49468 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 163 / Wednesday, August 23, 2006 / Notices 

227–3719, e-mail 

richard.swigart@dhs.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

meeting is announced pursuant to 

section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 

App.). This meeting is a rescheduling of 

a meeting that was to be held August 16, 

2006 at 2:30 p.m. TSA postponed the 

meeting to allow ASAC committee 

members more time to review the 

Baggage Screening Investment Study 

(BSIS) report. The agenda for the 

meeting will remain the same and 

include a presentation of the report and 

recommendations of the BSIS working 

group. 

This meeting, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 

p.m., is open to the public but 

telephonic conferencing capacity is 

limited. Members of the public who 

wish to monitor the discussion may dial 

into this telephonic meeting by dialing 

(800) 988–9352. At the prompt, provide 

the conference code ‘‘ASAC’’

(pronounced ‘‘A-sack’’). Parties calling 

from locations outside the United States 

must contact the person listed under the 

heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT, for international calling 

instructions. 

Persons desiring a copy of the 

working group’s report may request it by 

contacting the person listed under the 

heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Members of the public must make 

advance arrangements to present oral 

statements at this ASAC meeting. 

Written statements may be presented to 

the committee by providing copies of 

them to the Chair prior to the meeting. 

Comments may be sent to the person 

listed under the heading FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT. Anyone in need 

of assistance or a reasonable 

accommodation for the meeting should 

contact the person listed under the 

heading FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

CONTACT. 

Issued in Arlington, Virginia, on August 

17, 2006. 

John Sammon, 

Assistant Administrator for Transportation 

Sector Network Management. 

[FR Doc. E6–13942 Filed 8–22–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 9110–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Office of the Secretary 

Request for Comments on the Revised 

Department Strategic Plan for FY 

2007–2012 

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, Interior. 

ACTION: Request for comments on a 

revised Departmental Strategic Plan for 

FY 2007–2012 in fulfillment of certain 

provisions of the Government 

Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 

1993. 

SUMMARY: The Department of the 

Interior (DOI) is seeking public 

comment on its draft GPRA strategic 

plan for fiscal year 2007–2012. 

DATES: Comments should be provided 

no later than 60 days following the 

publication of this notice. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments can be 

provided by: 

E-mail: 

GPRAplancomments@ios.doi.gov. 

Fax: (202) 208–2619. 

Mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, 

Office of the Secretary—Planning and 

Performance Management, Attention: 

DOI Strategic Planning Coordinator, 

1849 C Street, NW., Mail Stop 5258, 

Washington, DC 20240. 

FOR FURTHR INFORMATION CONTACT: 

LeRon E. Bielak, DOI Strategic Planning 

Coordinator at (202) 208–1818. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Government Performance and Results 

Act of 1993 requires periodic updating 

of agency performance plans. The first 

Interior GPRA Strategic Plan was 

published in 1997. Subsequent revisions 

were published in 2000 and 2003. 

In producing the revision plan in 

2003, DOI took a major departure from 

its past approaches to GPRA planning. 

Previously, DOI produced a set of ten 

GPRA planning documents—an 

overview document and nine bureau 

and office plans. While the overview 

attempted to highlight areas of 

commonalty among bureaus, Interior 

was still perceived as a ‘‘holding 

company’’ and concern remained about 

the effectiveness of a agency functioning 

in a holding company fashion. 

Consequently, the last revision 

successfully integrated major bureau 

functions into a single unified GPRA 

plan. 

The 2003 plan accentuated common 

goals and performance measures among 

bureaus and placed a much greater 

emphasis on results to be achieved. In 

creating this integrated plan, Interior 

employed a ‘‘logic model’’ approach in 

which two tiers of goals (outcome goals 

and intermediate outcome goals) were 

developed and performance measures 

were applied to both tiers to measure 

achievement. The integrated plan 

included performance measures with 

quantitative long-term targets (for 2008) 

while annual targets for the measures 

were established in the Department’s 

yearly Performance Budgets. Bureau 

operational plans also link and align 

directly with the Departmental GPRA 

plan in order to reinforce functional 

responsibilities, help confirm the 

relevance and cost of work conducted, 

and guide budget preparation. 

The major restructuring of the prior 

plan required 22 months and involved 

extensive use of internal teams, external 

public work sessions and written public 

comment. Revision of the FY 2003–2008 

plan began late last summer with an 

internal assessment of the strengths and 

weaknesses of the plan. We are 

soliciting written public comments on 

the modifications to our first unified 

plan. This revision will become our DOI 

strategic plan for FY 2007–2012. 

In particular, Interior would be 

interested in viewpoints on effective 

quantitative, outcome-oriented 

performance measures that are proposed 

for the following areas: (a) Law 

enforcement (as it applies to resource 

protection and public safety on public 

lands), (b) science (both in terms of the 

applications of science and of advancing 

knowledge in natural resource areas), (c) 

energy access (specifically if a more 

readily understandable context for 

measurement is possible for example, 

see Resource Use measures #2 and 8), 

and (d) recreation capacity (whether 

recreation mission measures #4–5 are 

satisfactory indicators of increased 

capacity). However, this request for 

comments is not intended to be limited 

to these topics. 

Interior is also organizing 

opportunities to discuss the draft 

revised FY 2007–2012 GPRA plan at 

several meetings across the country 

during the next several months. Public 

and tribal meetings are currently set for 

the week of August 27 in Anchorage, 

Alaska. Additional meetings are 

expected to be set in most or all of the 

following locations in September or 

early October: Sacramento, Phoenix, 

Albuquerque area, Denver, Minneapolis, 

and Washington, DC. Please consult the 

Interior Web site for further details. 

Interior looks forward to receiving 

your comments on our revised plan. We 

are asking that comments be postmarked 

within 60 days of publication of this 

notice. The text of the draft revised plan 

is available in a ‘‘pdf’’ downloadable 

format through the DOI Internet Web 

site: http://www.doi.gov/. Links to the 

plan and related information will be 

posted on the opening page of the Web 

site. For those without Internet access, 

an electronic or paper copy can be 

requested through the contact points 

listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 

notice. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 163 / Wednesday, August 23, 2006 / Notices 49469 

Dated: August 16, 2006. 

R. Thomas Weimer, 

Assistant Secretary—Policy, Management 

and Budget. 

[FR Doc. 06–7096 Filed 8–22–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–RK–M 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Draft Candidate Conservation 

Agreement With Assurances and 

Application for an Enhancement of 

Survival Permit for the Lesser PrairieChicken in Texas 

AGENCY: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability; receipt of 

application; request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The Texas Parks and Wildlife 

Department (TPWD) (Applicant) has 

applied to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service) for an enhancement of 

survival permit pursuant to Section 

10(a)(1)(A) of the Endangered Species 

Act (Act) of 1973, as amended. The 

permit application includes a draft 20- 

year Candidate Conservation Agreement 

with Assurances (CCAA) between the 

Service and TPWD for the Lesser 

Prairie-Chicken in 50 Texas counties. 

We request public comment. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, written 

comments must be received on or before 

October 23, 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review 

the application, draft CCAA, or other 

related documents may obtain copies by 

written or telephone request to the Field 

Supervisor, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, 711 Stadium Drive, Suite 252, 

Arlington, Texas 76011, or U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Southwest 

Regional Office, P.O. Box 1306, Room 

4012, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103 

(Attn: Luela Roberts, Endangered 

Species Permits). The application and 

related documents will be available for 

public inspection, by appointment only, 

during normal business hours (8 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m.) at the Service’s Arlington 

Office. Comments concerning the 

application, draft CCAA, or other 

related documents should be submitted 

in writing to the Field Supervisor 

(address above). Please refer to permit 

number TE–132658–0 when submitting 

comments. All comments received, 

including names and addresses, will 

become a part of the official 

administrative record and may be made 

available to the public. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom 

Cloud at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service Arlington office, 711 Stadium 

Drive, Suite 252, Arlington, Texas 76011 

(817/277–1100), facsimile 817/277–

1129, or by e-mail at 

Tom_Cloud@fws.gov; or Luela Roberts at 

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

Regional office, P.O. Box 1306, Room 

4012, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103 

(505/248–6654), facsimile 505/248–

6788, or by e-mail at 

Luela_Roberts@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With the 

assistance of the Service, TPWD 

proposes to encourage the 

implementation of conservation 

measures on private lands to increase 

lesser prairie-chicken (Tympanuchus 

pallidicinctus) (LPC) occupied habitat 

and improve LPC population 

performance. The proposed CCAA 

would be in effect for 20 years in the 

following Texas counties: Dallam, 

Sherman, Hansford, Ochiltree, 

Lipscomb, Hartley, Moore, Hutchinson, 

Roberts, Hemphill, Oldham, Potter, 

Carson, Gray, Wheeler, Deaf Smith, 

Randall, Armstrong, Donley, 

Collingsworth, Parmer, Castro, Swisher, 

Briscoe, Hall, Childress, Bailey, Lamb, 

Hale, Floyd, Motley, Cottle, Cochran, 

Hockley, Lubbock, Crosby, Dickens, 

King, Knox, Yoakum, Terry, Lynn, 

Garza, Kent, Stonewall, Gaines, Dawson, 

Borden, Scurry, and Andrews. These 

counties constitute the Agreement’s 

Planning Area, with Covered Areas 

being private lands within this Planning 

Area that provide suitable habitat for 

LPC or have the potential to provide 

suitable LPC habitat with the 

implementation of conservation 

management practices. We invite the 

public to review and comment on the 

permit application and the associated 

draft CCAA. 

Background 

The LPC is a distinct species of North 

American prairie grouse that inhabits 

rangelands dominated primarily by 

shinnery oak (Quercus havardii)- 

bluestem and sand sagebrush 

(Artemesia filifolia)-bluestem vegetation 

types. From the early to mid 1940’s to 

the early 1950’s, it is estimated that the 

range of the LPC in Texas encompassed 

portions of 34 counties. Researchers 

considered the occupied range at the 

mid 20th century to be a reduction from 

the historical range (ca. 1900). In 1989, 

TPWD produced an occupied range map 

that indicated LPC inhabited portions of 

12 counties. In 2005, TPWD reported 

that LPC were found in portions of a 

minimum of 16 counties. In 1995, the 

Service was petitioned to list the LPC 

under the Act. The Service ruled that 

listing of the LPC was warranted, but 

precluded because of limited funding 

and higher priority species litigations. 

The LPC was designated as a candidate 

for listing in 1997. 

The major factors affecting the status 

of the LPC are conversion, degradation, 

and fragmentation of habitat. The 

conversion of habitat from native sand 

sagebrush and shinnery oak rangeland 

to improved pastures and cropland has 

been documented as an important factor 

in the decline of the LPC. Although 

many acres of former cropland 

throughout its range have been enrolled 

in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in 

the northeastern and southwestern 

Texas panhandle, LPC populations have 

not exhibited a marked response to the 

available vegetation types and structure 

created by CRP. Many CRP acres have 

been planted using monocultures of 

introduced grasses, which do not meet 

food, brood-rearing, or thermal habitat 

requirements for the LPC. Mixtures of 

heavily, moderately, and lightly grazed, 

and ungrazed native rangelands are 

essential components of LPC habitat, 

and should occur in a mosaic pattern on 

a landscape scale. However, in most 

areas, an insufficient amount of lightly 

grazed or ungrazed habitat is available 

to support successful LPC nesting. 

Overutilization of rangeland by 

livestock, to a degree that leaves less 

than adequate residual cover remaining 

in the spring, is considered detrimental 

to LPC populations because grass height 

is reduced below that necessary for 

nesting cover, and desirable food plants 

are markedly reduced. 

Since the petition to list the LPC 

under the Act was filed in 1995, a 

number of management and 

conservation efforts have been 

implemented by State, Federal, and 

private entities throughout Texas. 

TPWD has worked to implement 

conservation measures through its 

Private Lands and Habitat Program 

(PLHP). The PLHP includes programs 

and tools such as the development of 

written Wildlife Management Plans 

(WMP), the Technical Guidance 

Program, Landowner Incentive Program, 

Wildlife Management Tax Valuation 

assistance, information on private land 

trusts, and the Lone Star Land Steward 

Award Program. The PLHP focuses on a 

diverse array of programmatic 

responsibilities for wildlife habitat 

management and development, 

technical assistance, incentive 

programs, and conservation of private 

lands. PLHP biologists and other TPWD 

personnel provide technical assistance 

to land managers and landowners upon 

written request for assistance to develop 

plans and recommendations for 

voluntary conservation, enhancement, 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES