Idaho (Boise, Caribou-Targhee, Salmon-Challis, and Sawtooth National Forests and Curlew National Grassland); Nevada (Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest); Utah (Ashley, Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-La Sal, and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests); Wyoming (Bridger-Teton National Forest); and Wyoming/Colorado (Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland) Amendments to Land Management Plans for Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation, 50331-50332 [2018-21619]

Download as PDF 50331 Notices Federal Register Vol. 83, No. 194 Friday, October 5, 2018 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency statements of organization and functions are examples of documents appearing in this section. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service Idaho (Boise, Caribou-Targhee, Salmon-Challis, and Sawtooth National Forests and Curlew National Grassland); Nevada (HumboldtToiyabe National Forest); Utah (Ashley, Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-La Sal, and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests); Wyoming (Bridger-Teton National Forest); and Wyoming/ Colorado (Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland) Amendments to Land Management Plans for Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. Notice of Availability of the Draft Greater Sage-grouse Proposed Land Management Plan Amendments and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain Regions. ACTION: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service has prepared the Draft Greater Sage-grouse Proposed Land Management Plan Amendments (LMPA) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain Regions. This notice is announcing the opening of the comment period and the Forest Service is soliciting comments on the Draft LMPA and Draft EIS. SUMMARY: To ensure that comments will be considered, the Forest Service must receive written comments on the Draft LMPA/Draft EIS within 90 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a notice of availability of the Draft LMPA/Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The Forest Service 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. daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES DATES: VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:11 Oct 04, 2018 Jkt 247001 Please submit comments via one of the following methods: 1. Public participation portal (preferred): https://cara.ecosystemmanagement.org/Public/ CommentInput?project=52904. 2. Mail: Sage-grouse Amendment Comment, USDA Forest Service Intermountain Region, Federal Building, 324 25th Street, Ogden, UT 84401. 3. Email: comments-intermtnregional-office@fs.fed.us. 4. Facsimile: 801–625–5277. 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 online via the public reading room at: https:// cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/ ReadingRoom?project=52904. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Shivik at 801–625–5667 or email johnashivik@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 Time, Monday through Friday. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a species that is dependent on sagebrush steppe ecosystems. These ecosystems are managed in partnership across the range of the greater sage-grouse by federal, state, and local authorities and private landowners. Efforts to conserve the species and its habitat date back to the 1950s. Over the past two decades, state wildlife agencies, federal agencies, and many others have been collaborating to conserve greater sage-grouse and its habitats. The National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA) directs the Forest Service to develop, maintain, and, as appropriate, revise land management plans which guide management of National Forest System (NFS) lands (16 U.S.C. 1604(a)). In March 2010, the United States Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a 12 Month Finding for Petitions to List the greater sage-grouse as Threatened or Endangered (75 FR 13910). In that 12-Month Finding, the USFWS concluded that listing the greater sage-grouse as a threatened or endangered species was ‘‘warranted, but precluded by higher priority listing ADDRESSES: PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 actions.’’ The 2010 USFWS listing decision prompted a Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) joint planning effort to amend Forest Service land management plans and BLM equivalents to incorporate conservation measures to support the continued existence of the greater sagegrouse. For the Forest Service, this effort culminated in the Forest Service Greater Sage-grouse Records of Decisions (RODs) that were signed on September 16, 2015. On October 2, 2015, the USFWS found that listing the greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted (80 FR 59858). The USFWS based its finding on regulatory certainty from the conservation measures in the Forest Service and BLM greater sage-grouse land management plan amendments and revisions, as well as on other private, state, and federal conservation efforts. The plan amendments have been challenged in court. One challenge involved the designation of sagebrush focal areas between the Draft and Final EISs. On March 31, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada held that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to provide the public with enough information to meaningfully participate in the EIS process in the Nevada and Northeastern California Greater Sage-grouse Land Management Plan Amendment. The court ordered the Forest Service to prepare a Supplemental EIS to allow the public the opportunity to comment on the designation of sagebrush focal areas in the amendments. Western Exploration, LLC v. U.S. Dept. of Interior, 250 F. Supp.3d 718, 750–751. Since approving the plan amendments in 2015, the Forest Service has gathered information and determined that the conservation benefits of Forest Service plans in Nevada and other states can be improved. That is, through repeated scoping, close collaboration with state and other federal agencies, and internal review, the Forest Service has identified proposed changes in the text of the greater sage-grouse plan amendments which would improve their clarity and efficiency and better align them with the Bureau of Land Management and state plans. E:\FR\FM\05OCN1.SGM 05OCN1 50332 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 194 / Friday, October 5, 2018 / Notices The substantive requirements of the 2012 Planning Rule (36 CFR 219) that are applicable to the amendments are in sections 219.8(a) and (b) (ecological and social and economic sustainability), 219.9 (diversity of plant and animal communities), and 219.10(a) (integrated resource management for ecosystem services and multiple use) have been incorporated into the proposed amendment. daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES Purpose and Need for Action The purpose of the proposed action is to incorporate new information and to improve the clarity, efficiency, and implementation of greater sage-grouse plans, including better alignment with BLM and state plans, in order to benefit greater sage-grouse conservation on the landscape scale. The need for further plan amendments is that the Forest Service has gained new information and understanding from new science, as well as having received approximately 55,000 comments from the 2017 Notice of Intent, approximately 8,700 comments from the 2018 Supplemental NOI, and comments from within-agency scoping and monitoring and from coordinating with the Western Governors’ Association Sage Grouse Task Force. Proposed Action and Alternatives The Forest Service analyzed three alternatives. Under Alternative 1, the No Action Alternative, the Forest Service would not amend current land management plans. This alternative retains sagebrush focal areas and all other aspects of the plans. Alternative 2, the Preferred Alternative, is the proposed action and makes modifications to the No Action Alternative. Specifically, the Preferred Alternative makes modifications to land management plans within the issue areas of: Habitat management area designation, including designating sagebrush focal areas as Priority Habitat Management Areas compensatory mitigation and net conservation gain; minerals plan components and waivers; exceptions and modifications; desired conditions; livestock grazing guidelines; adaptive management; treatment of invasive species; and changes to clarify text and eliminate errors and redundancies. Alternative 3, the State of Utah Alternative, incorporates all aspects of Alternative 2, with the addition of two additional modifications to plans within the state of Utah. Specifically, the Forest Service would VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:11 Oct 04, 2018 Jkt 247001 remove the General Habitat Management Areas (GHMA) designation from Forest Service lands in Utah and would also remove the Anthro Mountain management area from habitat management area designation on the Ashley National Forest. The Draft EIS analyzes the reasonably foreseeable effects of these changes. The entire text of the Draft EIS can be found on the Intermountain Region home page: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r4/ home/?cid=stelprd3843381. Responsible Officials The responsible officials who would approve plan amendments are the Regional Foresters for the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain Regions. Public Comment Opportunity The public is encouraged to comment on the Draft EIS and proposed plan amendments. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the public record for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not provide the Agency with the ability to provide the respondent with subsequent environmental documents. Dated: September 6, 2018. Allen Rowley, Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System. [FR Doc. 2018–21619 Filed 10–4–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3411–15–P CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION Sunshine Act Meeting Notice United States Commission on Civil Rights. ACTION: Notice of Commission Telephonic Business Meeting. AGENCY: Friday, October 12, 2018, at 10:00 a.m. EST. ADDRESSES: Meeting to take place by telephone. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian Walch, phone: (202) 376–8371; TTY: (202) 376–8116; email: publicaffairs@usccr.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This meeting is open to the public by telephone only. Participant access instructions: Listen-only, toll-free: 1–800–682–0995; DATES: PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Conference ID 911–9595. Please dial in 5–10 minutes prior to the start time. Meeting Agenda I. Approval of Agenda II. Business Meeting A. Presentation by Louisiana Advisory Committee Chair on the Committee’s recently released report, Barriers to Voting in Louisiana B. Presentation by New Mexico Advisory Committee Chair on the Committee’s recently released report, Elder Abuse in New Mexico C. Presentation by Colorado Advisory Committee Member on the Committee’s recently released report, Colorado Constitution’s No Aid to Sectarian Institutions Clause and its Impact on Civil Rights D. Management and Operations • Staff Director’s Report III. Adjourn Meeting Dated: October 3, 2018. Brian Walch, Director, Communications and Public Engagement. [FR Doc. 2018–21910 Filed 10–3–18; 4:15 pm] BILLING CODE 6335–01–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act. Agency: U.S. Census Bureau. Title: 2020 Census New Construction Program. OMB Control Number: 0607–XXXX. Form Number(s): NC–F–100. Type of request: Regular submission. Number of respondents: varies. Estimated number of respondents invited to the program: 32,000. Estimated number of respondents who review the materials: 6,550. Average Hours per Response: Varies. Program invitation: 1 hour. Participant material review: 47 hours. Burden hours: Varies. Program invitation: 32,000 hours. Participant material review: 307,850 hours. E:\FR\FM\05OCN1.SGM 05OCN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 194 (Friday, October 5, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50331-50332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-21619]


========================================================================
Notices
                                                Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules 
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings 
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings, 
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency 
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents 
appearing in this section.

========================================================================


Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 194 / Friday, October 5, 2018 / 
Notices

[[Page 50331]]



DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Idaho (Boise, Caribou-Targhee, Salmon-Challis, and Sawtooth 
National Forests and Curlew National Grassland); Nevada (Humboldt-
Toiyabe National Forest); Utah (Ashley, Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-La Sal, 
and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forests); Wyoming (Bridger-Teton 
National Forest); and Wyoming/Colorado (Medicine Bow-Routt National 
Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland) Amendments to Land 
Management Plans for Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Draft Greater Sage-grouse 
Proposed Land Management Plan Amendments and Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement for the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain Regions.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service has 
prepared the Draft Greater Sage-grouse Proposed Land Management Plan 
Amendments (LMPA) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 
the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain Regions. This notice is announcing 
the opening of the comment period and the Forest Service is soliciting 
comments on the Draft LMPA and Draft EIS.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the Forest Service 
must receive written comments on the Draft LMPA/Draft EIS within 90 
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a 
notice of availability of the Draft LMPA/Draft EIS in the Federal 
Register. The Forest Service 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: Please submit comments via one of the following methods:
    1. Public participation portal (preferred): https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?project=52904.
    2. Mail: Sage-grouse Amendment Comment, USDA Forest Service 
Intermountain Region, Federal Building, 324 25th Street, Ogden, UT 
84401.
    3. Email: [email protected].
    4. Facsimile: 801-625-5277.
    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 online via the public 
reading room at: https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/ReadingRoom?project=52904.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Shivik at 801-625-5667 or email 
[email protected]. 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 Time, 
Monday through Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus 
urophasianus) is a species that is dependent on sagebrush steppe 
ecosystems. These ecosystems are managed in partnership across the 
range of the greater sage-grouse by federal, state, and local 
authorities and private landowners. Efforts to conserve the species and 
its habitat date back to the 1950s. Over the past two decades, state 
wildlife agencies, federal agencies, and many others have been 
collaborating to conserve greater sage-grouse and its habitats.
    The National Forest Management Act of 1976 (NFMA) directs the 
Forest Service to develop, maintain, and, as appropriate, revise land 
management plans which guide management of National Forest System (NFS) 
lands (16 U.S.C. 1604(a)). In March 2010, the United States Department 
of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a 12 Month 
Finding for Petitions to List the greater sage-grouse as Threatened or 
Endangered (75 FR 13910). In that 12-Month Finding, the USFWS concluded 
that listing the greater sage-grouse as a threatened or endangered 
species was ``warranted, but precluded by higher priority listing 
actions.'' The 2010 USFWS listing decision prompted a Forest Service 
and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) joint planning effort to amend 
Forest Service land management plans and BLM equivalents to incorporate 
conservation measures to support the continued existence of the greater 
sage-grouse. For the Forest Service, this effort culminated in the 
Forest Service Greater Sage-grouse Records of Decisions (RODs) that 
were signed on September 16, 2015.
    On October 2, 2015, the USFWS found that listing the greater sage-
grouse under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted (80 FR 
59858). The USFWS based its finding on regulatory certainty from the 
conservation measures in the Forest Service and BLM greater sage-grouse 
land management plan amendments and revisions, as well as on other 
private, state, and federal conservation efforts.
    The plan amendments have been challenged in court. One challenge 
involved the designation of sagebrush focal areas between the Draft and 
Final EISs. On March 31, 2017, the United States District Court for the 
District of Nevada held that the Forest Service violated the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by failing to provide the public with 
enough information to meaningfully participate in the EIS process in 
the Nevada and Northeastern California Greater Sage-grouse Land 
Management Plan Amendment. The court ordered the Forest Service to 
prepare a Supplemental EIS to allow the public the opportunity to 
comment on the designation of sagebrush focal areas in the amendments. 
Western Exploration, LLC v. U.S. Dept. of Interior, 250 F. Supp.3d 718, 
750-751.
    Since approving the plan amendments in 2015, the Forest Service has 
gathered information and determined that the conservation benefits of 
Forest Service plans in Nevada and other states can be improved. That 
is, through repeated scoping, close collaboration with state and other 
federal agencies, and internal review, the Forest Service has 
identified proposed changes in the text of the greater sage-grouse plan 
amendments which would improve their clarity and efficiency and better 
align them with the Bureau of Land Management and state plans.

[[Page 50332]]

    The substantive requirements of the 2012 Planning Rule (36 CFR 219) 
that are applicable to the amendments are in sections 219.8(a) and (b) 
(ecological and social and economic sustainability), 219.9 (diversity 
of plant and animal communities), and 219.10(a) (integrated resource 
management for ecosystem services and multiple use) have been 
incorporated into the proposed amendment.

Purpose and Need for Action

    The purpose of the proposed action is to incorporate new 
information and to improve the clarity, efficiency, and implementation 
of greater sage-grouse plans, including better alignment with BLM and 
state plans, in order to benefit greater sage-grouse conservation on 
the landscape scale. The need for further plan amendments is that the 
Forest Service has gained new information and understanding from new 
science, as well as having received approximately 55,000 comments from 
the 2017 Notice of Intent, approximately 8,700 comments from the 2018 
Supplemental NOI, and comments from within-agency scoping and 
monitoring and from coordinating with the Western Governors' 
Association Sage Grouse Task Force.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The Forest Service analyzed three alternatives. Under Alternative 
1, the No Action Alternative, the Forest Service would not amend 
current land management plans. This alternative retains sagebrush focal 
areas and all other aspects of the plans. Alternative 2, the Preferred 
Alternative, is the proposed action and makes modifications to the No 
Action Alternative. Specifically, the Preferred Alternative makes 
modifications to land management plans within the issue areas of: 
Habitat management area designation, including designating sagebrush 
focal areas as Priority Habitat Management Areas compensatory 
mitigation and net conservation gain; minerals plan components and 
waivers; exceptions and modifications; desired conditions; livestock 
grazing guidelines; adaptive management; treatment of invasive species; 
and changes to clarify text and eliminate errors and redundancies. 
Alternative 3, the State of Utah Alternative, incorporates all aspects 
of Alternative 2, with the addition of two additional modifications to 
plans within the state of Utah. Specifically, the Forest Service would 
remove the General Habitat Management Areas (GHMA) designation from 
Forest Service lands in Utah and would also remove the Anthro Mountain 
management area from habitat management area designation on the Ashley 
National Forest.
    The Draft EIS analyzes the reasonably foreseeable effects of these 
changes. The entire text of the Draft EIS can be found on the 
Intermountain Region home page: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r4/home/?cid=stelprd3843381.

Responsible Officials

    The responsible officials who would approve plan amendments are the 
Regional Foresters for the Intermountain and Rocky Mountain Regions.

Public Comment Opportunity

    The public is encouraged to comment on the Draft EIS and proposed 
plan amendments. Comments received in response to this solicitation, 
including names and addresses of those who comment, will be part of the 
public record for this proposed action. Comments submitted anonymously 
will be accepted and considered; however, anonymous comments will not 
provide the Agency with the ability to provide the respondent with 
subsequent environmental documents.

    Dated: September 6, 2018.
Allen Rowley,
Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2018-21619 Filed 10-4-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3411-15-P
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