46738 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 175 / Friday, September 11, 2009 / Notices 

RETENTION AND DISPOSAL: 

FOIA and Privacy Act Request and 

Appeal Records are maintained in 

accordance with SIGIR’s records 

retention schedule. 

SYSTEM MANAGER AND ADDRESS: 

Chief Freedom of Information Act 

Officer, SIGIR, 400 Army Navy Drive, 

Arlington, VA 22202–4704. 

NOTIFICATION PROCEDURES: 

Any individual who wants to know 

whether this system of records contains 

a record about him or her, who wants 

access to his or her record, or who 

wants to contest the contents of a 

record, should make a written request to 

the Chief Freedom of Information Act 

Officer. 

RECORD ACCESS AND CONTESTING PROCEDURES: 

Requesters will be required to provide 

adequate identification, such as a 

driver’s license, employee identification 

card, or other identifying document. 

Additional identification procedures 

may be required in some instances. 

Requests for correction or amendment 

must identify the record to be changed 

and the corrective action sought. 

RECORD SOURCE CATEGORIES: 

Information in these records is 

supplied by Freedom of Information Act 

and Privacy Act requesters and related 

correspondence from the record 

subject(s) and from SIGIR 

offices. 

[FR Doc. E9–21955 Filed 9–10–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3710–8N–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Six Rivers National Forest, Mad River 

Ranger District, Ruth, CA; Kelsey Peak 

Timber Sale and Fuelbreak Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service is 

proposing the Kelsey Peak Timber Sale 

and Fuelbreak Project to provide timber 

products to local economies, reduce tree 

densities, improve watershed conditions 

and provide defensible space to improve 

fire protection and human safety. The 

Kelsey Peak planning area encompasses 

approximately 19,245 acres; 18,858 

acres are National Forest System (NFS) 

lands and 398 acres are in private 

ownership. The project would treat 

approximately 4,789 acres of NFS lands 

by harvesting timber through thinning 

on approximately 2,249 acres and create 

2,540 acres of fuel corridors. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

October 13, 2009. The Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

expected March 2010 and the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

expected June 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Thomas Hudson, Mad River Ranger 

District, 741 State Highway 36, 

Bridgeville, CA 95526. Comments may 

also be sent via e-mail to commentspacificsouthwest-six-rivers-madriver@fs.fed.us, attention to the Kelsey 

Peak Project, or via facsimile to (707) 

574–6273. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such a way that they are useful to the 

Agency’s preparation of the EIS. 

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 names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered; however, anonymous 

comments will not provide the 

respondent with standing to participate 

in subsequent administrative or judicial 

reviews. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Thomas Hudson; Mad River Ranger 

District, 741 State Highway 36, 

Bridgeville, CA 95526 or by telephone at 

(707) 574–6233. 

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 

proposed project would take place 

within the Upper Mad River watershed 

on NFS lands administered by the Mad 

River Ranger District in Trinity County, 

California. The legal location includes 

portions of the following areas: T. 20 S., 

R. 8 E.; T. 30 S., R. 8 E.; and T. 28 N., 

R. 12 W.; and T. 27 N., R. 12 W. 

The Kelsey Peak Project is designed to 

contribute timber commodity outputs in 

support of the Six Rivers Forest 

National Forest Land and Resource 

Management Plan (LRMP). One of the 

goals of the LRMP is to provide a stable 

supply of outputs and services that 

contribute to local, regional, and 

national social and economic needs. 

The Six Rivers National Forest seeks to 

provide a sustainable, predictable, longterm timber supply for local economies. 

Tree densities within many stands 

greatly exceed desired stocking levels. 

Overstocked stands can be unhealthy 

with low resistance to insect and 

disease outbreaks. Overstocked small 

young stands will take much longer to 

grow into larger mature trees, increasing 

the amount of time needed to balance 

size classes across the landscape. 

The project area lies within the Mad 

River Watershed, which has been listed 

as water quality impaired. The primary 

sources of sediment are thought to be 

the current road conditions. 

The project planning area occurs 

within portions of the wildland-urban 

interface for the communities of Ruth 

and Three Forks, CA. Numerous homes 

and several businesses contribute to the 

high economic value ranking in the 

area. Fuel hazards here are moderate, 

but fire risk is high due to the number 

of people in the area. 

Sensitive wildlife and plant species 

and survey and manage botanical 

species are known to occur within the 

planning area. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

Given Forest goals, and 

environmental conditions within the 

planning area, the purpose and need for 

the proposed action is: 

• Provide timber commodities that 

contribute towards the Forest’s 

Allowable Sale Quantity as part of the 

Forest’s obligation to sustain the local 

rural economy. 

• Where stands are overstocked, 

reduce tree densities to increase stand 

vigor and resilience to fire and disease 

and increase growth rates that would 

lead to a more balanced age/size class 

distribution. 

• Improve water quality within the 

watershed. 

• Provide defensible space along 

strategic road corridors to improve fire 

protection and human safety for both 

the Forest and adjacent communities. 

Within the context of meeting the 

purpose and need, there would be 

opportunities for fuelwood or biomass 

utilization associated with proposed 

activities. 

Proposed Action 

The proposed action is designed to 

meet the project’s purpose and need 

while meeting the standards and 

guidelines of the LRMP. The Kelsey 

Peak Timber Sale and Fuelbreak Project 

would treat vegetation to meet the 

purpose and need. 

1. Approximately 20 million board 

feet (MMBF) of timber would be 

harvested from approximately 2,249 


cprice-sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 175 / Friday, September 11, 2009 / Notices 46739 

acres within 98 treatment units. 

Harvesting would be accomplished by 

utilizing ground-based, skyline, and 

helicopter logging systems. Actions 

connected with commercial timber 

harvest include: 

a. Treating harvest activity generated 

fuel; 

b. Constructing approximately 1.9 

miles of new temporary road, and reopening/re-utilizing approximately 5.1 

miles of existing non-system roads; 

c. Constructing new landings and 

reutilization of existing landings; 

d. Hauling of commercial timber 

products on County Road 501 and 

Forest Service System roads within the 

planning area; 

e. Felling and removal, where 

appropriate, of hazard trees along haul 

routes; and 

f. Decommissioning, maintaining, and 

reconstructing roads as needed. 

2. Fuelbreaks or corridors would be 

strategically placed along 39 miles of 

road. 

Responsible Official 

The responsible official is the Forest 

Supervisor, Six Rivers National Forest. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The responsible official will decide 

whether to implement the proposed 

action, no action or other alternatives 

considered under analysis. He will 

consider the comments, responses, 

disclosure of environmental 

consequences, and applicable laws, 

regulations, and policies in making the 

decision and stating the rationale in the 

Record of Decision. 

Scoping Process 

This Notice of Intent initiates the 

scoping process, which guides the 

development of the Environmental 

Impact Statement. Public scoping will 

include notices in the newspaper of 

record and mailings of the scoping 

package to interested and affected 

parties and posting of the project on the 

Six Rivers National Forest project 

planning web page and notice in the 

Quarterly Schedule of Proposed 

Actions. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such manner that they are useful to the 

agency’s 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. The submission of timely 

and specific comments can affect a 

reviewer’s ability to participate in 

subsequent administrative appeal or 

judicial review. 

Dated: September 2, 2009. 

Nancy J. Gibson, 

Acting Forest Supervisor, Six Rivers National 

Forest. 

[FR Doc. E9–21808 Filed 9–10–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Gila National Forest; New Mexico; Gila 

National Forest Travel Management 

Rule Implementation 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Gila National Forest will 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement to evaluate a proposed action 

that would implement the agency’s 

Travel Management Rule (TMR). The 

proposed action would eliminate cross 

country travel by motorized vehicle and 

designate a system of roads, trails and 

areas open for motorized vehicle use. 

Motor vehicle access for purposes such 

as motor vehicle-based dispersed 

camping and big game retrieval of deer 

and elk are also described. The Rule 

provides for certain exemptions such as 

emergency use, law enforcement, those 

holding a specific written authorization, 

and limited Forest Service 

administrative use. 

The full text and maps of the 

proposed action will located on the 

Forest’s Web site at http://fs.usda.gov/ 

gila (Click on the link to Travel 

Management Rule). 

The designated routes and areas will 

be published on a Motor Vehicle Use 

Map (MVUM) available free of charge to 

the public in accordance with the Travel 

Management Rule. The MVUM will be 

the primary tool for compliance and 

enforcement. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

October 26, 2009. The Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

expected in May 2010 and the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

expected September 2010. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Gila National Forest, Attn: Travel 

Management Coordinator, 3005 E. 

Camino del Bosque, Silver City, NM 

88061. Comments may also be sent via 

e-mail to r3_gila_travel@fs.fed.us, or via 

facsimile to (575) 388–8222. Electronic 

attachments must be in one of the 

following formats: .doc, .rtf, .txt, or .pdf. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such a way that they are useful to the 

Agency’s preparation of the EIS. 

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 names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered, however. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lisa 

Mizuno, Travel Management 

Coordinator, at (575) 388–8267 or 

r3_gila_travel@fs.fed.us. The proposed 

action, maps, and other pertinent 

information about this project can be 

found on the Forest’s Web site: http:// 

fs.usda.gov/gila (click on link to Travel 

Management Rule). 

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. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

There is a need to comply with 36 

CFR 212.51(a) which requires the forest 

to designate a system of roads, trails and 

areas for vehicle use by vehicle class, 

and if appropriate by time of year. 

• There is a need to manage 

motorized vehicle use on NFS lands on 

the Gila National Forest in accordance 

with the provisions of the Travel 

Management Rule and 36 CFR parts 212, 

251, and 261. 

• There is a need to comply with 36 

CFR 261.13 which requires that forests 

prohibit motor vehicle use off the 

system of designated roads, trails and 

areas (close the forest to motorized 

cross-country travel). 

• There is a need to amend the Forest 

Plan to comply with the Travel 

Management Rule. 

Proposed Action 

During 2009–2010, the Gila National 

Forest will evaluate the proposed action 

and alternative(s), with a decision 

expected in September 2010. 

As required by TMR, the Forest 

utilized the following information in 

developing the proposed action: Public 

input on needs and desires; resource 

resilience and sensitive areas; 

traditional uses and forest access; and 

effects to natural resources. Maps and 

tables show the elements of the 

proposed action that is described below: 

Maps can be found at http://fs.usda.gov/ 


cprice-sewell on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES