Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision; and Approved Land Management Plan Amendments for the Rocky Mountain Region Greater Sage-Grouse Sub-Regions Northwest Colorado, and Wyoming, 57332-57333 [2015-24168]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Forest Service

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 184 (Wednesday, September 23, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57332-57333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24168]


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                                                Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 184 / Wednesday, September 23, 2015 / 
Notices

[[Page 57332]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision; and Approved 
Land Management Plan Amendments for the Rocky Mountain Region Greater 
Sage-Grouse Sub-Regions Northwest Colorado, and Wyoming

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Record of Decision.

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

SUMMARY: The Forest Service announces the availability of the Record of 
Decision (ROD) and Approved Land Management Plan (LMP) Amendments for 
the Rocky Mountain Region Greater Sage-Grouse (GRSG) sub-regions of 
Northwest Colorado and Wyoming. The Intermountain and Rocky Mountain 
Regional Foresters signed the ROD on September 16, 2015, which 
constitutes the final decision of the Forest Service.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD and LMP Amendments are available upon 
request and are also available for public inspection at the addresses 
listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. Interested persons may 
also review the ROD and Approved LMP amendments and on the World Wide 
Web at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r4/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the Northwest Colorado GRSG LMP 
Amendment contact Dennis Jaeger, Routt National Forest Supervisor, 
telephone 307-745-2400; address Routt National Forest 2468 Jackson 
Street, Laramie, WY 82070; email: djaeger01@fs.fed.us.
    For the Wyoming GRSG LMP amendment contact Pam Bode, Wyoming State 
Liaison, telephone 307-352-0259; address Bridger-Teton National Forest, 
340 North Cache, Jackson, Wyoming 83001; email: pbode@fs.fed.us.
    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: This Record of Decision (ROD) and Approved 
Land Management Plan (LMP) Amendments for the Rocky Mountain Region 
Greater Sage-Grouse (GRSG) sub-regions of Northwest Colorado and 
Wyoming were developed through a collaborative planning process and 
incorporate land-use plan level conservation measures into existing 
Forest Service LMPs to conserve, enhance, and restore GRSG and its 
habitat by reducing, eliminating, or minimizing threats to GRSG and its 
habitat. The ROD and Approved LMP Amendments include management 
direction that limits or eliminates new surface disturbance in GRSG 
Priority Habitat Management Areas, while minimizing disturbance in GRSG 
General Habitat Management Areas. In addition to establishing 
protective management direction, the Approved LMP Amendments establish 
a suite of management provisions, such as the establishment of 
disturbance limits, GRSG habitat objectives, mitigation requirements, 
monitoring protocols, and adaptive management triggers and responses, 
as well as other conservation measures throughout the range. The 
cumulative effect of these conservation measures is to protect, 
improve, and restore GRSG habitat across the remaining range of the 
species in the Rocky Mountain Region and provide greater certainty that 
Forest Service activities and authorizations in GRSG habitat will lead 
to conservation of GRSG and its habitat as well as other sagebrush-
steppe associated species in the Region.
    The ROD and Approved LMP Amendments amend the following Forest 
Service LMPs:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  National Forest System      Date of
           Sub-region                      unit             current LMP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NW Colorado....................  Routt National Forest..            1998
Wyoming........................  Thunder Basin National             2002
                                  Grassland.
                                 Bridger-Teton National             1990
                                  Forest.
                                 Medicine Bow National              2003
                                  Forest.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Northwest Colorado and Wyoming Draft Land Use Plan Amendments 
(LUPAs)/Draft Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and Proposed 
LUPAs/Final EISs also included proposed GRSG management direction on 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands. However, the BLM 
completed a separate ROD and Resource Management Plan Amendments/
Revisions under BLM planning authorities. Management decisions within 
the Forest Service ROD and Approved LMP Amendments apply only to 
National Forest System lands. Notice of Availability for the Rocky 
Mountain Region GRSG Proposed LUPs/Final EISs were published in the 
Federal Register on May 29, 2015, which initiated a 30-day protest 
period.
    The BLM and Forest Service received 55 timely and valid protest 
submissions for all Rocky Mountain region Proposed LUPAs/Final EISs. 
After careful consideration of the all issues raised in these protests, 
the Deputy Chief for the National Forest System concluded that the 
responsible planning team followed all applicable laws, regulations, 
and policies and considered all relevant resource information and 
public input in developing the Proposed LUPs/Final EISs. For a full 
description of the issues raised during the protest period and how they 
were addressed, please refer to the Protest Resolution Reports for the 
Northwest Colorado and Wyoming Proposed LUPAs/Final EISs. These 
Reports, which include two Forest Service Proposed LMP amendments for 
Northwest Colorado and Wyoming, are available at the following Web 
site: https://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/

[[Page 57333]]

planning/planning_overview/protest_resolution/protestreports.html.
    The preferred alternatives, as presented in the Draft LUP 
Amendments/EISs and further developed in the Proposed LUP Amendments/
Final EISs as the Proposed Plan Amendments, were selected in the ROD as 
the Approved LMP Amendments with some minor clarifications.
    Copies of the Northwest Colorado GRSG ROD and Approved LMP 
Amendment are available upon request and are available for public 
inspection at:
 Routt National Forest Headquarters, 2468 Jackson Street, 
Laramie, WY, 82070
Copies of the Wyoming GRSG ROD and Approved LMP Amendment are available 
upon request and are available for public inspection at:
 Medicine Bow National Forest-Thunder Basin National Grassland 
Headquarters
 Bridger-Teton National Forest Headquarters, 340 North Cache, 
Jackson, WY 83001

    Dated: September 17, 2015.
Glenn P. Casamassa,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2015-24168 Filed 9-22-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3411-15-P