Department of Agriculture February 18, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 2709 of the Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 states that: USDA shall prepare technical guidelines that outline science-based methods to measure the carbon benefits from conservation and land management activities. In accordance with Section 2709 of the 2008 Farm Bill, USDA is developing technical guidelines and science- based methods to quantify greenhouse gas sources and sinks from the agriculture and forest sectors at the entity-, process-, and practice- scale. USDA intends to develop guidelines and methods that are verifiable and that demonstrate scientific rigor, transparency, scalability, and usability. USDA anticipates that the methods will be used by farmers and by USDA to improve management practices and to identify actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration. The guidelines and methods could be used by farmers, ranchers, and forest owners to facilitate their participation in voluntary State and regional systems. In order to make the guidelines and methods most useful to a broad audience, a Web-based, user-friendly tool will be developed following the drafting of the guidelines and methods. In carrying out this project, USDA will consult with Federal and State government agencies; farm, ranch, and forest producers; as well as other interested parties. At the Federal level, this consultation will minimize duplication of efforts and ensure consistency of the products with other U.S. Government inventory and estimation approaches. USDA anticipates that after they are developed, reviewed, and published, the Technical Guidelines, combined with the user- friendly tool for GHG quantification, will assist farmers, ranchers, and forest owners in improving management practices and identifying actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration, and could facilitate their participation in voluntary State and regional systems. Comments received under this notice will be used in determining the scope of the effort, strengthening the proposed project approach, ensuring that relevant information and data are considered, improving the rigor of the guidelines, and enhancing the usability of the methods. USDA is interested in your comments in response to the numbered topics, categories and questions shown in the supplementary information section of this notice. When submitting your responses, please categorize your comments as per the section number designations noted. Be specific and concise. All information received will be included in the public docket without change and made available online at https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. Responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract or issue a grant. Information obtained as a result of this request may be used by the government for program planning on a non-attribution basis. Do not include any information that might be considered proprietary or confidential.

The Sequoia National Forest proposes to develop a travel management plan for the Piute Mountains, located in northeast Kern County, California. The Piute Mountains, with a mixed conifer and pine forest, are included in the eastside Sierra Nevada ecosystem. The project area for this analysis includes 77,679 acres of National Forest System land in the Piute Mountains part of the Sequoia National Forest. There are an additional 7,170 acres of private land within the Piute Mountains. The Piute fire burned approximately 37,000 acres within the Piute Mountains in 2008. The Sequoia National Forest intends to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the possible effects associated with the proposed action which will add approximately 125 miles of existing roads and trails to the National Forest Transportation System (NFTS), and close approximately 5 miles of NFTS roads and trails, 4.5 miles of which are currently open only to motorcycle, and close 0.5 mile of roads open to all vehicles (Table 1). The proposed action includes an amendment to the Sequoia National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan that would change approximately 7,175 acres of semi-primitive non- motorized (SPNM) recreation land to semi-primitive motorized.

The Humboldt County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) will meet in Eureka, California. The committee meeting is authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110-343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

The Pike & San Isabel Resource Advisory Committee will meet in Pueblo, Colorado. The committee is meeting as authorized under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act (Pub. L. 110- 343) and in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The purpose of the meeting is to vote on and recommend projects for funding.