others will not be accepted. 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. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Hahn, Grand Canyon National Park Chief of Science and Resource Management, P.O. Box 129, Grand E:\FR\FM\04APN1.SGM 04APN1 18930 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 65 / Friday, April 4, 2014 / Notices Canyon, AZ 86023, or by telephone at (928) 638–7759. Authority: The authority for publishing this notice is contained in 40 CFR 1506.6. The responsible official for this Notice of Intent is the Regional Director, Intermountain Region, NPS, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado 80228. Dated: February 4, 2014. Sue E. Masica, Regional Director, Intermountain Region. [FR Doc. 2014–07349 Filed 4–3–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4312–CB–P DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Bureau of Ocean Energy Management [MMAA104000] Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), Gulf of Mexico (GOM), Oil and Gas Lease Sales, Western Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sales 246 and 248 Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Interior. ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Prepare a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and an Announcement of Scoping Meetings and Comment Period for Proposed Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Western Planning Area Lease Sales 246 and 248. AGENCY: Consistent with the regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) (NEPA), BOEM is announcing its intent to prepare a Supplemental EIS for proposed Western Planning Area (WPA) Lease Sales 246 and 248 in the Gulf of Mexico (WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS). The WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS will update the environmental and socioeconomic analyses in the Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2012–2017; Western Planning Area Lease Sales 229, 233, 238, 246, and 248; Central Planning Area Lease Sales 227, 231, 235, 241, and 247, Final Environmental Impact Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2012–019) (2012–2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS), Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2013–2014; Western Planning Area Lease Sale 233; Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2013–0118) (WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS), and Gulf of Mexico OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales: 2014– 2016; Western Planning Area Lease Sales 238, 246, and 248, Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (OCS EIS/EA BOEM 2014– mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:37 Apr 03, 2014 Jkt 232001 009) (WPA 238/246/248 Supplemental EIS). The 2012–2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS was completed in July 2012. The WPA 233/CPA 231 Supplemental EIS was completed in April 2013. The WPA 238/246/248 Supplemental EIS was completed in March 2014. The WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS will supplement the NEPA documents cited above for WPA lease sales in order to consider new circumstances and information arising from, among other things, the Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill, and response. The WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS analysis will focus on updating the baseline conditions and potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development, and production in the WPA. The WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS analysis will also focus on the potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development, and production in the WPA identified through the Area Identification procedure as the proposed lease sale area. In addition to the no action alternative (i.e., canceling a proposed lease sale), other alternatives may be considered for the proposed WPA lease sales, such as deferring certain areas from the proposed lease sale area. DATES: Comments should be submitted by May 5, 2014 to the address specified in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS, the submission of comments, or BOEM’s policies associated with this notice, please contact Mr. Gary D. Goeke, Chief, Environmental Assessment Section, Office of Environment (GM 623E), Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70123–2394, telephone (504) 736– 3233. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On August 27, 2012, the Secretary of the Interior approved the OCS Oil & Gas Leasing Program: 2012–2017 (2012–2017 FiveYear Program). This Supplemental EIS will consider the two remaining WPA sales for this 2012–2017 Five-Year Program. Proposed WPA Lease Sales 246 and 248 are tentatively scheduled to be held in 2015 and 2016, respectively. The proposed WPA lease sale area encompasses virtually all of the WPA’s 28.58 million acres, with the exception of whole and partial blocks within the boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. This Federal Register notice is not an announcement to hold a proposed lease PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 sale, but it is a continuation of information gathering and is published early in the environmental review process, in furtherance of the goals of NEPA. The comments received during the scoping comment period will help form the content of the WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS and will be summarized in presale documentation prepared during the decision making process for proposed WPA Lease Sale 246. If, after completion of the WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS, the Secretary of the Interior decides to hold a lease sale, then the lease sale area identified in the final Notice of Sale may exclude or defer certain lease blocks from the area offered. However, for purposes of the WPA 246/248 Supplemental EIS and to adequately assess the potential impacts of an areawide lease sale, BOEM is assuming that all unleased blocks may be offered in proposed WPA Lease Sales 246 and 248. In order to ensure a greater level of transparency during the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) stages and tiered NEPA processes of the Five-Year Program, BOEM established an alternative and mitigation tracking table, which is designed to track the receipt and treatment of alternative and mitigation suggestions. Section 4.3.2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012–2017; Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (the Five-Year Program EIS) (https://www.boem.gov/5-Year/20122017/PEIS.aspx) presented a list of deferral and alternative requests that were received during the development of the Five-Year Program EIS, but were determined to be more appropriately considered at subsequent OCSLA and NEPA stages. The 2012–2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS addressed these deferral and alternative requests, but they were ultimately deemed inappropriate for further analysis as separate alternatives or deferrals from those already included and considered in the 2012–2017 WPA/ CPA Multisale EIS. In this and future NEPA analyses, BOEM will continue to evaluate whether these or other deferral or alternative requests warrant additional consideration as appropriate. (Please refer to Chapter 2.2.1.2 of the 2012–2017 WPA/CPA Multisale EIS for a complete discussion; https:// www.boem.gov/EnvironmentalStewardship/EnvironmentalAssessment/NEPA/BOEM-2012-019_ v1.aspx.) A key principle at each stage in the NEPA process is to identify how the recommendations for deferral and mitigation requests are being addressed and whether new information or E:\FR\FM\04APN1.SGM 04APN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 65 (Friday, April 4, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18929-18930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-07349]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-IMR-GRCA-0014472; PPWONRADE2, PMP00EI05.YP0000, 13XP103905]


Environmental Impact Statement for a Bison Management Plan, Grand 
Canyon National Park, Arizona

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a plan to address the impacts 
of the current abundance, distribution, and movement of bison on the 
natural and cultural resources of the North Rim of Grand Canyon 
National Park (GRCA).

DATES: Interested individuals, organizations, and agencies are 
encouraged to provide written comments regarding the scope of issues to 
be addressed in the EIS. To be most helpful to the planning process, 
the NPS requests comments be submitted by June 3, 2014. The NPS intends 
to hold public scoping meetings on the Bison Management Plan EIS during 
this period and has tentatively identified the following locations for 
the meetings: Kanab, Utah; Flagstaff, Arizona, and Phoenix, Arizona. 
Specific dates, times, and locations will be made available via a press 
release to local media, a public scoping newsletter to be mailed or 
emailed to interested parties, and on the NPS's Planning, Environment 
and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_bison_eis. The NPS will provide additional opportunities for the 
public to offer written comments upon publication of the draft EIS.

ADDRESSES: Information will be available for public review online at 
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_bison_eis; in the NPS and USFS 
offices at 1824 Thompson Street, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001; the USFS 
North Kaibab Ranger District offices at 430 South Main Street, 
Fredonia, Arizona 86022; and in the Arizona Game and Fish Department 
offices at 3500 South Lake Mary Road, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A herd of bison was brought to the Grand 
Canyon region in the early 1900's as part of a private bison-cattle 
breeding experiment. The herd was eventually sold to the state of 
Arizona in 1925 and subsequently came under the jurisdiction of the 
Arizona Game and Fish Department (AGFD). In 1950, the AGFD (through an 
agreement with the U.S. Forest Service ((USFS)) established the House 
Rock Wildlife Area (HRWA) near GRCA as a place for the bison to reside. 
The AGFD managed the herd at a stable level (around 100 animals) 
through annual roundups and culling until the early 1970s, when they 
transitioned to public hunting as the sole means of managing the bison 
population.
    Between the late 1990's and 2000, fires in the area created 
opportunities for the bison herd to move out of the HRWA, onto the 
Kaibab Plateau of the Kaibab National Forest, and into the park. 
Initially, bison would return to the HRWA to calve; however, over the 
past eight years, very few have returned to HRWA and most now spend a 
majority of their time inside GRCA, with many not leaving the park at 
all. In the last few years, the abundance, distribution, and movement 
of bison in and near the park have affected the NPS's ability to 
conserve the natural and cultural resources on the North Rim of GRCA. 
In addition, the current situation limits the ability of the AGFD and 
USFS to meet their goal for managing a huntable, free-ranging bison 
herd on the Kaibab National Forest. Since 2008, a workgroup consisting 
of staff from NPS (GRCA), AGFD, and USFS, has identified research needs 
and administrative and operational challenges of long-term cooperative 
management. As the lead agency in this planning and EIS process, the 
NPS has invited the AGFD and the USFS to be cooperating agencies. 
Ultimately, the NPS selected action will provide the basis for GRCA's 
participation in a long-term, interagency approach to manage the 
current and future impacts of bison in the park, while supporting AGFD 
and USFS goals for a free-ranging bison population on the Kaibab 
National Forest.
    If you wish to comment during the scoping process, you may use any 
one of several methods. The preferred method for submitting comments is 
on the NPS PEPC Web site at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/grca_bison_eis. You may also mail or hand-deliver your comments to the 
Superintendent, Grand Canyon National Park, P.O. Box 129, Grand Canyon, 
Arizona 86023. Comments will also be accepted during public meetings; 
however, comments in any format (hard copy or electronic) submitted on 
behalf of others will not be accepted. 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martha Hahn, Grand Canyon National 
Park Chief of Science and Resource Management, P.O. Box 129, Grand

[[Page 18930]]

Canyon, AZ 86023, or by telephone at (928) 638-7759.

    Authority: The authority for publishing this notice is contained 
in 40 CFR 1506.6.

    The responsible official for this Notice of Intent is the Regional 
Director, Intermountain Region, NPS, 12795 West Alameda Parkway, 
Lakewood, Colorado 80228.

    Dated: February 4, 2014.
Sue E. Masica,
Regional Director, Intermountain Region.
[FR Doc. 2014-07349 Filed 4-3-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-CB-P
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