Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Notices 36711

well-being, and custom and culture of

the growing population of Clark County,

Nevada.

On March 3, 1997, th eService

published a notice in the Federal

Register (62 FR 9443) announcing that

we would take the lead in preparing an

Environmental Impact Statement

addressing the Federal actions

associated with the Multispecies Plan.

This notice invited comments on the

scope of the Environmental Impact

Statement. Our consideration of

comments received is reflected in the

Draft Multispecies Plan/Draft

Environmental Impact Statement made

available for comment through this

notice.

The Draft Multispecies Plan/Draft

Environmental Impact Statement

analyzes the potential environmental

impacts that may result from the Federal

action requested in support of the

proposed development of up to 145,000

acres of non-Federal land in Clark

County. The document identifies

various alternatives, including the No

Action Alternative, the Proposed

Multispecies Plan, a Low-Elevation

Ecosystems Multispecies Plan, a Permit

Only for Threatened or Endangered and

Candidate Species, and Alternative

Permit Durations for the Multispecies

Plan. Alternatives considered but not

advanced for further analysis include a

Permit to Include the Entire Mojave

Desert Ecosystem, a Permit to Mitigate

Impacts Only on Non-Federal Lands,

and a High-Elevation Ecosystems

Multispecies Plan.

The analysis provided in the Draft

Multispecies Plan/Draft Environmental

Impact Statement is intended to

accomplish the following: inform the

public of the proposed action and

alternatives; address public comment

received during the scoping period;

disclose the direct, indirect, and

cumulative environmental effects of the

proposed action and each of the

alternatives; and indicate any

irreversible commitment of resources

that would result from implementation

of the proposed action.

The Service invites the public to

comment on the Draft Multispecies

Plan/Draft Environmental Impact

Statement during a 45–day comment

period. All comments received will

become part of the public record and

may be released. This notice is provided

pursuant to section 10(a) of the

Endangered Species Act and regulations

for implementing the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (40

CFR 1506.6).

Dated: May 31, 2000.

Elizabeth H. Stevens,

Deputy Manager, Region 1, California/Nevada

Operations Office, Sacramento, California.

[FR Doc. 00–14099 Filed 6–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Intent To Prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement for

the Proposed Establishment of the

Little Darby National Wildlife Refuge.

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

for the proposed establishment of the

Little Darby National Wildlife Refuge.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) intends to gather the

information necessary for the

preparation of an EIS. The action to be

evaluated by this EIS is the

establishment of the Little Darby

National Wildlife Refuge, located in

Madison and Union counties, Ohio.

This notice is being furnished as

required by the National Environmental

Policy Act (NEPA) Regulations (40 CFR

1501.7 and 1508.22). The intent of the

notice is to obtain suggestions and

additional information from other

agencies and the public on the scope of

issues to be addressed in the EIS.

Comments and participation in this

scoping process are solicited.

DATES: Written comments should be

received on or before July 10, 2000. The

dates and schedule of the public

scoping meetings are: June 19—(6:00

p.m.–9:00 p.m.) at the Made From

Scratch Conference Center, 7500

Montgomery Dr., Plain City, OH, and

June 20 (6 p.m.–9 p.m.) at the Della

Selsor Building located on the Madison

County Fairgrounds, London, Ohio.

Public Involvement: The public will

be invited to participate in the scoping

process, review of the draft EIS, and a

public hearing. Release of the draft EIS

for public comment and the public

hearing will be announced in the local

news media, as these dates are

established.

Comments that were received during

the scoping process for the

Environmental Assessment and on the

draft Environmental Assessment will be

considered in the draft EIS. The Service

appreciates all those that have taken

time to provide comments during the

Environmental Assessment process. At

this stage, the Service is especially

seeking new ideas or concepts beyond

those that have already been raised.

Written comments should be received

within 30 days from the date of

publication of this Notice of Intent.

