This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

78395 

Vol. 71, No. 250 

Friday, December 29, 2006 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Newspapers Used for Publication of 

Legal Notice of Appealable Decisions 

for the Northern Region; Northern 

Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, and 

portions of South Dakota and Eastern 

Washington 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This notice lists the 

newspapers that will be used by all 

Ranger Districts, Forests, Grasslands, 

and the Regional Office of the Northern 

Region to publish legal notices for 

public comment and decisions subject 

to appeal and predecisional 

administrative review under 36 CFR 

215, 217, and 218. The intended effect 

of this action is to inform interested 

members of the public which 

newspapers will be used to publish 

legal notices for public comment or 

decisions; thereby allowing them to 

receive constructive notice of a 

decision, to provide clear evidence of 

timely notice, and to achieve 

consistency in administering the 

appeals process. 

DATES: Publication of legal notices in 

the listed newspapers will begin with 

decisions subject to appeal that are 

made on or after January 2, 2007. The 

list of newspapers will remain in effect 

until another notice is published in the 

Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Appeals and Litigation Group Leader; 

Northern Region; P.O. Box 7669; 

Missoula, Montana 59807, Phone: (406) 

327–3696. 

The newspapers to be used are as 

follows: 

Northern Regional Office 

Regional Forester decisions in Montana: The 

Missoulian, Great Falls Tribune, and The 

Billings Gazette. 

Regional Forester decisions in Northern 

Idaho and Eastern Washington: The 

Spokesman Review and Lewiston Tribune. 

Beaverhead/Deerlodge NF—Montana 

Standard 

Bitterroot NF—Ravalli Republic 

Clearwater NF—Lewiston Tribune 

Custer NF—Billings Gazette (Montana) 

Rapid City Journal (South Dakota) 

Dakota Prairie Grasslands——Bismarck 

Tribune (North and South Dakota) 

Flathead NF——Daily Inter Lake 

Gallatin NF—Bozeman Chronicle 

Helena NF—Independent Record 

Idaho Panhandle NFs—Coeur d’Alene Press 

Kootenai NF—Daily Inter Lake 

Lewis & Clark NF—Great Falls Tribune 

Lolo NF—Missoulian 

Nez Perce NF—Lewiston Tribune 

Supplemental notices may be placed 

in any newspaper, but time frames/ 

deadlines will be calculated based upon 

notices in newspapers of record listed 

above. 

Dated: December 22, 2006. 

Kathleen A. McAllister, 

Deputy Regional Forester. 

[FR Doc. 06–9926 Filed 12–28–06; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Oil and Gas Leasing EIS on Lands 

Administered by the Dixie National 

Forest 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA and 

Bureau of Land Management, USDI. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Supervisor of the 

Dixie National Forest gives notice of the 

intent to prepare an environmental 

impact statement (EIS) to document the 

analysis and disclose the environmental 

and human effects of oil and gas leasing 

on lands administered by the Dixie 

National Forest. The Federal Onshore 

Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987 

requires the Forest Service to evaluate 

National Forest System lands for 

potential oil and gas leasing. 

The EIS would analyze all lands with 

a federally-owned mineral estate within 

the Dixie National Forest. 

As the agency responsible for lease 

issuance and administration, the Bureau 

of Land Management (BLM) will 

participate as a cooperating agency. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis should be received 

within 30 days from date of publication 

of this notice in the Federal Register to 

be most useful. The draft environmental 

impact statement is expected winter 

2007/2008, and the final environmental 

impact statement is expected summer 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: Susan Baughman, Oil and 

Gas Leasing Project Manager, Dixie 

National Forest, 1789 N. Wedgewood 

Lane, Cedar City, Utah 84720; phone: 

(435) 865–3703; fax: (435) 865–3791; email: 

dixie_oil_gas_eis_comments@fs.fed.us. 

E-mailed comments must be submitted 

in MS Word (*.doc) or rich text format 

(*.rtf) and should include the project 

name in the subject line. Written 

comments may also be submitted at the 

above address during regular business 

hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday– 

Friday. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Susan Baughman, Oil and Gas Leasing 

Project Manager, Dixie National Forest, 

1789 N. Wedgewood Lane, Cedar City, 

Utah 84720; phone: (435) 865–3703. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EIS 

analysis area includes the entire Dixie 

National Forest (approximately 

1,710,677 acres), with the exception of 

designated wilderness areas 

(approximately 82,840 acres) for a total 

study area of approximately 1,627,837 

acres. 

The Department of Interior, BLM, acts 

as the onshore leasing agent for the 

Federal government. The Federal 

Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform 

Act of 1987 states that the BLM cannot 

lease over the objection of the Forest 

Service and authorizes the Forest 

Service to regulate all surface disturbing 

activities conducted pursuant to a lease. 

Therefore, the Forest Service has 

established an incremental decisionmaking framework for the consideration 

of oil and gas leasing activities on 

National Forest System lands. In 

general, the various steps that are 

undertaken are: (1) Forest Service 

leasing analysis; (2) Forest Service 

notification to BLM of lands 

administratively available for leasing; 

(3) Forest Service review and 

verification of BLM leasing proposals; 

(4) BLM assessment of Forest Service 

conditions of surface occupancy; (5) 

BLM offers lease; (6) BLM issues lease; 


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