National Advisory Committee for Implementation of the National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule, 9164-9165 [2016-03900]
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 36 / Wednesday, February 24, 2016 / Notices
collaborative relationships and to
provide advice and recommendations to
the Forest Service concerning projects
and funding consistent with Title II of
the Act. RAC information can be found
at the following Web site: https://www.fs.
usda.gov/main/nezperceclearwater/
workingtogether/advisorycommittees.
DATES: The meeting will be held on
March 30–31, 2016, at 9:00 a.m.
All RAC meetings are subject to
cancellation. For status of meeting prior
to attendance, please contact the person
listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at
the Nez Perce-Clearwater National
Forests Grangeville Office, 104 Airport
Road, Grangeville, Idaho.
Written comments may be submitted
as described under SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION. All comments, including
names and addresses when provided,
are placed in the record and are
available for public inspection and
copying. The public may inspect
comments received at the Nez PerceClearwater National Forests Grangeville
Office. Please call ahead to facilitate
entry into the building.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Laura Smith, Designated Federal
Officer, by phone at 208–983–5143 or
via email at lasmith02@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 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.,
Eastern Standard Time, Monday
through Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
purpose of the meeting is to:
1. Present project proposals; and
2. Select the projects to recommend
for Title II funding.
The meeting is open to the public.
The agenda will include time for people
to make oral statements of three minutes
or less. Individuals wishing to make an
oral statement should request in writing
by March 23, 2016, to be scheduled on
the agenda. Anyone who would like to
bring related matters to the attention of
the committee may file written
statements with the committee staff
before or after the meeting. Written
comments and requests for time for oral
comments must be sent to Laura Smith,
Designated Federal Officer, 104 Airport
Road, Grangeville, Idaho 83530; by
email to lasmith02@fs.fed.us or via
facsimile to 208–983–4099.
Meeting Accommodations: If you are
a person requiring reasonable
accommodation, please make requests
in advance for sign language
interpreting, assistive listening devices,
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or other reasonable accommodation. For
access to the facility, please contact the
person listed in the section titled FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All
reasonable accommodation requests are
managed on a case by case basis.
Dated: February 17, 2016.
Cheryl Probert,
Forest Supervisor.
[FR Doc. 2016–03844 Filed 2–23–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
National Advisory Committee for
Implementation of the National Forest
System Land Management Planning
Rule
Forest Service, USDA.
Notice of an advisory committee
renewal.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Secretary of Agriculture
has renewed the National Advisory
Committee for Implementation of the
National Forest System Land
Management Planning Rule
(Committee). In accordance with
provisions of the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), the Committee
has been renewed to continue providing
advice and recommendations on the
implementation of the National Forest
System Land Management Planning
Rule (Planning Rule). The Committee
will also deliberate and formulate
advice for the Secretary to aid in the
implementation of the new Planning
Rule. The Committee is necessary and
in the public interest.
DATES: The charter renewal was
effective February 3, 2016. As provided
by the FACA law, the charter will expire
24 months from the date of renewal.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann
Acheson, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, National
Forest System, Ecosystem Management
Coordination; telephone: 202–205–1275,
Email: aacheson@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:
SUMMARY:
Background
In accordance with the provisions of
the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2),
the Secretary of Agriculture has
renewed the National Advisory
Committee for Implementation of the
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National Forest System Land
Management Planning Rule
(Committee). The Committee is a
discretionary advisory committee.
The purpose of the Committee is to
provide advice and recommendations
on implementation of the planning rule.
The Committee will be solely advisory
in nature. Advice or recommendations
of the Committee will be given only
with respect to the implementation of
the planning rule and associated
projects. All activities of the Committee
will be conducted in an open,
transparent, and accessible manner. The
Committee will be asked to perform the
following duties or other requests made
by the Secretary or the Chief:
• Offer recommendations on outreach
efforts, public engagement, and
stakeholder collaboration;
• Offer recommendations on broad
scale and multiparty monitoring and
other ways to engage partnerships in
land management plan revisions;
• Offer recommendations on
communication tools and strategies to
help provide greater understanding of
the land management planning process;
and
• Offer recommendations on potential
best management practices and problem
solving resulting from early
implementation of the 2012 Planning
Rule.
Advisory Committee Organization
This Committee is currently
comprised of 21 members who provide
balanced and broad representation
within each of the following three
categories of interests:
1. Up to seven members who
represent one or more of the following:
a. Represent the affected public atlarge;
b. Hold State-elected office (or
designee);
c. Hold county or local elected office;
d. Represent American Indian Tribes;
and
e. Represent Youth.
2. Up to seven members who
represent one or more of the following:
a. National, regional, or local
environmental organizations;
b. Conservation organizations or
watershed associations;
c. Dispersed recreation interests;
d. Archaeological or historical
interests; and
e. Scientific Community.
