Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2010 / Notices 72781 

Program Development and Regulatory 

Analysis, Rural Utilities Service, U.S. 

Department of Agriculture, STOP 1522, 

1400 Independence Ave., SW., 

Washington, DC 20250–1522. Fax: (202) 

720–0784. 

Title: Electric System Emergency 

Restoration Plan. 

OMB Control Number: 0572–0140. 

Type of Request: Extension of a 

currently approved collection. 

Abstract: The term ‘‘critical 

infrastructure’’ is defined in section 

1016(e) of the USA Patriot Act of 2001 

(42 U.S.C. 5195c(e)) as ‘‘systems and 

assets, whether physical or virtual, so 

vital to the United States that the 

incapacity or destruction of such 

systems and assets would have a 

debilitating impact on security, national 

economic security, national public 

health or safety, or any combination of 

those matters.’’ Electric power systems 

have been identified in Presidential 

Decision Directive 63 (PDD–63) as one 

of the critical infrastructures of the 

United States. 

A substantial portion of the electric 

infrastructure of the United States 

resides in, and is maintained by, rural 

America. RUS is uniquely coupled with 

the electric infrastructure of rural 

America and its electric borrowers 

serving rural America. To ensure that 

the electric infrastructure in rural 

America is adequately protected, RUS 

requires that all electric borrowers 

conduct a Vulnerability and Risk 

Assessment (VRA) of their respective 

systems and utilize the results of this 

assessment to enhance an existing 

Emergency Restoration Plan (ERP) or 

create an ERP. 

Estimate of Burden: Public reporting 

burden for this collection of information 

is estimated to average .5 hours per 

response. 

Respondents: Not-for-profit 

institutions. 

Estimated Number of Respondents: 

676. 

Estimated Number of Responses per 

Respondent: 1. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden on 

Respondents: 338 hours. 

Copies of this information collection 

can be obtained from MaryPat Daskal, 

Program Development and Regulatory 

Analysis, at (202) 720–7853, FAX: (202) 

720–8435. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Dated: November 19, 2010. 

Jonathan Adelstein, 

Administrator, Rural Utilities Service. 

[FR Doc. 2010–29768 Filed 11–24–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Buckhorn Exploration Project 2010, 

Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest, 

Okanogan County, WA 

Joint Lead Agencies: Forest Service, 

Department of Agriculture; and 

Department of Natural Resources, 

Washington State. 

Cooperating Agencies: Bureau of Land 

Management, Department of the 

Interior; and Department of Ecology, 

Washington State. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Department of 

Agriculture, Forest Service, in 

cooperation with the Department of the 

Interior, Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM), Washington State Department of 

Natural Resources (DNR), and 

Washington Department of Ecology 

(WADOE), will prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for a proposal by Echo Bay Exploration, 

Inc. (Echo Bay) to explore their mineral 

holdings in Township 40 North, Range 

30 East, Sections 1, 12 to 15, 22 to 27, 

and 34 to 36; and in Township 40 

North, Range 31 East, Sections 5 to 9 

and 16 to 20, W.M. 

Proposed exploration operations will 

be located in Okanogan County, 

Washington on unpatented mining 

claims on public lands administered by 

the Tonasket Ranger District of the 

Forest Service and the Wenatchee Field 

Office of the BLM. Exploration 

operations will also be located on state 

mineral lease lands, private lands, and 

patented mining claims administered by 

the Washington State Department of 

Natural Resources. 

The EIS will evaluate a range of 

reasonable alternatives to the proposed 

action and will assess the potential 

impacts of each alternative. The public 

will have an opportunity to comment on 

the EIS, including the range of 

alternatives and the impacts analysis. 

The agencies are giving notice of this 

analysis so that interested and affected 

individuals are aware of how they may 

participate and contribute to the final 

decision. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of this analysis must be received by 

January 3, 2011. A public information 

meeting is planned to be held in 

Oroville, Washington on December 14, 

2010 at the Oroville High School 

Commons from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Details 

concerning any additional public 

meetings, none presently scheduled, 

will be announced via local news media 

outlets. The Draft EIS is expected to be 

filed with the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) in September 2011. The 

Final EIS is expected to be filed with the 

EPA in April 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

and suggestions concerning the scope of 

the analysis to Phillip Christy, District 

Environmental Coordinator, 1 West 

Winesap, Tonasket, WA 98855, phone 

(509) 486–5137. Comments may also be 

sent via e-mail to commentspacificnorthwest-okanogantonasket@fs.fed.us, or via facsimile to 

509–486–1922. Electronic comments 

must be part of an e-mail message, or as 

an attachment in either Microsoft Word 

(doc or docx), Rich Text Format (rtf), or 

Portable Document Format (pdf). 

Electronic comments containing viruses 

will be rejected. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct questions about the proposed 

action and EIS to Phillip Christy, 

District Environmental Coordinator, 1 

West Winesap, Tonasket, Washington 

98855, phone (509) 486–5137, Kelly 

Courtright, BLM Mining Engineer, 1103 

N. Fancher Road, Spokane, WA 99212, 

phone (509) 536–1218, or Fred Greef, 

SEPA Coordinator, Washington State 

Department of Natural Resources, P.O. 

Box 7015, Olympia, WA 98504–7015, 

phone (360) 902–1628. 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: The 

General Mining Law of 1872, as 

amended, provides Echo Bay the 

statutory right to explore for and 

develop mineral resources on federally 

administered lands. Federal policy 

encourages the development of federal 

mineral resources and requires 

reclamation of disturbed federal lands. 

This right carries with it the 

responsibility to assure that operations 

include adequate and responsible 

measures to prevent unnecessary or 

undue degradation of federal lands and 

to provide for reasonable reclamation. 

The BLM administers the surface 

acres of public land for which the BLM 

is responsible and the federal subsurface 

mineral estate under the Mining Law 

and the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA). 

FLPMA also governs the BLM’s 

administration of public lands not open 

to location under the Mining Law. The 

Mining Law allows the location and use 

of mining claims ‘‘under such 

regulations prescribed by law’’ and 

Section 302(b) of FLPMA and 


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72782 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2010 / Notices 

recognizes the entry and rights of 

mining claimants while directing that 

the BLM take any action necessary to 

prevent unnecessary or undue 

degradation of the lands. These two 

laws form the primary statutory basis for 

Surface Management Regulation 

codified at 43 CFR 3809 and BLM’s 

purpose and need in reviewing and 

approving the Plan. 

Under Washington State mining laws, 

metal mining/milling as an industry is 

allowable if it can be accomplished in 

an environmentally sensitive manner 

(RCW 78.56). It is the intent of 

Washington State laws to ensure a high 

degree of environmental protection 

while allowing the proper development 

and use of the state’s natural resources, 

including its mineral resources. The 

Washington State Surface Mining 

Reclamation Act (RCW 78.44) addresses 

exploratory drilling and reclamation 

activities in the State of Washington. 

Echo Bay has requested authorization 

to start this program of exploration 

drilling in the fall of 2011 or winter of 

2012. The prospecting and exploration 

drilling operations would continue for 

approximately 5 years. Concurrent 

reclamation would be conducted where 

safe and practical to do so. Reclamation 

monitoring would continue for 

approximately three years following the 

completion of reclamation operations. 

Echo Bay’s Plan of Operations may be 

viewed on-line at http://www.fs.fed.us/ 

r6/wenatchee/projects/ 

projects.shtml?project=32875. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose and need for the project 

is to respond to Echo Bay’s request to 

collect further information regarding 

economic gold resources present within 

the proposed exploration boundaries 

surrounding Buckhorn Mountain using 

geophysical and geochemical studies 

and exploration drilling and to develop 

reasonable mitigation to protect surface 

resources. 

Under 36 CFR 228.8 all operations 

shall be conducted so as, where feasible, 

to minimize adverse environmental 

impacts on National Forest surface 

resources including air quality, water 

quality, solid wastes, scenic values, 

fisheries and wildlife habitat, roads, and 

at the earliest possible time reclamation 

should take place. 

The BLM under 43 CFR 3809.1(a) 

must prevent unnecessary and undue 

degradation of public lands by the 

operations authorized by the mining 

laws, and (b) provide the maximum 

possible coordination with appropriate 

State agencies. Also, in compliance with 

43 CFR 3809.203(b) the ‘‘BLM will 

continue to be responsible for all landuse planning on public lands and for 

implementing other Federal laws 

relating to the public lands for which 

the BLM is responsible.’’ Additionally, 

an Environmental Impact Statement is 

required to be prepared in accordance 

with BLM Handbook 1790.1, 7.2(7), 

prior to the approval of any mining 

operation where the area to be mined, 

including any area of disturbance, over 

the life of the mining plan is 640 acres 

or larger in size. 

Since the Okanogan National Forest 

Land and Resource Management Plan 

could not predict specifics as to where, 

when, and what kind of mineral 

exploration or development might be 

proposed, nor specific needs of that 

exploration or development in terms of 

surface resources, the Plan anticipated 

that the intensive surface use required 

for mineral exploration and 

development projects might require 

Forest Plan amendments (LRMP, page 

IV–21). To allow Echo Bay reasonable 

access to their mining claims, it may be 

necessary to amend the Okanogan 

National Forest Land and Resource 

Management Plan (LRMP) relating to 

road densities, deer cover, operating 

period, impacts to old growth, 

disturbance, and impacts to 

Management Requirement cells. 

Proposed Action 

The Forest Supervisor for the 

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest 

and the Field Manager for the BLM’s 

Wenatchee Field Office propose to 

authorize Echo Bay to explore their 

mining claims in a logical sequence of 

prospecting and exploration activities 

beginning in 2011 or 2012. Exploration 

would use a phased approach to 

minimize adverse environmental 

impacts and to prevent unnecessary and 

undue degradation of public lands and 

surface resources by initially using 

remote sensing and other non-surface 

disturbing prospecting techniques to 

identify target areas. 

Exploration drilling within the 

identified target areas would leave other 

areas of low mineral potential 

undisturbed. Since a phased exploration 

approach is proposed, annual road 

usage and locations of construction 

activities would be dependent upon the 

results of each phase. The initial drill 

hole spacing would range from 400 to 

500 feet between drill holes. If initial 

drill results are favorable, the drill 

program would be modified for a drill 

spacing of 200 to 250 feet. Continued 

favorable drill results would require 

drill hole spacing from 50 to 100 feet 

apart. The drill holes would average 

1200 feet deep (600 to 1600′). 

A work plan describing the activities 

for the upcoming season (or as often as 

changes are made to the authorized 

work plan), including maps showing 

specific locations of drill sites, road 

alignments, water conveyance and 

storage locations, monitoring locations, 

or ancillary facilities, would be 

submitted for review and approval to 

the administering agency prior to 

starting construction of drill pad sites, 

drill access roads, and ancillary 

facilities or initiation of a geophysical or 

geochemical survey. 

The Forest Service, BLM, WADOE, 

and DNR propose to authorize the 

following total disturbances within a 

10,041 acre area over five years (all land 

ownerships): 

1. Construct up to 72.3 miles (380,810 

linear feet) of new drill roads; 

2. Construct up to 675 new drill pad 

sites; 

3. Drill up to 965 exploration drill 

holes; 

4. Construct up to 33 acres of water 

conveyance and storage facilities, 

including a new water well on National 

Forest System (NFS) lands; 

5. Develop up to 8 acres of ancillary 

disturbance for staging of equipment 

and materials; 

6. Convert up to 4 drill holes on NFS 

lands to monitoring wells; and 

7. Allow access 24 hours/day, 365 

days/year, utilizing up to 20 drill rigs at 

any given time, weather permitting. 

Under the proposed Block Permitting 

approach, the amount of road and pad 

disturbance would be dependent on the 

results from phased exploration 

activities and may vary from that 

described above. However, the total 

amount would not exceed 507 acres of 

new disturbance. Since this is an 

exploration project, Echo Bay is unable 

to predict the exact locations of all 

exploration roads and drill sites at this 

time. As exploration proceeds through 

the phases, and as resource information 

becomes available from the EIS Baseline 

Study Programs, Echo Bay would 

provide the agencies with specific 

proposed locations of disturbance in 

Work Plans for agency review and 

approval. The Work Plans would be 

designed to avoid (if possible) impacts 

to important resources (i.e. cultural, 

wildlife, riparian) and areas of concern 

identified through Baseline Study 

Programs. Appropriate bonding would 

be in place prior to all phases of 

proposed surface disturbance work 

described in the Work Plans. 

The proposed number of drill holes 

by surface jurisdiction: Private lands— 

80, BLM managed lands—235, State of 

Washington Mineral Leases—170, and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2010 / Notices 72783 

Forest Service managed lands—480 

(total 965). 

The proposed acres of surface 

disturbance by jurisdiction are: Private 

lands—30 acres, BLM administered 

public lands—117 acres, State of 

Washington Mineral Leases—60 acres, 

and Forest Service administered public 

lands—300 acres (total 507 acres). 

If an action alternative is selected, the 

Forest Supervisor for the OkanoganWenatchee National Forest proposes to 

amend the Okanogan National Forest 

Land and Resource Management Plan 

(LRMP) relating to road closures and 

densities in the Myers Creek, Cedar 

Creek, and Nicholson Creek drainages. 

To offset the opening of roads in these 

drainages, roads closures may be 

required as mitigation, including 

temporary closing of Forest Road 3575– 

100 from near the junction with Forest 

Road 3575–120 to near the junction 

with Forest Road 3575–101 and 

temporary closing of Forest Road 3575– 

290. On NFS land, a new temporary 

management prescription for 

exploration operations with associated 

standards and guidelines may be 

developed and would be an integral part 

of each of the action alternatives. 

1. Riparian standards and guidelines 

may be amended to allow the 

construction of drill roads through 

riparian areas and the construction of 

drill pads and the drilling of exploration 

holes in riparian areas; 

2. Deer winter and summer cover 

standards for hiding, thermal, and snow 

intercept thermal cover may be 

amended to allow construction of new 

drill roads and pads where needed for 

exploration; 

3. Road density standards in 

Management Areas (MA) 14, 25, and 26 

may be amended to allow the 

construction of necessary drill roads; 

4. Visual quality objective standards 

may be amended to allow the 

construction of drill roads and pads and 

drilling related activities, as needed; 

5. Raptor nests may not be protected 

and timing restrictions may not be 

followed to allow for year-round 

exploration activities; 

6. Deer winter range timing 

restrictions in MA 14 and 26 may not 

be followed to allow orderly exploration 

activities. Motorized vehicle access may 

be allowed year-round; 

7. Timber removal and motorized 

vehicle use in old growth stands, if any 

exist, may be required for exploration 

activities. No old growth stands have 

been presently identified; and 

8. Wildlife Management Requirement 

cells may need to be moved, modified, 

or eliminated. 

Once exploration and reclamation 

activities have ceased, the Forest 

Service would return the reclaimed 

areas to management under the goals 

and objectives of the underlying 

management areas or replacement 

management areas in any future LRMP. 

Possible Alternatives 

Depending upon significant issues 

raised related to the proposed action, 

alternatives to the proposed action may 

be formulated. Possible alternatives may 

include seasonal or timing restrictions, 

limiting the number of drill rigs 

operating at any one time, or yearly caps 

on the amount of drilling per year. 

Possible alternatives may be formed 

based on the source and delivery of 

water needed for drilling including the 

possibility of eliminating the well on 

NFS lands and hauling all water used 

for the project from private and 

municipal wells off agency lands. 

Possible alternatives may be formed 

based on the use of more helicopterbased drilling in the early stages of 

exploration, minimizing the 

construction of new drill access roads to 

areas of proposed intensive drilling or 

minimizing the need to build roads on 

steeper side slopes and in riparian areas. 

Lead and Cooperating Agencies 

The USDA Forest Service will be the 

lead agency (under the National 

Environmental Policy Act [NEPA]) in 

accordance with 40 CFR 1501.5(b), and 

is responsible for preparation of the EIS. 

The DNR will be the lead state agency 

(under the State Environmental Policy 

Act [SEPA]). The BLM will be a 

cooperating federal agency (under 

NEPA). The WADOE will be a 

cooperating state agency (under SEPA). 

Responsible Officials 

The Forest Supervisor for the 

Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest 

will be the responsible official for this 

EIS and its Record of Decision (ROD) for 

NFS land. The Field Manager for the 

BLM’s Wenatchee Field Office will be 

the responsible official for this EIS and 

its ROD on BLM administered lands. As 

the responsible officials, they will 

document the decision and reasons for 

their decision in the two RODs being 

prepared for federal lands. 

