10136 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 44 / Wednesday, March 7, 2007 / Notices 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Washington, DC 20253. 

All responses to this notice will be 

summarized and included in the request 

for OMB approval. All comments will 

also become a matter of public record. 

Additional Public Notification 

Public awareness of all segments of 

rulemaking and policy development is 

important. Consequently, in an effort to 

ensure that the public and in particular 

minorities, women, and persons with 

disabilities, are aware of this notice, 

FSIS will announce it online through 

the FSIS Web page located at http:// 

www.fsis.usda.gov/regulations/ 

2007_Notices_Index/index.asp. 

FSIS also will make copies of this 

Federal Register publication available 

through the FSIS Constituent Update, 

which is used to provide information 

regarding FSIS policies, procedures, 

regulations, Federal Register notices, 

FSIS public meetings, recalls, and other 

types of information that could affect or 

would be of interest to our constituents 

and stakeholders. The update is 

communicated via Listserv, a free e-mail 

subscription service consisting of 

industry, trade, and farm groups, 

consumer interest groups, allied health 

professionals, scientific professionals, 

and other individuals who have 

requested to be included. The update 

also is available on the FSIS Web page. 

Through Listserv and the Web page, 

FSIS is able to provide information to a 

much broader, more diverse audience. 

In addition, FSIS offers an e-mail 

subscription service which provides 

automatic and customized access to 

selected food safety news and 

information. This service is available at 

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ 

news_and_events/email_subscription/. 

Options range from recalls to export 

information to regulations, directives 

and notices. Customers can add or 

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Done at Washington, DC on March 2, 2007. 

David P. Goldman, 

Acting Administrator. 

[FR Doc. E7–4086 Filed 3–6–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–DM–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Fremont-Winema National Forests; 

Oregon; Invasive Plant Treatment 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The USDA Forest Service will 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) to document and 

disclose the potential environmental 

effects of proposed invasive plant 

treatments on the Fremont-Winema 

National Forests. Treatment methods 

would include manual, mechanical, 

cultural, biological, and chemical 

control. Combinations of methods may 

be used. Treatments would focus on 

4,274 known invasive plant sites 

currently infesting approximately 7,730 

acres. The Proposed Action also 

includes an Early Detection/Rapid 

Response (EDRR) process to allow 

treatment of new or previously 

undiscovered infestations. Under the 

EDRR approach, new sites would be 

evaluated to ensure that effects are 

within the scope of those already 

analyzed in the EIS. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

April 9, 2007. The draft environmental 

impact statement is expected in 

November 2007 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in July 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Karen Shimamoto, Forests Supervisor, 

Fremont-Winema National Forests, 

Fremont-Winema Headquarters, 1301 

South G Street, Lakeview, OR 97630. 

Electronic comments can be submitted 

to: comments-pacificnorthwest-fremontwinema@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rick 

Elston, Interdisciplinay Team Leader, 

Fremont-Winema National Forests, P.O. 

Box 129, Silver Lake, OR 97638. Phone 

(541) 576–7569 or e-mail 

relston@fs.fed.us; or Sarah Malaby, 

Forest Botanist, Fremont-Winema 

National Forests, 2819 Dahlia, Klamath 

Falls, OR 97601. Phone (541) 885–3421 

or e-mail smalaby@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

There is an underlying need for 

timely control and/or eradiction of 

invasive plants on the Fremont-Winema 

National Forests so that desired 

environmental conditions (healthy 

native plant populations) may be 

achieved. Invasive plants can displace 

native plant communities, increase fire 

hazard, degrade fish and wildlife 

habitat, eliminate rare and cultural 

plants, increase soil erosion, and 

adversely affect scenic beauty and 

recreational opportunities. Because of 

their competitive abilities and a lack of 

natural predators to keep them in check, 

invasive plants can spread rapidly 

across the landscape, unimpeded by 

ownership or administrative 

boundaries. Infested areas represent 

potential seed sources for further 

invasion into neighboring ownerships. 

On the Fremont-Winema National 

Forests there are presently 24 species of 

invasive plants infesting approximately 

7,400 acres. 

Noxious weed control is currently 

taking place on the Forests under 

separate Winema and Fremont 

Environmental Assessments. This 

proposal would create a consistent 

program across the two Forests, address 

invasive species sites found since those 

decisions were signed, and include use 

of additional, often less toxic and more 

effective, herbicides. The project will 

utilize recent direction and new tools 

provided by the Pacific Northwest 

Region Invasive Plant Program 

Preventing and Managing Invasive 

Plants Record of Decision signed in 

2005. 

The purpose of this project is to 

control invasive plants in a costeffective manner that complies with 

environmental standards. Without 

action, invasive plant populations will 

continue to have adverse effects on 

National Forest System and adjacent 

lands. 

Proposed Action 

The Proposed Action for this project 

is to apply site-specific treatment 

prescriptions to invasive plants on the 

Fremont-Winema National Forests. 

Treatments are to be based on site 

objective (containment, control, or 

eradication), biology of the invasive 

plant species, size of the infestation, and 

spread potential. Project Design Criteria 

(PDC) will be developed to reduce or 

eliminate potentially adverse effects on 

non-target species and other resources. 

