Bridger-Teton National Forest; Wyoming; Invasive Plant Management, 2615-2616 [2018-00804]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
• Forest Service

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 12 (Thursday, January 18, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2615-2616]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-00804]


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Notices
                                                Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 12 / Thursday, January 18, 2018 / 
Notices

[[Page 2615]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Bridger-Teton National Forest; Wyoming; Invasive Plant Management

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

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

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SUMMARY: The Bridger-Teton Nation Forest (BTNF) will prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) to disclose the effects of 
continued control of noxious and other invasive plants through the 
integration of manual, mechanical, biological, and ground and aerial 
herbicide control methods. Effects analysis of treatments of invasive 
plants, including cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) and other invasive 
annual grasses, will be projected over the next 10-15 years. The agency 
invites comments and suggestions on the scope of the analysis to be 
included in the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). In 
addition, the agency gives notice of this environmental analysis and 
decision-making process so that interested and affected people know how 
they may participate in the process. The BTNF is currently treating 
noxious weeds and invasive plants under the March 1, 2005 Decision 
Notice, Management of Noxious Weeds on the Bridger-Teton National 
Forest. This decision needs to be updated since it did not include the 
use of new herbicides, aerial application of herbicides, or new 
invasive plant populations.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis must be received 
by February 20, 2018. The draft EIS is expected in May of 2018, and the 
final EIS is expected in October 2018.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to Forest Supervisor, Bridger-Teton 
National Forest, P.O. Box 1880, 340 N. Cache, Jackson, Wyoming 83001. 
Comments may also be sent via email to [email protected] or via facsimile to 307-739-50108.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Direct questions about the proposed 
action and the EIS to Chad Hayward, Project Coordinator, 10418 S Hwy 
189, Big Piney, Wyoming, 83113, phone (307) 276-5817 or email 
[email protected]. Comments are not to be sent to this address; they 
need to be received as directed above. Individuals who use 
telecommunication devices for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 
Information Relay Service (FIRS) between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 
Time, Monday through Friday at 1-800-877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Invasive species are defined as alien 
species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or 
environmental harm or harm to human health (Federal Executive Order 
13112). When developing an invasive plant management strategy, it is 
critical to consider all available resources and tools. Integrated pest 
management (IPM) strategies utilize various invasive plant management 
options that focus on the most economical, efficient and effective 
control of invasive plants. Anything that weakens the invasive plant, 
prevents spreading, or prevents seed production can be a valuable tool.

Purpose and Need for Action

    Currently, approximately 75,000 acres within the BTNF are infested 
with invasive plants. Invasive, non-native species are threatening or 
dominating areas of the BTNF with negative impacts on native plant 
communities, big game winter ranges, sage-grouse habitat, soil and 
watershed resources, recreation, domestic livestock forage 
availability, and aesthetic values. A shift from native vegetation to 
invasive plants alters wildlife habitats, decreases wildlife and 
livestock forage, reduces species diversity, increases soil erosion due 
to a decrease in surface cover, alters the fire return interval, and 
promotes undesirable monocultures.
    The purpose and need of the project is to prevent and reduce loss 
of native plant communities associated with the spread of invasive 
plant species. Specifically, the purposes of this project are to 
prevent and treat invasive plants within the BTNF and to reduce the 
impacts from invasive plants on other resources by:
     Protecting the natural condition and biodiversity of the 
Bridger-Teton by preventing or limiting the spread of aggressive, non-
native plant species that displace native vegetation;
     promptly eliminating new invaders (species not previously 
reported in the area) before they become established;
     preventing or limiting the spread of established invasive 
plants into areas containing little or no infestation;
     protecting sensitive and unique habitats including 
critical big game winter ranges, sage-grouse core areas and other 
important habitats; and
     reducing known and potential invasive plant seed sources 
along roads and trails, within powerline corridors, rights-of-ways, 
gravel and rock quarries, fuels reduction projects, and previously-
burned areas to prevent the spread of invasive plants into new, un-
infested areas.

Proposed Action

    The Forest Service, through the application of an invasive plant 
treatment strategy, proposes to continue to treat invasive plant 
species on the BTNF. The proposed action would occur over the next 10-
15 years and would treat several thousands of acres annually. The 
proposed action would broaden the current management for control of 
noxious weeds to:
     Treat new infestations through a strategy for assessing 
new treatments and new sites;
     permit the use of newly developed, more species-specific, 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered herbicides;
     continue the use of integrated treatment methods, 
including herbicides, within wilderness areas where approved in advance 
and necessary to maintain native vegetation consistent with wilderness 
values;
     broaden control methods to include the use of aerial 
application of herbicides where effective ground application is not 
possible outside of wilderness areas; and
     maintain or improve protection measures for herbicide 
applications.
    Adding the capability for aerial treatments is necessary to safely 
and effectively apply herbicides, in uniform applications, on the 
steeper slopes that characterize critical big game winter ranges. It is 
also needed to cooperate with integrated land ownership partners that 
are experiencing extensive

[[Page 2616]]

infestations of cheatgrass because of recent and severe drought (and 
that are negatively affecting native plant populations, especially 
those in critical sage-grouse habitat). An estimated average of an 
additional 5,000 to 15,000 acres might be treated annually for 
cheatgrass control in cooperation with intermingled-landownership 
partners. Potential treatment areas include crucial big game winter 
ranges, sage-grouse core areas and other important habitats, fuels 
reduction projects, previously-burned areas, roads and trails, power 
lines, rights-of-ways, gravel and rock quarries, and areas where 
invasive weeds are already beginning to proliferate.
    The proposed action would utilize a variety of tools, singularly or 
in combination, to implement an integrated strategy. Proposed control 
methods include the following:
     Mechanical methods, such as hand-pulling, mowing or 
cutting;
     revegetation, where competitive vegetation is seeded to 
reduce invasive species, possibly after other treatments;
     grazing with livestock;
     biological control using predators, parasites, and 
pathogens;
     herbicide control using ground-based application methods; 
herbicide control using aerial application methods;
     prescribed fire in conjunction with other treatment 
methods;
     education programs to inform people of the effects of 
invasive plant infestations, methods of spread, and preventative 
management opportunities and practices; and
     prevention by using practices that reduce invasive plant 
spread, including a weed-free forage and gravel program and washing 
vehicles to remove seeds and plant parts.
    The selection of control methods is not a choice of one tool over 
another, but rather selection of a combination of tools that would be 
most effective on target species for a location. The BTNF proposes to 
use a combination of control methods based on site-specific conditions 
and circumstances, EPA labels, USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection 
Service (APHIS) direction, and resource protection measures to ensure 
that treatment methods are properly used. No activities are being 
proposed to occur on private lands. It is anticipated, however, that 
the Forest Service may receive requests from intermingled and adjacent 
landowners to be a willing and able partner on projects that might be 
proposed to treat invasive plant populations that are found on multiple 
land ownerships that include National Forest System lands.

Possible Alternatives

    The BTNF will consider a reasonable range of alternatives, 
including a no action alternative. Based on the issues gathered through 
scoping, the action alternatives may vary in the amount and location of 
acres considered for treatment and the number, type, and location of 
activity.

Responsible Official

    The Bridger-Teton Forest Supervisor is the Responsible Official for 
making the decision concerning this proposal.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    Given the purpose and need, the Responsible Official reviews the 
proposed action, the other alternatives, and the environmental 
consequences in order to make the following decisions: Whether to 
expand current efforts to control invasive plants; what control methods 
would be used; what herbicides would be used; what protection measures 
and monitoring measures would be required; and whether to include an 
adaptive management approach to address future spread of invasive 
weeds.
    The EIS is a project-level analysis. The scope of the project is 
confined to issues and potential environmental consequences relevant to 
the decision. This analysis does not attempt to re-evaluate or alter 
decisions made at higher levels. The decision is subject to, and would 
implement direction from, higher levels.
    National and regional policies and Forest Plan direction require 
consideration of effects of all projects on invasive plant spread and 
prescription of protection measures where practical to limit those 
effects. Reconsideration of other existing project-level decisions or 
programmatically prescribing protection measures or standards for 
future forest management activities (such as travel management, timber 
harvest, and grazing management) are beyond the scope of this document. 
Cumulative effects will be addressed in Chapter 3 of the EIS.
    Even with careful consideration, unforeseen events can occur during 
project implementation that will require additional analyses. 
Unanticipated events can result in new information that could have a 
bearing on a decision. Forest Service procedures for addressing such 
new information, documents, and decisions are thoroughly explained in 
FSH 1909.15, Section 18.

Preliminary Issues

    Key issues identified to date include the current and potential 
impacts of invasive plants on natural resources such as big game winter 
habitat, native plant communities, wilderness values, watershed 
function, and threatened, endangered, or sensitive species and their 
habitats. Additional issues preliminarily identified include economic 
impacts; the effectiveness and potential impacts of various control 
methods on natural resources; and potential effects on non-target 
native plants and associated values, wildlife and fish populations, and 
human health from the application of herbicides.

Scoping Process

    This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides 
the development of the EIS. Public participation will be especially 
important at several points during the analysis, beginning with the 
scoping process (40 CFR 1501.7). The decision and reasons for the 
decision will be documented in a Record of Decision. The decision will 
be subject to Forest Service Project-Level Predecisional Administrative 
Review Process (Objection Process) (36 CFR part 218).
    It is important that reviewers provide their comments at such times 
and in such manner that they are useful to the agency's preparation of 
the EIS. Therefore, comments should be provided prior to the close of 
the comment period and should clearly articulate the reviewer's 
concerns and contentions.
    Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names 
and addresses of those who comment, will become part of the public 
record for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be 
accepted and considered, however anonymous comments will not provide 
the respondent eligibility to participate in subsequent administrative 
or judicial review.

    Dated: January 10, 2018.
Chris French,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2018-00804 Filed 1-17-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3411-15-P