All comments received from

individuals become part of the official

public record. Requests for such

comments will be handled in

accordance with the Freedom of

Information Act and the Council on

Environmental Quality’s NEPA

regulations [40 CFR 1506.6(f)]. Our

practice is to make comments, including

names and home addresses of

respondents, available for public review

during regular business hours.

Individual respondents may request that

we withhold their home address from

the record, which we will honor to the

extent allowable by law. If a respondent

wishes us to withhold his/her name

and/or address, this must be stated

prominently at the beginning of the

comment.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be

address to: Regional Director, Region 3,

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 1

Federal Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota

55111. Electronic mail comments may

also be submitted within the comment

period to: http://www.fws.gov/r3pao/

planning/public/htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

William Hegge, Darby Creek Watershed

Project Manager, Reynoldsburg Field

Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,

6950–H Americana Parkway,

Reynoldsburg, Ohio 43068–4132;

telephone 614–469–6923, extension 17;

or Mr. Thomas Larson, Chief of

Ascertainment and Planning, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service, Bishop Henry

Whipple Federal Building, 1 Federal

Drive, Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111;

telephone 612–713–5430.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Purpose of Action

The general purpose of the refuge

would be ‘‘for the development,

advancement, management,

conservation, and protection of fish and

wildlife resources’’ (Fish and Wildlife

Act of 1956). More specifically, the

Service’s interests include preservation

and restoration of Federal threatened

and endangered species and migratory

birds and their habitats in the Little

Derby Creek Watershed, ensuring that

the overall Darby Creek watershed

biodiversity and Federal wildlife trust

resources are protected and enhanced,

while providing opportunities for

wildlife-dependent public uses

consistent with preservation and

restoration of the natural resources.

36712 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 112 / Friday, June 9, 2000 / Notices

After having developed a draft

Environmental Assessment and

conducting a series of public meetings,

the Service had decided that the

preparation of an EIS is appropriate for

this proposed action. The decision to

prepare an EIS is based upon strong

public interest in the project, both

supportive and non-supportive. There

has also been interest expressed in

development of an EIS by local

governments and by members of the

Ohio Congressional delegation.

Need for Action

Big and Little Darby Creeks, located

20 miles west of downtown Columbus,

are the major streams in a 580-square

mile watershed encompassing portions

of 6 counties in central Ohio. The Darby

watershed is one of the healthiest

aquatic systems of its size in the

Midwest and is ranked among the top

five warm freshwater habitats in Ohio

by the Ohio Environmental Protection

Agency. Land use in the drainage basin

has historically been agriculture, with

appropriately 80 percent of the land

area in fields, row-cropped, in a cornsoybean rotation. The project area was

the location of the easternmost

extension of the mid-continent tallgrass

prairie. The following eight points help

explain the need to preserve this area:

(1) Existing and threatened

conversion of the watershed, from

agriculture to urban land uses, presents

an increased risk to the health of this

aquatic system.

(2) Scientists (Ohio EPA surveys)

place the number of fish species in the

Darby Creek System at 94 and 60+; in

the Little Darby Creek sub watershed.

The number of mollusk species,

including the federally endangered

Northern riffle shell and the Northern

club shell, is 35 (Dr. Tom Watters). They

are reported to be declining.

(3) There are 3 federally endangered,

1 threatened, 1 candidate, and 10

monitored species confirmed in the

original project area or likely to be in

the original project area.

(4) Collectively, 44 species are

designated as being state threaten or

endangered throughout the watershed.

Another 36 species are identified as

potentially threatened or of special

interest in the state. A total of 38 (24

percent) species listed in the Service’s

regional conservation priorities would

be affected potentially by the project as

proposed in the draft Environmental

Assessment.

(5) While the Refuge project area

encompasses only 14–15 percent of the

entire Little Darby Creek Watershed, it

includes almost 50 percent of all stream

miles and important aquatic habitat that

is in the watershed.

(6) The Ohio Department of Natural

Resources, the National Park Service

and the Nature Conservancy have all

given special designations to the Big

Darby and Little Darby Creeks. The

Nature Conservancy identified this

watershed as one of the ‘‘Last Great

Places’’ in the Western Hemisphere.

(7) A 1996 report (Swanson, D.) found

that the population trend in Ohio for 10

species of nongame grassland migratory

birds exhibited declines in populations

from 30 to 84 percent.

(8) The Service’s Regional Wetlands

Concept Plan, November 1990,

identified the Big Darby Creek

Watershed that includes Little Darby

Creek as, ‘‘One of the last remaining

watersheds in Ohio with excellent

biological diversity.’’ Under threat from

development for water use and urban

development, the area was listed as a

potential wetland acquisition site.

Alternatives

A draft Environmental Assessment

has been prepared and undergone

public review and comment prior to this

notice. This EIS will further evaluate

alternative methods of establishing the

Little Darby National Wildlife Refuge

including alternatives for agricultural

land use conservation that supports the

Service’s primary mission of fish and

wildlife habitat protection.

Socioeconomic, fiscal, and other

community impacts related to

alternative methods for refuge

establishment will be further explored.

Critical biological and potential

management impacts will be evaluated

as part of each part of each alternative

or suite of alternatives that may have

similar effects. Development of new

alternatives and further evaluation of

previously formulated alternatives will

be made in conjunction with the local

community, and interested state

agencies. As required by NEPA, the

Service will also analyze the ‘‘no

action’’ alternative as a baseline for

gauging the impacts of the

establishment of the refuge.

Potential impacts that may be

addressed in the EIS include effects on

development, land use, habitat, wildlife

populations, economics and listed

species. Potential associated impacts

may be related to drainage maintenance,

school district revenue, tax revenue, fire

management, and wildlife disease.

The environmental review of the

proposed establishment of the Little

Darby National Wildlife Refuge will be

conducted in accordance with the

requirements of the NEPA Act of 1969

as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.),

NEPA Regulations (42 CFR 1500–1508),

other appropriate Federal regulations,

and Service procedures for compliance

with those regulations.

The Service estimates that the draft

EIS will be made available to the public

during the summer of 2000.

Dated: May 31, 2000.

William F. Hartwig,

Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–14101 Filed 6–8–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR–056–1110–PH:GP0–0208]

Notice of Closure of Public Lands

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Prineville District Office.

ACTION: Notice is hereby given that all

roads and trails as legally described

below are seasonally closed to all uses

(including, but not limited to motorized

vehicle use, hiking, mountain biking,

horseback riding) from March 1 through

August 31 annually. In addition, the

area legally described below is

seasonally closed to shooting from

March 1 through August 31 annually.

‘‘Shooting’’, in this closure, is defined as

the discharge of firearms.

The purpose of this closure is to

protect wildlife resources. More

specifically, this closure is ordered to

reduce negative impacts to a nesting

pair of prairie falcons. Prairie falcons

are sensitive to human disturbance

within the sensitive habitat area

surrounding the nest site during the

nesting season. Current uses at the site

could jeopardize the persistence and

nesting success of prairie falcons at this

location.

Exemptions to this closure order will

apply to administrative personnel for

monitoring purposes; other exceptions

to this restriction may be made on a

case-by-case basis by the authorized

officer. This emergency order will be in

effect until further notice and will be

evaluated in the Upper Deschutes

Resource Management Plan/EIS. The

authority for this closure is 43 CFR

89268.3(d)(i)(iii)(v): Operations—

closures.

LEGAL DESCRIPTION: This closure order

applies to all roads and trails located in

Township 18 South, Range 14 East,

WM, Sections 22, 23, 27 and 28, within

1⁄4 mile the Badlands Rock.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Paul

Schmidt, Wildlife Biologist, BLM

Prineville District, P.O. Box 550,