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.

Notices Federal Register

15680 

Vol. 78, No. 48 

Tuesday, March 12, 2013 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Research Service 

Notice of Intent To Grant Exclusive 

License 

AGENCY: Agricultural Research Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

Agricultural Research Service, intends 

to grant to VHN Enterprises, LLC of San 

Francisco, California, an exclusive 

license to U.S. Patent No. 7,858,125, 

‘‘MULTI-COMPONENT BIOCIDE 

COMPOSITION FOR WOOD 

PROTECTION’’, issued on December 28, 

2010. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before April 11, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: USDA, 

ARS, Office of Technology Transfer, 

5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Rm. 4–1174, 

Beltsville, Maryland 20705–5131. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: June 

Blalock of the Office of Technology 

Transfer at the Beltsville address given 

above; telephone: 301–504–5989. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Government’s patent rights in 

this invention are assigned to the United 

States of America, as represented by the 

Secretary of Agriculture. It is in the 

public interest to so license this 

invention as VHN Enterprises, LLC of 

San Francisco, California has submitted 

a complete and sufficient application for 

a license. The prospective exclusive 

license will be royalty-bearing and will 

comply with the terms and conditions 

of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 CFR 404.7. The 

prospective exclusive license may be 

granted unless, within thirty (30) days 

from the date of this published Notice, 

the Agricultural Research Service 

receives written evidence and argument 

which establishes that the grant of the 

license would not be consistent with the 

requirements of 35 U.S.C. 209 and 37 

CFR 404.7. 

Robert Griesbach, 

Deputy Assistant Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2013–05603 Filed 3–11–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–03–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service 

[Docket No. APHIS–2013–0014] 

Information Sharing With Agency 

Stakeholders: Public Meeting 

AGENCY: Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service. 

ACTION: Request for information and 

notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: We are informing the public 

that the Animal and Plant Health 

Inspection Service (APHIS) is soliciting 

feedback from our stakeholders 

regarding cross-Agency strategic 

priorities. We are also announcing that 

APHIS is hosting a public meeting to 

share information about the Agency’s 

budget and program restructuring, as 

well as to provide an opportunity for 

stakeholders to ask questions and share 

their perspective. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

April 11, 2013, from 10 a.m. to noon. 

We will accept stakeholder feedback on 

the specific topics raised in this notice 

until May 13, 2013. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held in 

room 107A at the USDA Whitten 

Building, 1400 Independence Avenue 

SW., Washington, DC. You may submit 

feedback on the topics covered in this 

notice to the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT or by 

submitting a comment using the 

Regulations.gov Web site (http://www.

regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=

APHIS-2013-0014-0001). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Hallie Zimmers, Adviser for State and 

Stakeholder Relations, APHIS, Room 

1153, 1400 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20250; phone (202) 

799–7029. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As part of 

its ongoing efforts to enhance 

stakeholder communication and 

information sharing, the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) 

Animal and Plant Health Inspection 

Service (APHIS) is hosting an open 

meeting with all interested stakeholders 

to discuss the Agency’s budget, pending 

program restructuring and potential 

impacts, and several cross-Agency 

strategic priorities. 

Like all Federal agencies, APHIS is 

facing a number of new and evolving 

challenges, including decreasing 

budgets, fewer available resources, and 

the continued need to successfully 

balance science, policy, and public 

opinion. As we plan for how to position 

APHIS to meet these and other 

challenges, our commitment to our 

animal and plant health mission 

remains firm. In keeping with this 

commitment, we want to continue to 

improve our business strategies and 

program delivery methods to enhance 

our overall effectiveness. As we begin to 

consider new opportunities and rethink 

current business practices, we want to 

engage our stakeholders in a dialog early 

in the process to ensure we’re in 

alignment with our customers’ needs. In 

particular, we are interested in your 

perspective regarding: 

• Public and private partnerships, 

such as disease management and 

eradication programs that benefit from 

State and industry contributions. 

• Non-regulatory solutions, such as 

compliance and education programs 

that can be used, when appropriate, to 

achieve results without the need for 

rulemaking. 

• New technology that encourages 

commerce or enhances APHIS’ ability to 

protect American agriculture. 

• Customer service improvements 

that make it easier for stakeholders to do 

business with APHIS. 

These are just a few examples; we 

believe many additional opportunities 

exist under the broad priorities of public 

and private partnerships, non-regulatory 

solutions, new technology and customer 

service. APHIS will speak to how the 

Agency is considering and already using 

these cross-Agency strategic priorities in 

greater depth at the public meeting. 

Ultimately, we believe stakeholders are 

in a unique position to provide insight 

and offer up new approaches that will 

enable APHIS to more effectively carry 

out our animal and plant mission and 

better serve our many customers. 

You may submit your thoughts and 

feedback by responding to this notice 

(see ADDRESSES above) or by emailing 

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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 48 / Tuesday, March 12, 2013 / Notices 15681 

partnerships@aphis.usda.gov. You can 

also bring a paper copy of your 

comments to the public meeting where 

you will also have the opportunity to 

share your perspective directly with the 

APHIS Management Team. 

Persons attending the April 11, 2013, 

meeting in Washington, DC, are 

required to register in advance at 

https://web01.aphis.usda.gov/Meeting

Reg.nsf/MtgRegistration?openform or by 

contacting the person listed under FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT. All 

registrants will be required to sign in at 

either the Independence Avenue or 

Jefferson Drive entrances to USDA’s 

Whitten Building, which is located at 

1400 Independence Avenue SW. Photo 

identification is required to gain access 

to the building. The nearest Metro 

station is the Smithsonian station on the 

Blue/Orange Lines, which is within easy 

walking distance. 

If you are unable to attend the 

meeting in person, it will be streamed 

on the Internet as a live Webcast. An 

audio conference line will also be made 

available for remote participants to ask 

questions. Information about how to 

join the live Webcast and conference 

line will be made available at http://

www.aphis.usda.gov/stakeholders/. We 

recommend that you connect at least 5 

minutes prior to the start of the meeting. 

A recording of the Webcast will be 

posted to the APHIS stakeholder 

information page for anyone who is 

unable to join the meeting on April 11, 

2013. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 5th day of 

March 2013. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. 2013–05566 Filed 3–11–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National 

Forest, Dillon Ranger District; 

Montana; Birch, Willow, Lost Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Birch, Willow, Lost 

Project proposes to treat vegetation 

communities in the four sub-watersheds 

that cover the project area. The scope of 

the project is limited to those portions 

of the four sub-watersheds covered by 

the project area boundary. This project 

is not a general management plan for the 

watersheds, nor is it a programmatic 

environmental analysis for vegetation 

communities. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis will be most helpful if 

received by April 11, 2013. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected October of 2013 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected March of 2014. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: 

Attention Alex Dunn, BeaverheadDeerlodge National Forest, 420 Barrett 

St., Dillon, MT 59725, and weekdays 

7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for hand delivery. 

Comments may also be sent via email to: 

comments-northern-beaverheaddeerlodge@fs.fed.us in one of the 

following formats: Word (.doc or .docx), 

rich text format (.rtf), text (.txt), and/or 

hypertext markup language (.html). 

Please make sure to put BWL Project in 

the subject line. Comments may also be 

sent via facsimile to: Attention Alex 

Dunn, BWL Project 406–683–3886. For 

all forms of comment, make sure to 

include your name, physical address, 

phone number, and a subject title of 

BWL Project. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Alex Dunn, Forest Environmental 

Coordinator at (406) 683–3864 or via 

email at adunn@fs.fed.us. Individuals 

who use telecommunication devices for 

the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 

p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through 

Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

This action is being undertaken to 

contribute to the achievement of the 

following Beaverhead-Deerlodge Land 

and Resource Management Plan (Forest 

Plan) Objectives for vegetation within 

the project area: Aspen Component— 

Increase the aspen component within 

Lodgepole pine and other vegetation 

types, on 67,000 acres (Forest Plan pg. 

44). Grassland/Shrubland/Riparian— 

Reduce conifer encroachment on 74,000 

acres of riparian areas, shrublands, and 

grasslands (Forest Plan pg. 44). 

Resiliency—Reduce forest density in the 

large size classes of dry forest 

communities to maintain or improve 

resilient forest conditions (Forest Plan 

pg. 43). Whitebark Pine/Sub-Alpine Fir 

Type—Promote regeneration of 

Whitebark Pine on approximately 

45,000 acres, largely through the use of 

fire (Forest Plan pg. 43). This project is 

needed because there is a difference 

between the existing condition and the 

desired condition for the above 

vegetation types in the project area. 

Proposed Action 

The responsible official proposes to: 

—Treat a total of 13,282 acres of the 

59,133 acres within the project area, 

in five dominant vegetation types in 

133 Units in the project area. A total 

of 1,237 acres of Aspen would be 

treated through mechanical, 

commercial, burning, lop and 

scattering, and/or mastication. A total 

of 3,440 acres of Douglas-Fir would be 

treated through commercial thin, 

mastication, and/or burning. A total of 

1,883 acres of Mountain Mahogany 

would be treated through lop and 

scatter and/or mastication. A total of 

6,292 acres of Shrub-Grasslands 

would be treated through lop and 

scatter, burning/slashing, and/or 

mastication. A total of 430 acres of 

Mid and High Elevation Mixed 

Conifer would be modified through 

slashing with chainsaws, and/or 

burning. Planting limber pine may 

occur on about 100 acres due to the 

majority of seed-bearing limber pine 

trees being dead from mountain pine 

beetle. The extent of planting would 

be assessed after the prescribed 

burning is completed. 

—Recondition and/or spot 

reconstruction of a total of 13.3 miles 

on five roads within the project area. 

Forest Road (FR) 7487 (Farlin Gulch) 

would have 1.7 miles Reconditioned/ 

Spot Reconstructed. FR 98 (Birch 

Creek) would have 3.7 miles 

Reconditioned/Spot Reconstructed. 

FR 1211 (Gorge Creek) would have 1.1 

miles Reconditioned/Spot 

Reconstructed. FR 7476 (Lower 

Willow Creek) would have 1.7 miles 

Spot Reconstructed. FR 8200 (Willow 

Creek) would have 5.1 miles 

Reconditioned/Spot Reconstructed. 

—Construct one temporary road, 

aproximately one-half mile long. 

—Use approximately 14 miles of 

existing system road and less than one 

mile of non-system route as haul 

routes. 

—Implement additional actions on 

several system routes including 

replacement of 5 culverts, addition of 

one culvert, replacement of 2 fords 

with culverts, and hardening/ 

armoring of 2 stream crossings. 

—Treat units in Aspen, Douglas-Fir, 

Sagebrush-Grassland, Mountain 

Mahogany, and High-Elevation Mixed 

Conifer in approximately 2,821 acres 

in two Inventoried Roadless Area 

(IRA’s), Call Mountain and East 

Pioneer. Treatments would include 

lop and scatter, slashing, pile burning, 

jackpot burning, underburning, 

‘‘daylighting’’ with chainsaws, and 

mastication. All the trees to be cut 

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