Treatment of both existing and newly 

discovered invasive plant species 

infestations would occur during the 

next 10 to 15 years. Concentrations of 

known invasive plant sites have been 

grouped into 54 ‘‘treatment areas’’ that 

take into consideration expected spread 

patterns associated with road systems, 

plantations, areas burned by wildfire, 

and other habitat conditions at risk of 

infestation. Treatment areas encompass 

156,000 acres and contain 4,274 known 

invasive plant sites currently infesting 

approximately 7,730 acres. Maps and 

descriptions of treatment areas are 

available at: http:www.fs.fed.us/r6/ 

frewin/projects/analyses/2007invasives/ 

, or upon request. The amount of acres 

treated in any given year would depend 

on funding and the success of past 

treatments. It is expected that less than 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 44 / Wednesday, March 7, 2007 / Notices 10137 

5,000 acres would be treated each year. 

With private landowner cooperation, 

the proposal would provide the option 

to use Federal funds to treat invasive 

plants on adjacent private lands both 

inside and outside the Forest boundary. 

Use of federal dollars on private land 

would be considered for high priority 

species, populations overlapping both 

ownerships, and sites with high 

potential for spread across boundaries, 

such as those in road corridors and 

areas burned by wildfire. 

The Proposed Action includes an 

Early Detection/Rapid Response (EDRR) 

process to allow treatment of new or 

previously undiscovered infestations 

outside of treatment areas. The intent of 

the EDRR approach is to increase costeffectiveness by treating new 

infestations when they are small so that 

the likelihood of adverse effects from 

treatment is minimized, and the 

invasives plants do less ecological 

damage. Under the EDRR approach, new 

sites would be evaluated to determine 

appropriate Project Design Criteria and 

to ensure that effects are within the 

scope of those already analyzed in the 

EIS. 

Responsible Official 

The Responsible Official is Karen 

Shimamoto, Fremont-Winema National 

Forests Supervisor. She may be 

contacted at Fremont-Winema 

Headquarters, 1301 South G Street, 

Lakeview, OR 97630. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Responsible Official will decide 

what type of methods and how they will 

be used to contain, control, or eradicate 

invasive plants on the Fremont-Winema 

National Forests. 

Scoping Process 

The public is asked to provide the 

responsible official with written 

comments describing their concerns 

about this project. Public meetings will 

be held during the spring or summer of 

2007. 

Comment Requested 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process which guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. The comments most 

useful to developing or refining the 

proposed action would be site specific 

concerns and those that can help us 

develop treatments that would be 

responsive to our goal to control, 

contain, or eradicate invasive plants as 

well as being cost effective. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review 

A draft environmental impact 

statement will be prepared for comment. 

The comment period on the draft 

environmental impact statement 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 draft 

environmental impact statements 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 draft 

environmental impact statement stage 

but that are not raised until after 

completion of the final environmental 

impact statement may be waived or 

dismissed by the courts (City of Angoon 

v. Hodel, 803 F.2d 1016, 1022 (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 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 final 

environmental impact statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft environmental 

impact statement should be as specific 

as possible. It is also helpful if 

comments refer to specific pages or 

chapters of the draft statement. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternatives formulated and discussed in 

the 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. 

Comments received, including the 

names and addresses of those who 

comment, will be considered part of the 

public record on this proposal and will 

be available for public inspection. 

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22; 

Forest Service Handbook 1909.15, Section 

21) 

Dated: February 28, 2007. 

Karen Shimamoto, 

Forest Supervisor, Fremont-Winema National 

Forests. 

[FR Doc. 07–1053 Filed 3–6–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Notice of Meeting; Federal Lands 

Recreation Enhancement Act, (Title 

VIII, Pub. L. 108–447) 

AGENCY: Pacific Northwest Region, 

Forest Service, U.S. Department of 

Agriculture. 

ACTION: Notice of Meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Northwest 

Recreation Resource Advisory 

Committee (Recreation RAC) will hold 

its first meeting April 2007 in Portland, 

Oregon. The purpose of this initial 

meeting is to develop the process for 

making recommendations on recreation 

fee proposals for facilities and services 

offered on lands managed by the Forest 

Service and Bureau of Land 

Management in Oregon and 

Washington. 

DATES: The meeting will be held on 

April 11, 2007 from 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. 

and April 12, 2007 from 8:30 a.m.–4 

p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be at the 

Double Tree Hotel, Lloyd Center, 1000 

NE Multnomah St., Portland, Oregon 

97232. Send written comments to Dan 

Harkenrider, PNW Recreation RAC 

Designated Federal Official, 902 Wasco 

Street, Suite 200, Hood River, OR 97031, 

541–308–1700 or 

dharkenrider@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan 

Harkenrider, PNW Recreation RAC 

Designated Federal Official, 902 Wasco 

Street, Suite 200, Hood River, OR 97031, 

541–308–1700. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

meeting is open to the public. This 

initial meeting will be an information 

meeting and overview of current Pacific 

Northwest Recreation Fee Programs for 

the Forest Service and BLM. Recreation 

RAC discussion is limited to Forest 

Service and Bureau of Land 

Management staff and Recreation RAC 

members. However, persons who wish 

to bring recreation fee matters to the 

attention of the Recreation RAC may file 

written statements with the Designated 

Federal Official before or after the 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES