Department of Agriculture August 12, 2011 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

It has been determined by the NRCS State Conservationist for Virginia that changes must be made in the NRCS State Technical Guide specifically in the following practice standards: 328, Conservation Crop Rotation, 329, Residue and Tillage Management No Till/Strip Till/Direct Seed, 344, Residue Management, Seasonal, 345, Residue and Tillage Management Mulch Till, 346, Residue Management, Ridge Till, 391, Riparian Forest Buffer, 422, Hedgerow Planting, 472, Access Control, 595, Integrated Pest Management, 612, Tree/Shrub Establishment, and 666, Forest Stand Improvement. These practices will be used to plan and install conservation practices.

On January 25, 2011, the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) was published in the Federal Register (76 FR 4279-4281). From January, 2011 to June, 2011, six public meetings and workshops were held for the purposes of receiving comments and recommendations that would inform the development of a refined proposed action. As a result, the Forest Service is revising the NOI document, Federal Register of January 25, 2011 (76 FR 4279- 4281) to read as follows: Revision: The Forest Service is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) that proposes to conduct restoration activities on approximately 600,000 acres on the Coconino NF and Kaibab NF. Of this total, approximately 361,379 acres would be treated on the Coconino NF and 233,991 acres would be treated on the Kaibab NF. Restoration actions would be focused on the Flagstaff district with fewer acres included on the Mogollon Rim and Red Rock districts of the Coconino NF. On the Kaibab NF, activities would occur on the Williams and Tusayan districts. The objective of the project is to re-establish forest structure, pattern and composition, which will lead to increased forest resiliency and function. Resiliency increases the ability of the ponderosa pine forest to survive natural disturbances such as insect and disease, fire and climate change (FSM 2020.5). This project is expected to put the project area on a trajectory towards comprehensive, landscape-scale restoration with benefits that include improved vegetation biodiversity, wildlife habitat, soil productivity, and watershed function.