Forest Service Manual 2300-Recreation, Wilderness, and Related Resource Management, Chapter 2350-Trail, River, and Similar Recreation Opportunities, Section 2355-Climbing Opportunities, 80269-80270 [2023-25426]
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80269
Notices
Federal Register
Vol. 88, No. 221
Friday, November 17, 2023
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
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
The Department of Agriculture has
submitted the following information
collection requirement(s) to OMB for
review and clearance under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995,
Public Law 104–13. Comments are
required regarding; whether the
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of burden including
the validity of the methodology and
assumptions used; ways to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the
information to be collected; and ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on those who are to
respond, including through the use of
appropriate automated, electronic,
mechanical, or other technological
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology.
Comments regarding this information
collection received by December 18,
2023 will be considered. Written
comments and recommendations for the
proposed information collection should
be submitted within 30 days of the
publication of this notice on the
following website www.reginfo.gov/
public/do/PRAMain. Find this
particular information collection by
selecting ‘‘Currently under 30-day
Review—Open for Public Comments’’ or
by using the search function
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor a collection of information
unless the collection of information
displays a currently valid OMB control
number and the agency informs
potential persons who are to respond to
the collection of information that such
persons are not required to respond to
the collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
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Farm Service Agency
Title: Increasing Land, Capital, and
Market Access Program
OMB Control Number: 0560–NEW.
Summary of Collection: The purpose
of the program is to fund projects that
support a diverse set of farmers,
ranchers, and forest landowners
(producers) on the edge financially;
moving them from surviving to thriving
as they address core barriers to attain
land, capital, and market access. The
Increasing Land, Capital, and Market
Access Program is funding cooperative
agreements or grants (awarded) for
projects that are designed to align with
and respond to land, capital, and market
access needs of the underserved
farmers, ranchers, and forest
landowners while concurrently
providing wraparound technical
assistance to ensure that program
participants have the information,
training, and customized support they
require.
Need and Use of the Information: FSA
will be collecting the initial report and
progress reports quarterly and annually.
Without the information, FSA would
not be able to assess the performance of
the program.
Description of Respondents: Farms;
Business or other for profit.
Number of Respondents: 100.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 3,650.
Farm Service Agency
Title: Disaster Assistance—General (7
CFR part 1945–A).
OMB Control Number: 0560–0170.
Summary of Collection: The
regulation (7 CFR 759) defines the
responsibilities of the Secretary of
Agriculture in making disaster area
determinations, the types of incidents
that can result in a disaster area
determination, and the factors used in
making disaster area determinations.
The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is
managing the collection. The
determination of a disaster area is
prerequisite to authorizing emergency
(EM) loans to qualified farmers as
specified in the 7 CFR 764. EM loan
funds may be used to restore or replace
essential property, pay all or part of
production costs incurred by the farmer
or rancher in the year of the disaster,
pay for essential family living expenses,
pay to reorganize the farming operation
or refinance USDA and non-USDA
creditors. The information collection
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occurs when the Secretary receives a
letter from an individual farmer, local
government officials, State Governor,
State Agriculture Commissioners, State
Secretaries of Agriculture, other State
government officials, and Indian Tribal
Council, requesting a Secretarial natural
disaster determination. Supporting
documentation of losses for all counties
having disaster is provided by the
County Emergency Boards in the form of
a report called Loss assessment report
(LAR).
Need and use of the Information: FSA
collects the following information to
determine if the county is eligible to
qualify for a natural disaster
designation: (1) The nature and extent of
production losses; (2) the number of
farmers who have sustained qualifying
production losses; and (3) the number of
farmers that have sustained qualifying
production losses that other lenders in
the county have indicated that they will
not be in a position to finance. The
collection of information is necessary to
determine whether the counties did
sustain sufficient production losses to
qualify for a natural disaster
designation.
Description of Respondents: State,
Local or Tribal Government.
Number of Respondents: 1,312.
Frequency of Responses: Reporting:
Annually.
Total Burden Hours: 626.
Ruth Brown,
Departmental Information Collection
Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2023–25450 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–05–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Forest Service Manual 2300—
Recreation, Wilderness, and Related
Resource Management, Chapter
2350—Trail, River, and Similar
Recreation Opportunities, Section
2355—Climbing Opportunities
AGENCY:
Forest Service, Agriculture
(USDA).
Notice of availability for public
comment.
ACTION:
The Forest Service, United
States Department of
SUMMARY:
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17NON1
khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
80270
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices
Agriculture (Forest Service or Agency),
is proposing to revise its directives to
provide guidance on climbing
opportunities on National Forest System
(NFS) lands, including climbing
opportunities in Congressionally
designated wilderness (wilderness).
DATES: Comments must be received in
writing by January 16, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be
submitted electronically to https://
cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/
CommentInput?project=ORMS-3524.
