75476 Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 241 / Friday, December 15, 2006 / Notices 

debt settlement in connection with 

Community Facilities loans and grants, 

Water and Waste Disposal loans, direct 

Business and Industry loans, Indian 

Tribal Land Acquisition loans and 

Irrigation and Drainage. The debt 

settlement program provides the 

delinquent client with an equitable tool 

for the compromise, adjustment, 

cancellation, or charge-off of a debt 

owed to the Agency. 

Need And Use Of The Information: 

The field offices will collect information 

from applicants, borrowers, consultants, 

lenders, and attorneys to determine 

eligibility, financial capacity and derive 

an equitable resolution. This 

information collected is similar to that 

required by a commercial lender in 

similar circumstances. Failure to collect 

the information could result in 

improper servicing of these loans. 

Description Of Respondents: Not for 

profit institutions; Business or other forprofit. 

Number Of Respondents: 16. 

Frequency Of Responses: Reporting: 

On occasion. 

Total Burden Hours: 702. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E6–21343 Filed 12–14–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–XT–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Spruce Creek Project, Boise National 

Forest, Idaho 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Cascade Ranger District 

of the Boise National Forest will prepare 

an environmental impact statement 

(EIS) for a resource management project 

in the Gold Fork River drainage. The 

entire project is located in the 

watersheds that drain into the Gold Fork 

River, which in turn drains into Cascade 

Reservoir. The 9,997 acre project area is 

located 10 miles northeast of Cascade, 

Idaho, and about 120 miles north of 

Boise, Idaho. 

The agency invites written comments 

and suggestions on the scope of the 

analysis. The agency also hereby gives 

notice of the environmental analysis 

and decisionmaking process that will 

occur on the proposal so interested and 

affected people are aware of how they 

may participate and contribute to the 

final decision. At this time no public 

meetings to discuss the project are 

planned. 

Proposed Action: Eight objectives 

have been identified for the project: (1) 

Retain the existing size class of stands 

currently identified as large tree and 

manipulate the structure of small and 

medium tree size class stands to 

accelerate their movement towards the 

large tree size class, thereby retaining 

and potentially contributing to habitat 

for some terrestrial wildlife species 

associated with large tree size class; (2) 

Reduce the densities of stands currently 

identified as large tree size class in 

order to maintain or restore canopy 

closures within desired conditions, and 

to potentially contribute to habitat for 

those terrestrial wildlife species 

associated with large tree size class 

stands with low to moderate canopy 

closures; (3) Consistent with the 

particular habitat type, discriminate 

against shade tolerant species such as 

grand fir and subalpine fir and 

encourage retention and recruitment of 

seral species; (4) Relative to Douglas-fir 

beetle, mountain pine beetle, western 

pine beetle, western spruce budworm, 

and/or dwarf mistletoe, manipulate the 

structures, densities, and compositions 

of stands in order to maintain a low or 

moderate susceptibility level, or to 

decrease susceptibility to a low or 

moderate level; (5) Maintain or restore 

aspen and immature whitebark pine by 

eliminating competition with other 

conifer species; (6) Improve long term 

stand growth to or near levels indicative 

of sustainable forests; (7) Provide wood 

products to support local and regional 

economies; and; (8) Stabilize the 

cutslope failure on the #498 road. 

The Proposed Action would 

implement silvicultural activities, 

including thinning of sub-merchantable 

trees, aspen enhancement, and 

whitebark pine enhancement, on 2,702 

acres. An estimated 9.0 MMbf would be 

removed using tractor, off-road jammer, 

skyline, and helicopter yarding systems. 

The Proposed Action would employ a 

variety of silvicultural prescriptions 

including clearcut with reserve trees, 

commercial thin, improvement cut, 

irregular shelterwood, individual tree 

selection, sanitation, thinning of submerchantable trees, aspen enhancement, 

and whitebark pine enhancement. 

Road maintenance activities would 

occur on an estimated 0.4 miles of 

existing road under this alternative. 

Specifically, one under-sized culvert 

along the #402 road would be replaced 

with a culvert sufficient in size to 

accommodate a 100-year flow event; a 

series of drive-through dips would be 

installed on the #402F1 road to prevent 

erosion; a culvert would be installed on 

the #402F road to facilitate silvicultural 

activities, and; an existing slump on the 

cutslope along the #498 road would be 

stabilized. 

Roughly 1.1 miles of temporary road 

would be constructed to facilitate 

harvest activities and six helicopter 

landings constructed. Postimplementation management of the 

existing transportation system within 

the project area would not change under 

this alternative. All existing road 

restrictions would be reinstated upon 

completion of harvest activities. 

Preliminary Issues: Preliminary 

concerns with the Proposed Action 

include potential impacts on water 

quality and terrestrial wildlife species. 

Possible Alternatives to the Proposed 

Action: One alternative to the Proposed 

Action that has been discussed thus far 

is a no action alternative. Other 

alternatives will likely be developed as 

issues are identified and information 

received. 

Decisions to be Made: The Boise 

National Forest Supervisor will decide 

the following: (1) Should vegetation be 

managed within the project area at this 

time, and if so, which stands should be 

treated and what silvicultural systems 

applied? (2) Should temporary roads be 

built at this time, and if so, how many 

miles should be built and where should 

they occur within the project area? (3) 

Should aspen and immature whitebark 

pine be enhanced by eliminating 

competing conifer species, and if so, 

where within the project area? (4) 

Should identified road maintenance 

activities occur on portions of roads 

#402, #402F1, #402F, and #498 at this 

time? (5) What design features, 

mitigation measures, and/or monitoring 

should be applied to the project? 

DATES: Comments concerning the 

proposed project and analysis are 

encouraged and should be postmarked 

or received within 30 days following 

publication of this announcement in the 

Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

addressed to the Cascade Ranger 

District, ATTN: Keith Dimmett, P.O. 

Box 696, Cascade, ID 83611 or sent 

electronically to comments-intermtnboise-casade@fs.fed.us. Electronic 

comments must be submitted in plain 

text or another format compatible with 

Microsoft Word. Comments may also be 

delivered to the above address during 

regular business hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m. Monday–Friday. Comments can 

also be submitted by phone at 208–382–

7400 or FAX to 208–382–7480. 

Comments received in response to this 

request will be available for public 

inspection and will be released in their 

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Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 241 / Friday, December 15, 2006 / Notices 75477 

entirety if requested pursuant to the 

Freedom of Information Act. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Further information can be obtained 

from Keith Dimmett at the address 

mentioned above or by calling 208–382–

7400. 

Schedule: Draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS), April 2007. Final 

Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), 

June 2007. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: An 

estimated 3,000 acres of the Needles 

Inventoried Roadless Area (IRA) lie 

within the Spruce Creek Project Area. 

With the exception of a portion of the 

whitebark pine enhancement 

treatments, none of the activities 

associated with the Proposed Action 

would occur within any IRA. 

The entire project area drains into the 

Gold Fork River and, although there are 

no 303(d)/305(b) listed streams within 

the project area, that segment of the 

Gold Fork River immediately 

downstream of the project area is 

identified as a water quality limited 

waterbody. The pollutant of concern is 

phosphorus. A TMDL is currently in 

place and addresses the entire length of 

the Gold Fork River. 

The entire project area lies within 

Management Area 18 (Cascade 

Reservoir), discussed on pages III–302 

through III–315 in the Forest Plan. 

Several Management Prescription 

Categories (MPCs) apply within this 

management area. However, only MPC 

4.1c and 5.2 occur within the project 

area. With the exception of a portion of 

the whitebark pine enhancement 

treatments, the Proposed Action 

includes management activities within 

MPC 5.2 only. 

The comment period on the DEIS will 

be 45 days from the date the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes the notice of availability in 

the Federal Register. 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, it is important to give 

reviewers notice of several court rulings 

related to public participation in the 

environmental review process. First, 

reviewers of the DEIS must structure 

their participation in the environmental 

review of the proposal so that it is 

meaningful and alerts an agency to the 

reviewer’s position and contentions. 

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp. v. 

NRDC, 435 U.S. 519, 553 (1978). Also 

environmental objections that could be 

raised at the DEIS stage but are not 

raised until after completion of the FEIS 

may be waived or dismissed by the 

courts. City of Angoon v. Hodel, 803 F. 

2d 1016, 1002 (9th Cir., 1986) and 

Wisconsin Heritages, Inc. v. Harris, 490 

F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis. 1980). 

Because of these court rulings, it is very 

important that those interested in this 

proposed action participate by the close 

of the DEIS 45-day comment period so 

that substantive comments and 

objections are made available to the 

Forest Service at a time when it can 

meaningfully consider them and 

respond to them in the FEIS. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the DEIS should be as 

specific as possible. It is also helpful if 

comments refer to specific pages or 

chapters of the draft statement. 

Reviewers may wish to refer to the 

Council on Environmental Quality 

Regulations for implementing the 

procedural provisions of the National 

Environmental Policy Act at 40 CFR 

1503.3 in addressing these points. 

Responsible Official: Frank V. 

Guzman, Deputy Forest Supervisor, 

Boise National Forest, 1249 South 

Vinnell Way, Suite 200, Boise, ID 83709. 

Dated: December 1, 2006. 

Frank V. Guzman, 

Deputy Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 06–9686 Filed 12–14–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Dixie National Forest, UT, Dixie 

National Forest Motorized Travel Plan 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Dixie National Forest intends to 

prepare an environmental impact 

statement (EIS) for the Forest Service to 

establish a system of designated roads, 

trails and areas for motorized vehicle 

use, thereby developing a Motorized 

Travel Plan. A new Motorized Travel 

Plan is needed to improve the 

management and enforcement of motor 

vehicle use on these National Forest 

System lands and meet the requirements 

of national policy for travel 

management. This notice describes the 

components to be included in a new 

travel plan, decisions to be made, 

estimated dates pertaining to the 

project, information concerning public 

participation, and the names, address 

and roles of the agency officials 

involved. The project area is defined by 

the boundaries of Dixie National Forest, 

including the Pine Valley, Cedar City, 

Powell and Escalante Ranger Districts, 

as well as the Teasdale portion of the 

Fremont River Ranger District, now 

administered by the Fishlake National 

Forest. For the purpose of this notice, 

the Dixie National Forest will include 

the Fremont River Ranger District. 

DATES: Written comments to be 

considered in the preparation of the 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement 

(DEIS) should be submitted by January 

31, 2007, which is approximately 48 

days following the publication of this 

notice in the Federal Register. The DEIS 

is expected to be available for review by 

June, 2007. The Record of Decision and 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

are expected to be available by 

September, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments 

to: Noelle Meier, Dixie National Forest, 

1789 N. Wedgewood Ln., Cedar City, 

Utah 84720; FAX: (435) 865–3791; Email: comments_dixie_

motorized_travel_plan@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct questions about the proposed 

action and EIS to Noelle Meier, 

Motorized Travel Plan Project Team 

Leader, by mail at 1789 N. Wedgewood 

Ln, Cedar City, Utah 84720; or by phone 

at (435) 865–3700; FAX: (435) 865–

3791; E-mail: comments_dixie

_motorized_travel_plan@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose of this project is to 

designate a system of authorized roads, 

trails or areas for motor vehicle use in 

order to better protect natural resources, 

provide legal access, improve recreation 

management and enforcement related to 

motor vehicle use. This purpose and 

need is in accordance with 36 CFR parts 

212, 251, 261, and 295 Travel 

Management; Designated Routes and 

Areas for Motor Vehicle Use; Final Rule 

(hereafter referred to as the ‘‘final rule’’). 

Overall, increased recreational use 

and demand on the Dixie National 

Forest, including increased off-highway 

vehicle (OHV) use, has been linked to 

the immense population growth of 

southwestern Utah, Salt Lake City and 

Las Vegas, Nevada over the past decade. 

Concurrent growth of subdivisions 

located within and adjacent to the Dixie 

National Forest has also occurred, 

accounting for hundreds of building 

permits issued annually for private 

residential and vacation homes. 

Increased OHV use and related impacts 

have been observed surrounding these 

growing forest communities. 

Similar situations have occurred 

throughout the nation, leading to a final 

rule that governs OHVs and other motor 

vehicle use on national forests and 

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