The Washington DNR, Geology & 

Earth Resources Division Manager is the 

SEPA responsible official for EIS 

development, representing State and 

local agencies. The State does not 

prepare a formal decision for the EIS, 

but instead makes decisions based on 

this document in individual State 

permit decisions. The Forest Service 

decision will be subject to Forest 

Service Appeal Regulations in 

accordance with 36 CFR Part 215. The 

BLM decision will be subject to BLM 

Administrative Appeal Regulations in 

accordance with the regulations 

contained in 43 CFR, Part 4, and Form 

1842–1. 

Nature of the Decision To Be Made 

The Forest Supervisor for the 

Okanogan—Wenatchee National Forest 

must decide whether or not to approve 

the Proponent’s Plan of Operations as 

submitted, or approve a modified Plan 

of Operations with additional mitigation 

measures and monitoring items. The 

Forest Supervisor will consider both the 

impacts as a result of project activities 

on Forest Service administered public 

lands and rights-of-way, as well as 

cumulative impacts off of Forest Service 

administered public lands. 

Additionally, the Forest Supervisor 

must decide whether or not to grant a 

special use permit to Echo Bay to drill 

a well on NFS land and allow 

withdrawal of up to 120,000 gallons of 

water per day. The Forest Supervisor 

must decide whether or not the existing 

road use permit for the ore haul route 

should be amended to allow for 

additional commercial traffic on Forest 

roads. The Forest Supervisor must also 

decide whether or not to amend the 

Okanogan National Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan to 

implement the project. The Forest 

Supervisor will consider both the 

impacts as a result of project activities 

on NFS administered public lands and 

rights-of-way, as well as cumulative 

impacts off of NFS administered public 

lands. 

The Field Manager for the Wenatchee 

Field Office must decide whether or not 

to approve the Proponent’s Plan of 

Operations as submitted, or approve a 

modified Plan of Operations with 

additional mitigation measures and 

monitoring items. The Field Manager 

will consider both the impacts as a 

result of project activities on BLM 

administered public lands and rights-ofway, as well as cumulative impacts off 

of BLM administered public lands. 

Preliminary Issues 

A number of preliminary issues were 

identified by the lead and cooperating 

agencies including: 

(1) Exploration operations could 

adversely affect land used by wildlife, 

recreationists, Tribal members, and the 

grazing permittees; 

(2) Exploration activities and 

additional project road use could result 

in cattle injury or death; 

(3) Exploration activities, including 

additional road use, could cause 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
72784 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 227 / Friday, November 26, 2010 / Notices 

sedimentation and toxic substances to 

enter and degrade riparian areas and 

wetlands, decreasing water quality and 

adversely impacting fish, amphibians, 

and plants that use these areas; 

(4) Exploration activities, including 

additional road use, may cause air 

quality degradation from dust, diesel 

exhaust, and toxic substances that could 

affect vegetation, tourism, recreation 

activities, viewpoints, aesthetic 

enjoyment of the area, and the quality 

of life, health, and safety for residents; 

(5) Exploration activities, including 

drill vehicles and heavy trucks, could 

increase noise, which could impact 

tourism, recreation activities, aesthetic 

enjoyment of the area, and the quality 

of life and solitude for residents. Noise 

could carry for long distances and 

potentially impact adjacent property 

owners. 

(6) Project activities could disturb 

wildlife, including threatened, 

endangered, and sensitive species, 

through human presence, noise, and 

increased road density, and could 

increase impacts from the semiimpermeable barrier to movement along 

the ore haul route as a result of 

additional traffic and affect the northsouth wildlife corridor; 

(7) Exploration activities may spread 

noxious weeds. The use of herbicides to 

treat noxious weeds found during 

monitoring has the potential to affect 

non-target species; 

(8) The proposed action may 

contribute to cumulative impacts, which 

may have significant effects on the 

environment, and may contribute to 

cumulative effects of past, present, and 

reasonably foreseeable future actions; 

(9) Exploration activities may 

adversely affect members of the 

Confederated Tribes of the Colville 

Reservation and may impact cultural 

resources of concern to Tribal members, 

and their rights reserved by Executive 

Order, to hunt, fish, and gather on the 

former north half of the Colville 

Reservation; and 

(10) Exploration activities may cause 

light pollution potentially affecting 

tourism, recreational activities, 

viewpoints, and aesthetic enjoyment of 

the area, particularly for residents of the 

Myers Creek valley. 

Permits, Authorizations, Approvals, or 

Licenses Required 

The following permits, authorizations, 

approvals, or licenses would be required 

for the project: 

Forest Service: a final Plan of 

Operations, a Road Use Permit 

modification and a Special Use Permit 

for a water well. 

Bureau of Land Management: A final 

Mining and Reclamation Plan. 

Environmental Protection Agency: A 

Stormwater Permit, a Spill Prevention 

and Countermeasure Plan (SPCC), a 

review of Section 404 permit, and 

Notification of Hazardous Waste 

Activity (no formal permit necessary). 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 

Threatened and Endangered Species 

Consultation. 

Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and 

Firearms: Explosive User Permit. 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/State of 

Washington Department of Ecology: A 

Joint Aquatic Resources Permit 

Application, including a Section 10 

permit, a Section 404 Permit, and a 401 

Water Quality Certification. 

State of Washington Department of 

Ecology: New or transferred Water 

Rights, a National Pollutant Discharge 

Elimination System (NPDES) 

Construction Stormwater General 

Permit, a Notice of Intent to Construct 

or Decommission a Well, and an Air 

Operating Permit, Notice to Construct. 

State of Washington Department of 

Natural Resources: A Forest Practices 

Permit, and a Surface Mine Exploration 

and Reclamation Permit for state and 

private lands. 

Washington State Department of Fish 

& Wildlife: Hydraulic Project Approvals 

on State and private lands. 

Washington Department of 

Archaeology and Historic Preservation: 

Historical and Archaeological Review 

and concurrence (Section 106). 

Okanogan County: A Floodplain 

Development Permit, Conditional Use 

and Noise Control Permits, Solid Waste 

Handling, and Road Construction and/ 

or Realignment Permit. 

Scoping Process 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process, which guides 

development of the Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS). A public 

information meeting is planned to be 

held in Oroville, Washington on 

December 14, 2010 at the Oroville High 

School Commons from 5 to 7:30 p.m. 

Details concerning any additional 

public meetings, none presently 

scheduled, would be announced via 

local news media outlets. The lead and 

cooperating agencies are seeking 

information, comments, and assistance 

from federal, state, and local agencies, 

Native American Tribes and other 

individuals and organizations that may 

be interested in or affected by the 

proposed project. Input submitted 

during this initial scoping period will be 

used in preparation of the Draft EIS. The 

agencies are seeking public and agency 

comment on the proposed action to 

determine if any additional issues arise. 

Additional issues may lead either to 

other alternatives, or additional 

mitigation measures and monitoring 

requirements. 

The scoping process includes 

identifying potential issues; identifying 

major issues to be analyzed in depth 

and identifying those that are not 

significant and can be eliminated from 

detailed study; exploring alternatives to 

the proposed action; identifying 

potential environmental effects of this 

project; and notifying interested 

members of the public of opportunities 

to participate through personal contacts 

or written comment. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such manner that they are useful to the 

agencies’ preparation of the 

environmental impact statement. 

Therefore, comments should be 

provided prior to the close of the 

comment period and should clearly 

articulate the reviewer’s concerns and 

contentions. 

Comments received in response to 

this solicitation, including the names 

and addresses of those who comment, 

will be considered part of the public 

record for this proposed action. 

Comments submitted anonymously will 

be accepted and considered, however. 

Dated: November 19, 2010. 

Bobbie R. Scopa, 

Acting Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 2010–29776 Filed 11–24–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Helena National Forest; Montana; 

Blackfoot Travel Plan EIS 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Corrected Notice of Intent to 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Blackfoot Travel Plan. 

SUMMARY: This notice extends the 

comment period for the Blackfoot Travel 

Plan from November 30, 2010 to January 

7, 2011. This extension is a result of 

several requests for more time. The 

original notice was published in the 

Federal Register on October 29, 2010, 

FR Doc. 2010–27353 (75 FR 66718– 

66719). The Helena National Forest is 

preparing an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) to analyze the effects of 

proposed changes to the existing 

motorized public access routes and 

prohibitions within the Blackfoot travel 

planning area. Consistent with the 

Forest Service travel planning 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES