6248 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 27 / Tuesday, February 10, 2004 / Notices 

established in the FY 2000–FY 2004 5-

year Plan of Work as described above. 

2. Period Covered 

The FY 2005–FY 2006 Plan of Work 

Update will extend the current 5-Year 

Plan of Work that covered the period 

from October 1, 1999, through 

September 30, 2004, to include the 

period from October 1, 2004, through 

September 30, 2006. 

3. Projected Resources 

The resources that are allocated for 

various planned programs in the FY 

2005–2006 Plan of Work Update, in 

terms of human and fiscal measures, 

should be included and projected to 

include the sixth and seventh years. The 

baseline for the institution’s or State’s 

initial plan (for the two years) should be 

the Federal agricultural research and 

extension formula funds for FY 1999 

and the required level (i.e., percentage) 

of matching funds for FY 2005 and FY 

2006. 

4. Submission and Due Date 

The FY 2005–FY 2006 Plan of Work 

Update must be submitted by April 1, 

2004, to the Planning and 

Accountability Unit, Office of the 

Administrator of the Cooperative State 

Research, Education, and Extension 

Service; U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

It is preferred that these FY 2005–FY 

2006 Plan of Work Updates be 

submitted electronically to 

bhewitt@csrees.usda.gov in either 

WordPerfect file format, Microsoft Word 

file format, or ASCII file format. It also 

is requested that the FY 2003 Annual 

Report of Accomplishments and Results 

be submitted with the FY 2005–FY 2006 

Plan of Work Update in order to 

facilitate a more efficient and 

comprehensive review for both CSREES 

and the land-grant institutions.

5. Certification 

The FY 2005–FY 2006 Plan of Work 

Updates must be signed by the 1862 

Extension Director, 1862 Research 

Director, 1890 Extension Administrator, 

and/or 1890 Research Director, 

depending on the planning option 

chosen. 

B. FY 2005–2006 Plan of Work Update 

Evaluation by CSREES 

1. Schedule 

All FY 2005–FY 2006 Plan of Work 

Updates will be evaluated by CSREES in 

conjunction with the review of the FY 

2003 Annual Report of 

Accomplishments and Results. The FY 

2005–FY 2006 Plan of Work Update will 

either be accepted by CSREES without 

change or returned to the institution, 

with clear and detailed 

recommendations for its modification. 

The submitting institution(s) will be 

notified by CSREES of its determination 

within 90 days (review to be completed 

in 60 days, communications to the 

institutions allowing a 30-day response) 

of receipt of the document. Adherence 

to the Plan of Work schedule by the 

recipient institution is critical to 

assuring the timely allocation of funds 

by CSREES. The FY 2005–FY 2006 Plan 

of Work Updates accepted by CSREES 

will be in effect for the period beginning 

October 1, 2004, through September 30, 

2006. CSREES will notify all institutions 

of a need for a new 5-year plan of work 

one year prior to the plan’s expiration 

on September 30, 2006. 

2. Review Criteria 

CSREES will evaluate the FY 2005–

FY 2006 Plan of Work Update according 

to the criteria in these revised 

guidelines.

Done in Washington, DC, this 30th day of 

January, 2004. 

Colien Hefferan, 

Administrator, Cooperative State Research, 

Education, and Extension Service.

[FR Doc. 04–2786 Filed 2–9–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–22–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service 

Information Collection; Request for 

Comments; Annual Wildfire Summary 

Report

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the 

Forest Service announces its intention 

to reinstate, without change, a 

previously approved information 

collection, for which approval has 

expired. The collected information 

enables the Forest Service to provide 

timely, substantive information to 

Congress about the effectiveness of State 

and local fire fighting agencies, when 

the agencies request annual funding for 

the Forest Service State and Private 

Forestry Cooperative Fire Program. This 

program supplements the funding of 

State and local fire fighting efforts.

DATES: Comments must be received in 

writing on or before April 12, 2004.

ADDRESSES: Comments concerning this 

notice should be addressed to Jim Shell, 

Fire and Aviation Management, MAIL 

STOP 1107, State and Private Forestry, 

Forest Service, USDA, 1400 

Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250. 

Comments also may be submitted via 

facsimile to (202) 205–1494 or by e-mail 

to jshell@fs.fed.us.

The public may inspect comments 

received at the Office of the Deputy 

Chief, State and Private Forestry, Forest 

Service, USDA, 2nd Floor SW., Yates 

Building, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington DC. Visitors are urged 

to call ahead to (202) 205–1494 to 

facilitate entrance into the building.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim 

Shell, Fire and Aviation Management, 

State and Private Forestry, (202) 205–

1494. Individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Relay 

Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

twenty-four hours a day, every day of 

the year, including holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

The Cooperative Forestry Assistance 

Act of 1978 requires the Forest Service 

to collect information about wildfire 

suppression efforts by State and local 

fire fighting agencies to ensure that 

Congress has adequate information to 

implement its oversight responsibilities 

and to provide accountability for 

expenditures and activities under the 

Act. The Forest Service works 

cooperatively with State and local fire 

fighting agencies and provides 

supplemental funding to these agencies 

to support their fire suppression efforts 

through the Forest Service State and 

Private Forestry Cooperative Fire 

Program. State and local fire agencies 

are the first line of defense against fires 

that threaten non-Federal property and 

resources and that might spread to 

Federal lands. 

State Foresters use the form, FS–

3100–8, Annual Wildfire Summary 

Report, to compile information from 

their State and local fire agencies in 

response to a request for this 

information from the Forest Service. 

The Forest Service would be unable to 

assess the effectiveness of the State and 

Private Forestry Cooperative Fire 

Program if the information provided on 

form, FS–3100–8, were not collected. 

Description of Information Collection 

The following describes the 

information collection to be retained. 

Title: FS–3100–8, Annual Wildfire 

Summary Report. 

OMB Number: 0596–0025. 

Date of Expiration: May 31, 2003. 

Type of Request: Reinstatement. 

Abstract: Forest Service State and 

Private Forestry Cooperative Fire 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 27 / Tuesday, February 10, 2004 / Notices 6249

Program managers will evaluate the 

collected information to determine 

whether Cooperative Fire program funds 

provided to the State and local fire 

fighting agencies by the Forest Service 

have been used to improve their fire 

suppression capabilities. The Forest 

Service will share the results of the data 

with Congress when requesting annual 

funding for the Program. The collected 

information also will enable the Forest 

Service to share with the public the 

importance and value of the State and 

Private Forestry Cooperative Fire 

Program. 

Forest Service employees will not 

collect the information directly, but will 

request the information from State 

Foresters, who will collect the 

information from their own State fire 

fighting agencies, and from local fire 

fighting agencies, such as volunteer fire 

departments. The information collected 

for the Annual Wildfire Summary 

Report will include the number of acres 

protected; the number of fires to which 

the State or local fire fighting agencies 

responded within the fiscal year; the 

sizes of the fires in acres; and the causes 

of the fires, such as lightening, campfire, 

or arson. Data gathered in this 

information collection are not available 

from other sources. 

Estimate of Annual Burden: 30 

minutes. 

Type of Respondents: State Foresters. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Respondents: 50. 

Estimated Annual Number of 

Responses per Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 25 hours. 

Comment Is Invited 

Comment is invited on: (a) Whether 

the proposed collection of information 

is necessary for the stated purposes and 

the proper performance of the functions 

of the agency, including whether the 

information will have practical or 

scientific utility; (b) the accuracy of the 

agency’s estimate of the burden of the 

proposed collection of information, 

including the validity of the 

methodology and assumptions used; (c) 

ways to enhance the quality, utility, and 

clarity of the information to be 

collected; and (d) ways to minimize the 

burden of the collection of information 

on respondents, including the use of 

automated, electronic, mechanical, or 

other technological collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. 

Use of Comments 

All comments received in response to 

this notice, including names and 

addresses when provided, will become 

a matter of public record and will be 

available for public inspection and 

copying. Comments will be summarized 

and included in the request for Office of 

Management and Budget approval.

Dated: February 4, 2004. 

Robin L. Thompson, 

Acting Deputy Chief, State and Private 

Forestry.

[FR Doc. 04–2843 Filed 2–9–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service 

Whitetail-Pipestone Travel 

Management Project, BeaverheadDeerlodge National Forest, Jefferson 

and Silver Bow Counties, MT

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service will 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement to document the analysis and 

disclose the environmental impacts of a 

proposed action to develop a travel and 

access management plan for the 

Whitetail-Pipestone area. The project 

area is located on National Forest 

System lands east of Interstate 15 from 

Butte to Boulder, southwest of Highway 

69 to Hadley Park road, west and north 

of the Hadley Park Road over the Bull 

Mountain range to the Whitetail Road, 

west of the Whitetail Road to Whitehall, 

and north of Montana Highway 2 from 

Whitehall to Butte. 

The decision to be made is to define 

the appropriate road and trail systems 

and the type of uses on them.

DATES: Initial comments concerning the 

scope of the analysis should be received 

in writing no later than march 15, 2004.

ADDRESSES: The responsible official is 

Forest Supervisor Thomas K. Reilly, 

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, 

Dillon, Montana. Please send comments 

to Eric Tolf, 3 Whitetail Road, 

Whitehall, MT 59759. Comments may 

be electronically submitted to 

comments-northern-beaverheaddeerlodge-jefferson@fs.fed.us.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric 

Tolf, project leader, 3 Whitetail Road, 

Whitehall, MT 59759, or phone (406) 

287–3223, or by email to etolf@fs.fed.us.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of this action is to define a 

transportation system (roads and trails) 

to provide a variety of motorized and 

non-motorized recreation opportunities. 

A condition of this transportation 

system is that it can be properly 

maintained. 

The project area is located in T. 2 N.–

T. 5 N., R 7 W.–R. 4 W. The scope of 

this proposal is limited to access and 

travel management actions to 

accomplish the purpose and need. 

Public participation is important to 

this analysis. Part of the goal of public 

involvement is to identify additional 

issues and to refine the general, 

tentative issues. A scoping notice 

describing the proposal will be mailed 

to those who request information on 

these types of activities on the 

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forests. 

Preliminary issues identified by the 

Forest Service include: 

(1) Motorized and non-motorized 

recreation—the existing transportation 

system does not provide for a mix of 

quality recreational experiences for both 

motorized and non-motorized users. 

(2) Road and trail safety—safety 

concerns exist along roads utilized by 

both full-sized vehicles and off-highway 

vehicles, and hazards on low standard 

roads and trails. 

The analysis will consider all 

reasonably foreseeable activities. The 

interdisciplinary team has not yet 

developed alternatives to the proposed 

action. Alternatives will be developed 

based on the key issues identified 

through scoping.

People may visit with Forest Service 

officials at any time during the analysis 

and prior to the decision. Two periods 

are specifically designated for 

comments on the analysis: (1) During 

the scoping process, and (2) during the 

draft EIS period. 

During the scoping process, the Forest 

Service seeks additional information 

and comments from individuals 

organization that may be interested in or 

affected by the proposed action, and 

Federal, State and local agencies. The 

Forest Service invites written comments 

and suggestions on this action, 

particularly in terms of identification of 

issues and alternative development. 

The draft EIS is anticipated to be 

available for review in May 2004. The 

final EIS is planned for completion in 

December 2004. 

The Environmental Protection Agency 

will publish the Notice of Availability of 

the draft Environmental Impact 

Statement in the Federal Register. The 

Forest will also publish a Legal Notice 

of its availability in the Montana 

Standard Newspaper, Butte, Montana, A 

45-day comment period on the draft 

environmental impact statement will 

begin the day following the date of 

publication of the Notice of Availability 

in the Federal Register. 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, it is important to give 

reviewers notice of several court rulings