Department of the Interior February 1, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

As required by 43 CFR 2650.7(d), notice is hereby given that an appealable decision approving lands for conveyance pursuant to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, as amended by the Act of May 2, 2000, will be issued to Elim Native Corporation. The lands are located in Tps. 6 S., Rs. 15, 16, and 17 W.; Tps. 7 S., Rs. 16, 17, and 18 W.; and Tps. 8 S., Rs. 17 and 18 W., Kateel River Meridian, in the vicinity of Elim, Alaska, and contain approximately 45,881 acres. Notice of the decision will also be published four times in the Nome Nugget.

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service, announce a meeting of the Klamath River Basin Fisheries Task Force. The meeting is open to the public. The purpose of the meeting is to allow affected interests to continue providing recommendations to us on implementation of our program to restore anadromous fisheries, including salmon and steelhead, in the Klamath River in California and Oregon.

This notice advises the public that the Bureau of Indian Affairs is amending its Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation's Proposed Coyote Business Park, Umatilla County, Oregon, which was published in the Federal Register on December 16, 2005 (70 FR 74844). This amendment adds 18 days to the public comment period. All of the other information in the December 16, 2005, notice remains unchanged.

Pursuant to Civil Action No. 03-04 (RMC), The Wilderness Society v. Gale Norton, January 10, 2005, and in accordance with National Park Service (NPS) Management Policies 2001 section 6.2.1, the NPS has completed a Wilderness Suitability Assessment to determine if lands within Redwood National Park meet criteria indicating suitability for preservation as wilderness. The Redwood National Park staff reviewed management related documents that discussed potential wilderness, reviewed existing resource conditions, and weighed this information against Primary Suitability Criteria, section 6.2.1.1, of Management Policies 2001. Since the expansion of Redwood National Park in 1978, the park has undertaken an intense watershed rehabilitation program with a focus on removing roads. Since park expansion in 1978, about 219 miles of road have been removed and another 123 miles are proposed for removal within the Redwood Creek portion of the park. The 1999 Final General Management/General Plan and FEIS for Redwood National and State Parks states that until watershed restoration activities are completed that no wilderness area will be proposed. The 1979 General Management Plan concluded that a wilderness recommendation would be premature until rehabilitation efforts are completed because of the continuing need for large construction vehicles and the maintenance and heavy use of roads, activities inconsistent with wilderness designation. Based on these findings, the NPS has concluded that the lands within Redwood National Park do not warrant further study for wilderness evaluation at this time. However, following successful completion of watershed restoration activities in 12-15 years, or during the next General Management Plan effort, reconsideration of wilderness suitability for certain tracts of land within Redwood Creek could be warranted.

We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), propose to revise critical habitat for the endangered Alabama beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus ammobates) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). In total, approximately 1,298 acres (ac) (525 hectares (ha)) fall within the boundaries of the proposed critical habitat designation. The proposed critical habitat is located in Baldwin County, Alabama.