3. Up to seven members who
represent one or more of the following:
a. Timber Industry;
b. Grazing or other land use permit
holders or other private forest
landowners;
c. Energy and mineral development;
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 36 / Wednesday, February 24, 2016 / Notices
d. Commercial or recreational hunting
and fishing interests; and
e. Developed outdoor recreation, offhighway vehicle users, or commercial
recreation interests.
The Committee will serve 2-year
terms and will meet three to six times
annually, or as often as necessary at the
times designated by the Designated
Federal Officer (DFO). The appointment
of members to the Committee are made
by the Secretary of Agriculture.
Members of the Committee serve
without compensation, but may be
reimbursed for travel expenses while
performing duties on behalf of the
Committee, subject to approval by the
DFO. Further information about the
Committee is posted on the Planning
Rule Advisory Committee Web site:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/
planningrule/committee.
Equal opportunity practices were
followed in accordance with U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA)
policies. To ensure that the
recommendations of the Committee
have taken into account the needs of the
diverse groups served by USDA,
membership includes to the extent
possible, individuals with demonstrated
ability to represent the needs of all
racial and ethnic groups, women and
men, and persons with disabilities.
Dated: February 17, 2016.
Gregory L. Parhan,
Assistant Secretary for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016–03900 Filed 2–23–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Caribou-Targhee National Forest;
Ashton/Island Park Ranger Station;
Idaho; Buffalo TSI
Forest Service, USDA.
Notice of intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
This project proposes to
reduce or prolong the overall
susceptibility to mountain pine beetle
attacks and crown fires in a subset of
previously harvested areas within the
analysis area. Precommercial thinning is
proposed so trees within these stands
maintain diameter and height growth as
well as increased crown development
and to move this project area toward
meeting specific goals, and objectives
outlined in the Targhee National Forest
Revised Forest Management Plan (RFP)
and the Properly Functioning Condition
Assessment (PFC).
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SUMMARY:
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Comments concerning the scope
of the analysis must be received by
March 25, 2016. The draft
environmental impact statement is
expected July 2016 and the final
environmental impact statement is
expected January 2017.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to
Mike Alfieri, Island Park Ranger Station,
3726 Highway 20, Island Park, ID 83429.
Comments may also be sent via email to
comments-intermtn-caribou-targheeashton-islandpark@fs.fed.us, or via
facsimile to 208–558–7812.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Mike Alfieri, Forestry Technician 208–
558–4210 or malfieri@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
Time, Monday through Friday.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
Purpose and Need for Action
The purpose of this project is to
reduce or prolong the overall
susceptibility to mountain pine beetle
attacks and crown fires in a subset of
previously harvested areas within the
analysis area. The purpose is to also to
provide for a variety of resource
products now and in the future. All of
the areas identified for treatment were
harvested using the clearcut method
over 20 years ago and are regenerated
with hundreds and even thousands of
trees per acre, primarily of lodgepole
pine. Precommercial thinning is
proposed so trees within these stands
maintain diameter and height growth as
well as increased crown development
and to move this project area toward
meeting specific goals, and objectives
outlined in the Targhee National Forest
Revised Forest Management Plan (RFP)
and the PFC. These include:
1. Use vegetation management to
achieve a broad array of multiple-use
and ecosystem management objectives,
including forest health, structure,
composition, and distribution in larger
landscapes. . . . Develop long term
vegetation and density management
strategies to reduce the risk of a future
catastrophic bark beetle epidemic (RFP
III–12). For the Buffalo project area this
goal has been further refined as leaving
approximately 195 trees per acre or a 15
by 15 foot overall tree spacing to
prolong the susceptibility to future
mountain pine beetle attacks.
2. Lodgepole pine stands in
Watershed 10 would provide a variety
of forest products now and in the future.
More dense stands would provide
smaller diameter products such as post
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9165
and poles; less dense stands would
provide larger diameter trees that could
be harvested as sawtimber in the future.
Stands that remain susceptible to crown
fire or mountain pine beetle would
eventually die providing firewood. For
the Buffalo project, firewood, post and
poles could be a byproduct of the
proposed treatments. In the future, the
areas thinned with this proposal would
provide sawtimber available for future
harvest (RFP III 31–33).
3. The likelihood of future landscapelevel crown fire will be reduced in order
to protect human life and safety,
developments, structures, and sensitive
resource values (RFP III–6). The
roadside fuelbreak along a portion of
Fish Creek Road would increase
chances that firefighters will be able to
safely engage either unwanted wildfires
or fires for resource benefit. For the
Buffalo project area, the various
treatments would reduce spacing
between tree canopies to reduce the
potential of crown fire; and ground fuels
will be minimized to decrease the
potential for a surface fire and for a
surface fire to reach the crowns.
The desired condition for this project
is outlined in the three goals stated
above. The need for this project is to
bring this landscape closer to meeting
these desired conditions.
With reference to susceptibility to
mountain pine beetle, thinned
lodgepole stands have more open grown
conditions which leave tree stand’s
microclimate less desirable for
mountain pine beetle. Wind speeds can
increase within thinned stands,
disrupting pheromone plumes that let
other beetles know there is available
food. Efforts to prevent undesirable
levels of bark beetle-caused tree
mortality must change susceptibility
through reductions in tree competition,
disruption of pheromone plumes thus
negatively affecting host-finding, and
reduction in the fecundity, fitness and
survivorship of target bark beetle
species. Less dense trees have thicker
phloem which favors mountain pine
beetle production but this strategy also
increases resistance of individual trees
through increased tree vigor allowing
the trees the energy or turgor pressure
to expel the beetle. Trees of low vigor
related to a higher relative stand density
caused by competition for water and
nutrients are more susceptible to bark
beetle attack. Areas that are not
precommercially thinned and have very
high densities of lodgepole pine are also
less susceptible for mountain pine
beetle because of reduced phloem
thickness.
Watershed 10 will have a variety of
lodgepole pine stands that would
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 24, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9164-9165]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03900]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
National Advisory Committee for Implementation of the National
Forest System Land Management Planning Rule
AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice of an advisory committee renewal.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Secretary of Agriculture has renewed the National Advisory
Committee for Implementation of the National Forest System Land
Management Planning Rule (Committee). In accordance with provisions of
the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), the Committee has been
renewed to continue providing advice and recommendations on the
implementation of the National Forest System Land Management Planning
Rule (Planning Rule). The Committee will also deliberate and formulate
advice for the Secretary to aid in the implementation of the new
Planning Rule. The Committee is necessary and in the public interest.
DATES: The charter renewal was effective February 3, 2016. As provided
by the FACA law, the charter will expire 24 months from the date of
renewal.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ann Acheson, U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, National Forest System, Ecosystem
Management Coordination; telephone: 202-205-1275, Email:
aacheson@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:
Background
In accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee
Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2), the Secretary of Agriculture
has renewed the National Advisory Committee for Implementation of the
National Forest System Land Management Planning Rule (Committee). The
Committee is a discretionary advisory committee.
The purpose of the Committee is to provide advice and
recommendations on implementation of the planning rule. The Committee
will be solely advisory in nature. Advice or recommendations of the
Committee will be given only with respect to the implementation of the
planning rule and associated projects. All activities of the Committee
will be conducted in an open, transparent, and accessible manner. The
Committee will be asked to perform the following duties or other
requests made by the Secretary or the Chief:
Offer recommendations on outreach efforts, public
engagement, and stakeholder collaboration;
Offer recommendations on broad scale and multiparty
monitoring and other ways to engage partnerships in land management
plan revisions;
Offer recommendations on communication tools and
strategies to help provide greater understanding of the land management
planning process; and
Offer recommendations on potential best management
practices and problem solving resulting from early implementation of
the 2012 Planning Rule.
Advisory Committee Organization
This Committee is currently comprised of 21 members who provide
balanced and broad representation within each of the following three
categories of interests:
1. Up to seven members who represent one or more of the following:
a. Represent the affected public at-large;
b. Hold State-elected office (or designee);
c. Hold county or local elected office;
d. Represent American Indian Tribes; and
e. Represent Youth.
2. Up to seven members who represent one or more of the following:
a. National, regional, or local environmental organizations;
b. Conservation organizations or watershed associations;
c. Dispersed recreation interests;
d. Archaeological or historical interests; and
e. Scientific Community.
3. Up to seven members who represent one or more of the following:
a. Timber Industry;
b. Grazing or other land use permit holders or other private forest
landowners;
c. Energy and mineral development;
[[Page 9165]]
d. Commercial or recreational hunting and fishing interests; and
e. Developed outdoor recreation, off-highway vehicle users, or
commercial recreation interests.
The Committee will serve 2-year terms and will meet three to six
times annually, or as often as necessary at the times designated by the
Designated Federal Officer (DFO). The appointment of members to the
Committee are made by the Secretary of Agriculture. Members of the
Committee serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for travel
expenses while performing duties on behalf of the Committee, subject to
approval by the DFO. Further information about the Committee is posted
on the Planning Rule Advisory Committee Web site: https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/planningrule/committee.
Equal opportunity practices were followed in accordance with U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) policies. To ensure that the
recommendations of the Committee have taken into account the needs of
the diverse groups served by USDA, membership includes to the extent
possible, individuals with demonstrated ability to represent the needs
of all racial and ethnic groups, women and men, and persons with
disabilities.
Dated: February 17, 2016.
Gregory L. Parhan,
Assistant Secretary for Administration.
[FR Doc. 2016-03900 Filed 2-23-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P