Written comments may be mailed to
Peter Mali, National Wilderness
Program Manager, 1400 Independence
Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250–
1124. All timely comments, including
names and addresses, will be placed in
the record and will be available for
public inspection and copying. The
public may inspect comments received
at https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/
ReadingRoom?project=ORMS-3524.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Peter Mali, National Wilderness
Program Manager, SM.FS.ClimbDir@
usda.gov, (202) 823–0773. Individuals
who use telecommunications devices
for the hearing impaired may call the
Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339,
24 hours a day, every day of the year,
including holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Climbing
is a growing sport in the United States.
According to the Outdoor Industry
Association’s 2022 Report on Outdoor
Participation Trends, there were nearly
10.3 million climbers in the United
States in 2021. Approximately 30
percent of outdoor climbing in the
United States occurs on NFS lands. In
recent years, line officers have
expressed concerns about climbingrelated impacts on resources and
conflicts among uses.
Current Forest Service directives do
not provide guidance for climbing
opportunities on NFS lands. The Joint
Explanatory Statement accompanying
the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations
Act directs the Forest Service to issue
general guidance on climbing
opportunities on NFS lands, including
the application of the Wilderness Act
(16 U.S.C. 1131–1136) to climbing
opportunities and appropriate use of
fixed anchors and fixed equipment in
wilderness. To address impacts
associated with increased climbing on
NFS lands and consistent with the Joint
Explanatory Statement, the Forest
Service is proposing revisions to its
directives to provide guidance on
climbing opportunities on NFS lands.
The proposed directive would
provide guidance on climbing
opportunities inside and outside
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20:45 Nov 16, 2023
Jkt 262001
wilderness on NFS lands and would
provide for climbing opportunities that
serve visitor needs; meet land
management and recreation policy
objectives; emphasize the natural setting
of NFS lands; align with natural and
cultural resource protection and the
Agency’s responsibility to Indian Tribes;
and are consistent with applicable law,
directives, and the applicable land
management plan.
The proposed directive would add a
new section, 2355, to Forest Service
Manual (FSM) 2300—Recreation,
Wilderness, and Related Resource
Management, chapter 2350—Trail,
River, and Similar Recreation
Opportunities, which would provide
that climbing is an appropriate use of
NFS lands (proposed FSM 2355.03,
para. 1)—including in wilderness—
when conducted in accordance with
applicable law and Forest Service
directives and consistent with the
applicable land management plan
(proposed FSM 2355.03, para. 4); that a
climbing management plan be
developed, as funding and resources
allow, for climbing opportunities in
wilderness, and for climbing
opportunities outside wilderness where
the District Ranger determines that
climbing is causing adverse resource
impacts or use conflicts (proposed FSM
2355.21); that fixed anchors and fixed
equipment are installations for purposes
of section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act (16
U.S.C. 1133(c)) (proposed FSM 2355.32,
para. 1); that a Forest Supervisor may
authorize the placement or replacement
of fixed anchors and fixed equipment in
wilderness based on a case-specific
determination that they are the
minimum necessary for administration
of the area for Wilderness Act purposes,
including primitive or unconfined
recreation and preservation of
wilderness character (proposed FSM
2355.32, para. 1); that existing fixed
anchors and fixed equipment in
wilderness may be retained pending
completion of a Minimum Requirements
Analysis, as funding and resources
allow, that determines they are the
minimum necessary to facilitate
primitive or unconfined recreation or
otherwise preserve wilderness character
(FSM 2355.32, para. 5);); and that the
issuance and administration of special
use permits are encouraged to enhance
visitor access to climbing opportunities
and visitor education concerning low
impact climbing practices (proposed
FSM 2355.03, para. 9).
To allow for enforcement of
restrictions and prohibitions in climbing
management plans as needed, the Forest
Service will be proposing revisions via
a separate Federal Register notice to its
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
regulations at 36 CFR part 261, subpart
A, General Prohibitions.
The minimum 120-day Tribal
consultation for the proposed directive
was initiated November 8, 2021, and
will conclude at the end of the 60-day
comment period for the proposed
directive.
After the comment period closes, the
Forest Service will consider timely
comments that are within the scope of
the proposed directive in the
development of the final directive. A
notice of the final directive, including a
response to comments, will be posted
on the Forest Service’s web page at
https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/
regulations-policies.
Dated: November 6, 2023.
Gregory Smith,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest
System.
[FR Doc. 2023–25426 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411–15–P
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Stanislaus National Forest; California;
Social and Ecological Resilience
Across the Landscape 2.0 EIS
Forest Service, Agriculture
(USDA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement.
AGENCY:
The Forest Service (‘‘Forest
Service’’), United States Department of
Agriculture, is preparing an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
for the Social and Ecological Resilience
Across the Landscape 2.0 (SERAL 2.0)
project. The project area is
approximately 160,000 acres in size,
including approximately 119,000 acres
of Forest Service lands. The project area
includes the remainder of the Stanislaus
Landscape—a Wildfire Crisis Strategy
Priority Landscape identified in 2022.
The project area also spans multiple
High Risk Western Firesheds identified
by the Secretary of Agriculture in
January 2023.
DATES: Comments concerning the scope
of the analysis must be received by
December 18, 2023. The draft
environmental impact statement is
expected in early February 2024, and
the final environmental impact
statement is expected in April 2024.
ADDRESSES: Scoping comments may be
submitted electronically through
https://cara.ecosystemmanagement.org/Public/
commentInput?Project=63557. Written
SUMMARY:
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 221 (Friday, November 17, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 80269-80270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-25426]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Forest Service Manual 2300--Recreation, Wilderness, and Related
Resource Management, Chapter 2350--Trail, River, and Similar Recreation
Opportunities, Section 2355--Climbing Opportunities
AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of availability for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Forest Service, United States Department of
[[Page 80270]]
Agriculture (Forest Service or Agency), is proposing to revise its
directives to provide guidance on climbing opportunities on National
Forest System (NFS) lands, including climbing opportunities in
Congressionally designated wilderness (wilderness).
DATES: Comments must be received in writing by January 16, 2024.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted electronically to https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput?project=ORMS-3524. Written
comments may be mailed to Peter Mali, National Wilderness Program
Manager, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-1124. All
timely comments, including names and addresses, will be placed in the
record and will be available for public inspection and copying. The
public may inspect comments received at https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/ReadingRoom?project=ORMS-3524.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Mali, National Wilderness
Program Manager, [email protected], (202) 823-0773. Individuals
who use telecommunications devices for the hearing impaired may call
the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339, 24 hours a day, every day of
the year, including holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Climbing is a growing sport in the United
States. According to the Outdoor Industry Association's 2022 Report on
Outdoor Participation Trends, there were nearly 10.3 million climbers
in the United States in 2021. Approximately 30 percent of outdoor
climbing in the United States occurs on NFS lands. In recent years,
line officers have expressed concerns about climbing-related impacts on
resources and conflicts among uses.
Current Forest Service directives do not provide guidance for
climbing opportunities on NFS lands. The Joint Explanatory Statement
accompanying the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act directs the
Forest Service to issue general guidance on climbing opportunities on
NFS lands, including the application of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C.
1131-1136) to climbing opportunities and appropriate use of fixed
anchors and fixed equipment in wilderness. To address impacts
associated with increased climbing on NFS lands and consistent with the
Joint Explanatory Statement, the Forest Service is proposing revisions
to its directives to provide guidance on climbing opportunities on NFS
lands.
The proposed directive would provide guidance on climbing
opportunities inside and outside wilderness on NFS lands and would
provide for climbing opportunities that serve visitor needs; meet land
management and recreation policy objectives; emphasize the natural
setting of NFS lands; align with natural and cultural resource
protection and the Agency's responsibility to Indian Tribes; and are
consistent with applicable law, directives, and the applicable land
management plan.
The proposed directive would add a new section, 2355, to Forest
Service Manual (FSM) 2300--Recreation, Wilderness, and Related Resource
Management, chapter 2350--Trail, River, and Similar Recreation
Opportunities, which would provide that climbing is an appropriate use
of NFS lands (proposed FSM 2355.03, para. 1)--including in wilderness--
when conducted in accordance with applicable law and Forest Service
directives and consistent with the applicable land management plan
(proposed FSM 2355.03, para. 4); that a climbing management plan be
developed, as funding and resources allow, for climbing opportunities
in wilderness, and for climbing opportunities outside wilderness where
the District Ranger determines that climbing is causing adverse
resource impacts or use conflicts (proposed FSM 2355.21); that fixed
anchors and fixed equipment are installations for purposes of section
4(c) of the Wilderness Act (16 U.S.C. 1133(c)) (proposed FSM 2355.32,
para. 1); that a Forest Supervisor may authorize the placement or
replacement of fixed anchors and fixed equipment in wilderness based on
a case-specific determination that they are the minimum necessary for
administration of the area for Wilderness Act purposes, including
primitive or unconfined recreation and preservation of wilderness
character (proposed FSM 2355.32, para. 1); that existing fixed anchors
and fixed equipment in wilderness may be retained pending completion of
a Minimum Requirements Analysis, as funding and resources allow, that
determines they are the minimum necessary to facilitate primitive or
unconfined recreation or otherwise preserve wilderness character (FSM
2355.32, para. 5);); and that the issuance and administration of
special use permits are encouraged to enhance visitor access to
climbing opportunities and visitor education concerning low impact
climbing practices (proposed FSM 2355.03, para. 9).
To allow for enforcement of restrictions and prohibitions in
climbing management plans as needed, the Forest Service will be
proposing revisions via a separate Federal Register notice to its
regulations at 36 CFR part 261, subpart A, General Prohibitions.
The minimum 120-day Tribal consultation for the proposed directive
was initiated November 8, 2021, and will conclude at the end of the 60-
day comment period for the proposed directive.
After the comment period closes, the Forest Service will consider
timely comments that are within the scope of the proposed directive in
the development of the final directive. A notice of the final
directive, including a response to comments, will be posted on the
Forest Service's web page at https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/regulations-policies.
Dated: November 6, 2023.
Gregory Smith,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2023-25426 Filed 11-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P
