80270 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices 

Agriculture (Forest Service or Agency), 

is proposing to revise its directives to 

provide guidance on climbing 

opportunities on National Forest System 

(NFS) lands, including climbing 

opportunities in Congressionally 

designated wilderness (wilderness). 

DATES: Comments must be received in 

writing by January 16, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be 

submitted electronically to https://

cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/ 

CommentInput?project=ORMS-3524. 

Written comments may be mailed to 

Peter Mali, National Wilderness 

Program Manager, 1400 Independence 

Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250– 

1124. All timely comments, including 

names and addresses, will be placed in 

the record and will be available for 

public inspection and copying. The 

public may inspect comments received 

at https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/ 

ReadingRoom?project=ORMS-3524. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Peter Mali, National Wilderness 

Program Manager, SM.FS.ClimbDir@

usda.gov, (202) 823–0773. Individuals 

who use telecommunications devices 

for the hearing impaired may call the 

Federal Relay Service at 800–877–8339, 

24 hours a day, every day of the year, 

including holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Climbing 

is a growing sport in the United States. 

According to the Outdoor Industry 

Association’s 2022 Report on Outdoor 

Participation Trends, there were nearly 

10.3 million climbers in the United 

States in 2021. Approximately 30 

percent of outdoor climbing in the 

United States occurs on NFS lands. In 

recent years, line officers have 

expressed concerns about climbingrelated impacts on resources and 

conflicts among uses. 

Current Forest Service directives do 

not provide guidance for climbing 

opportunities on NFS lands. The Joint 

Explanatory Statement accompanying 

the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations 

Act directs the Forest Service to issue 

general guidance on climbing 

opportunities on NFS lands, including 

the application of the Wilderness Act 

(16 U.S.C. 1131–1136) to climbing 

opportunities and appropriate use of 

fixed anchors and fixed equipment in 

wilderness. To address impacts 

associated with increased climbing on 

NFS lands and consistent with the Joint 

Explanatory Statement, the Forest 

Service is proposing revisions to its 

directives to provide guidance on 

climbing opportunities on NFS lands. 

The proposed directive would 

provide guidance on climbing 

opportunities inside and outside 

wilderness on NFS lands and would 

provide for climbing opportunities that 

serve visitor needs; meet land 

management and recreation policy 

objectives; emphasize the natural setting 

of NFS lands; align with natural and 

cultural resource protection and the 

Agency’s responsibility to Indian Tribes; 

and are consistent with applicable law, 

directives, and the applicable land 

management plan. 

The proposed directive would add a 

new section, 2355, to Forest Service 

Manual (FSM) 2300—Recreation, 

Wilderness, and Related Resource 

Management, chapter 2350—Trail, 

River, and Similar Recreation 

Opportunities, which would provide 

that climbing is an appropriate use of 

NFS lands (proposed FSM 2355.03, 

para. 1)—including in wilderness— 

when conducted in accordance with 

applicable law and Forest Service 

directives and consistent with the 

applicable land management plan 

(proposed FSM 2355.03, para. 4); that a 

climbing management plan be 

developed, as funding and resources 

allow, for climbing opportunities in 

wilderness, and for climbing 

opportunities outside wilderness where 

the District Ranger determines that 

climbing is causing adverse resource 

impacts or use conflicts (proposed FSM 

2355.21); that fixed anchors and fixed 

equipment are installations for purposes 

of section 4(c) of the Wilderness Act (16 

U.S.C. 1133(c)) (proposed FSM 2355.32, 

para. 1); that a Forest Supervisor may 

authorize the placement or replacement 

of fixed anchors and fixed equipment in 

wilderness based on a case-specific 

determination that they are the 

minimum necessary for administration 

of the area for Wilderness Act purposes, 

including primitive or unconfined 

recreation and preservation of 

wilderness character (proposed FSM 

2355.32, para. 1); that existing fixed 

anchors and fixed equipment in 

wilderness may be retained pending 

completion of a Minimum Requirements 

Analysis, as funding and resources 

allow, that determines they are the 

minimum necessary to facilitate 

primitive or unconfined recreation or 

otherwise preserve wilderness character 

(FSM 2355.32, para. 5);); and that the 

issuance and administration of special 

use permits are encouraged to enhance 

visitor access to climbing opportunities 

and visitor education concerning low 

impact climbing practices (proposed 

FSM 2355.03, para. 9). 

To allow for enforcement of 

restrictions and prohibitions in climbing 

management plans as needed, the Forest 

Service will be proposing revisions via 

a separate Federal Register notice to its 

regulations at 36 CFR part 261, subpart 

A, General Prohibitions. 

The minimum 120-day Tribal 

consultation for the proposed directive 

was initiated November 8, 2021, and 

will conclude at the end of the 60-day 

comment period for the proposed 

directive. 

After the comment period closes, the 

Forest Service will consider timely 

comments that are within the scope of 

the proposed directive in the 

development of the final directive. A 

notice of the final directive, including a 

response to comments, will be posted 

on the Forest Service’s web page at 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/ 

regulations-policies. 

Dated: November 6, 2023. 

Gregory Smith, 

Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest 

System. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25426 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Stanislaus National Forest; California; 

Social and Ecological Resilience 

Across the Landscape 2.0 EIS 

AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture 

(USDA). 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service (‘‘Forest 

Service’’), United States Department of 

Agriculture, is preparing an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

for the Social and Ecological Resilience 

Across the Landscape 2.0 (SERAL 2.0) 

project. The project area is 

approximately 160,000 acres in size, 

including approximately 119,000 acres 

of Forest Service lands. The project area 

includes the remainder of the Stanislaus 

Landscape—a Wildfire Crisis Strategy 

Priority Landscape identified in 2022. 

The project area also spans multiple 

High Risk Western Firesheds identified 

by the Secretary of Agriculture in 

January 2023. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

December 18, 2023. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in early February 2024, and 

the final environmental impact 

statement is expected in April 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Scoping comments may be 

submitted electronically through 

https://cara.ecosystemmanagement.org/Public/ 

commentInput?Project=63557. Written 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices 80271 

comments may be submitted via mail or 

by hand delivery to Stanislaus National 

Forest, Attn: SERAL 2.0, 19777 Greenley 

Road, Sonora, CA 95370. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Benjamin Cossel (Stanislaus National 

Forest Public Affairs Officer) by email at 

benjamin.cossel@usda.gov. Individuals 

who use telecommunication devices for 

the deaf and hard of hearing (TDD) may 

call the Federal Relay Service at 800– 

877–8339, 24 hours a day, every day of 

the year, including holidays. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose of SERAL 2.0 is to 

prepare the landscape for the safe 

reintroduction of fire as a key ecological 

process; increase the landscape’s 

resilience and adaptive capacity to 

natural disturbances such as fire, 

drought, insects and disease; reduce the 

risk of fire spreading into communities 

or damaging critical infrastructure; and 

to manage the forest in a cost-effective 

manner, including making wood 

products available to local industries 

and businesses. The actions proposed in 

the SERAL 2.0 project are needed to 

minimize the potential for large-, highseverity fire and habitat loss; shift the 

landscape vegetation structure and 

composition towards conditions that are 

more in alignment with future desired 

conditions, control occurrences of 

invasive, non-native plants; and support 

prescribed fire and wildfire 

management operations. 

Proposed Action 

The Stanislaus National Forest is 

proposing multiple actions to meet the 

purpose and need of the project. A 

combination of mechanical thinning 

and prescribed fire is proposed. 

Treatment objectives to create both lateopen and mid-open forest structure will 

be achieved through mechanical 

thinning with strategically placed 

openings (gaps) and retained groups of 

trees (clumps) scattered throughout the 

treated landscape. Gaps and clumps will 

generally range in size between 0.1 and 

0.5 acres, each averaging approximately 

0.25 acres in size and a gap frequency 

of approximately one every two acres. 

Thinning would primarily consist of 

timber harvesting but also includes noncommercial methods such as 

mastication and biomass removal. 

Multiple logging systems, road 

maintenance, temporary road 

construction, and landing development 

would be required for commercial 

timber harvest. A proportion of the 

proposed restoration treatments will 

occur within California spotted owl 

protected activity centers and territories 

designed to incorporate the management 

approaches and conservation measures 

specifications presented in the 

Conservation Strategy for the California 

Spotted Owl in the Sierra Nevada 

(USDA Forest Service 2019). 

The construction and maintenance of 

a shaded fuelbreak network is also 

proposed. The purpose of this proposed 

network is to break up large expanses of 

continuous fuels, support firefighter 

access and safety, increase suppression 

opportunities, and provide control 

points for the implementation of 

prescribed fire. To construct these 

fuelbreaks, trees may be thinned to 

shaded fuelbreak standards and 

continuous vegetation under 8′′ DBH 

(the diameter of each tree is measured 

at ‘‘breast height’’) or 12 feet tall will be 

broken up into naturally appearing 

clumps or islands of varied size and 

shape. Salvage of insect-, disease-, 

drought-, and fire-killed trees is 

included as part of the proposed action. 

The area of potential salvage varies: for 

insect-, disease-, and drought-killed 

trees, the area of potential salvage is 

limited to within 0.25 miles of 

maintenance level 2, 3, 4, and 5 

National Forest System (NFS) roads; not 

requiring a new temporary road greater 

than 500 feet within forested areas; 

outside of protected activity centers 

(PACs), and outside of wild and scenic 

river corridors. For fire-killed trees, the 

area of potential salvage is further 

limited to only 500 acres per Hydrologic 

Unit Code (HUC) 6 watershed. 

Non-native invasive weed control and 

eradication treatments are proposed for 

mapped known invasive weed 

locations, additional acres to account for 

a 20 percent rate of spread from those 

known locations, and a limited number 

of acres where future infestations are 

discovered after analysis. 

Forest Plan Amendments 

The proposed project-specific forest 

plan amendments are designed to 

implement the management approaches 

and conservation measures presented in 

the Conservation Strategy for the 

California Spotted Owl in the Sierra 

Nevada (‘‘The CSO Strategy’’; USDA 

Forest Service 2019). The amendments 

are specific to the approximate 160,000- 

acre project area and proposed actions. 

The proposed amendments incorporate 

CSO Strategy conservation measures 

that provide some immediate stability 

for individual owls while implementing 

actions to better increase landscape 

resilience. The CSO Strategy concludes 

that short term impacts are a trade-off 

that is warranted to best develop 

resilient habitat conditions that will 

provide long term stability and future 

CSO habitat. 

Expected Impacts 

This project is expected to 

significantly increase landscape 

resilience to natural disturbances which 

is the primary objective of SERAL 2.0. 

The treatments proposed to meet the 

desired landscape conditions may cause 

short term impacts to sensitive 

resources, including California spotted 

owl PACs. SERAL 2.0 is the second 

project on the Stanislaus National Forest 

to fully adopt and implement the CSO 

Strategy’s management approaches and 

conservation measures (SERAL 1.0 in 

2022 was the first). Although the longterm benefits are expected to far 

outweigh the risks to resources from 

applying these new approaches, a 

measure of uncertainty is also present. 

The proposed actions have been 

designed based on best available science 

and are well supported. However, at 

present, there are not any documented 

post-treatment case-studies of the 

outcomes of the treatments to directly 

inform the analysis, and thus the 

uncertainty. 

Responsible Official 

The Responsible Official will be Jason 

Kuiken, Forest Supervisor, Stanislaus 

National Forest. 

Scoping Comments 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process which guides the 

development of the EIS. In this process, 

the Forest Service is requesting 

comments on potential impacts, and 

identification of any relevant 

information, studies, or analyses of any 

kind concerning impacts affecting the 

quality of the human environment. 

Public comments regarding this 

proposal will assist the Forest Service in 

identifying issues and opportunities 

associated with the proposal, how to 

best manage resources, and to focus the 

analysis. The SERAL 2.0 project was 

authorized to use the Western Firesheds 

Emergency Action Declaration 

(Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Section 

40807) on April 14, 2023. Under this 

emergency authority, the SERAL 2.0 EIS 

will be developed to consider only a 

proposed action and no action 

alternative in detail, and the EIS and 

draft decision will not be subject to predecisional administrative review 

(Consolidated Appropriations Act of 

2012 (Pub. L. 112–74) as implemented 

by Subparts A and B of 36 CFR part 218 

or part 219). 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such manner that they are useful to the 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
80272 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices 

agency’s preparation of the 

environmental impact statement. 

Therefore, comments should be 

provided prior to the close of the 

comment period and should clearly 

articulate the reviewers’ concerns and 

contentions. The Forest Service will use 

the scoping comments to help identify 

potential significant issues related to the 

proposed action while preparing the 

draft EIS (DEIS). The DEIS is expected 

to be available for a 45-day opportunity 

to comment in early February 2024. 

Comments received in response to 

this solicitation, including names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

Given the purpose and need, the 

Responsible Official will determine 

whether the proposed actions comply 

with all applicable laws governing 

Forest Service actions and with the 

applicable standards and guidelines 

found in the Forest Plan of the 

Stanislaus National Forest; whether the 

EIS has sufficient environmental 

analysis to make an informed decision; 

and whether the proposed action meets 

the purpose and need for action. With 

this information, the Responsible 

Official must decide whether to select 

the proposed action and what, if any, 

additional actions should be required. 

Substantive Provisions 

The substantive provisions of 36 CFR 

219.8 through 219.11 that directly apply 

to the proposed amendments are 36 CFR 

219.9 Diversity of Plant and Animal 

Communities, (a) Ecosystem plan 

components, (1) Ecosystem integrity (36 

CFR 219(a)(1)); 36 CFR 219.9 Diversity 

of Plant and Animal Communities, (a) 

Ecosystem plan components, (2) 

Ecosystem diversity, (i) key 

characteristics associated with the 

terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem types 

(36 CFR 219(a)(2)(i)); 36 CFR 219.9 

Diversity of Plant and Animal 

Communities, (a) Ecosystem plan 

components, (2) Ecosystem diversity, 

(ii) rare aquatic and terrestrial plant and 

animal communities (36 CFR 

219(a)(2)(ii)); and 36 CFR 219.8 

Sustainability, (b) Social and Economic 

Sustainability, (1) Social, cultural, and 

economic conditions relevant to the area 

influenced by the plan (36 CFR 

219.8(b)(1)). 

Dated: November 1, 2023. 

Troy Heithecker, 

Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest 

System. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25427 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS 

Notice of Public Meeting of the 

Tennessee Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: Commission on Civil Rights. 

ACTION: Announcement of meeting. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given, 

pursuant to the provisions of the rules 

and regulations of the U.S. Commission 

on Civil Rights (Commission), and the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA) that a meeting of the Tennessee 

Advisory Committee to the Commission 

will convene by Zoom on Thursday, 

December 14, 2023, at 11:30 a.m. (CST). 

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss 

their draft report on voting rights in the 

state. 

DATES: The meeting will take place on 

Thursday, December 14, 2023, at 11:30 

a.m. (CST). 

Registration Link (Audio/Visual): 

https://www.zoomgov.com/j/

1609335325?pwd=dGl

wOU9STmhTV28vWmIycW5Wc

lR3QT09. 

Telephone (Audio Only): Dial (833) 

568–8864 USA Toll Free; Access Code: 

160 933 5325. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Victoria Moreno at vmoreno@usccr.gov 

or by phone at 434–515–0204. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

meeting is available to the public 

through the Zoom link above. If joining 

only via phone, callers can expect to 

incur charges for calls they initiate over 

wireless lines, and the Commission will 

not refund any incurred charges. 

Individuals who are deaf, deafblind and 

hard of hearing may also follow the 

proceedings by first calling the Federal 

Relay Service at 1–800–877–8339 and 

providing the Service with the call-in 

number found through registering at the 

web link provided above for the 

meeting. 

Members of the public are entitled to 

make comments during the open period 

at the end of the meeting. Members of 

the public may also submit written 

comments; the comments must be 

received in the Regional Programs Unit 

within 30 days following the respective 

meeting. Written comments may be 

emailed to Victoria Moreno at 

vmoreno@usccr.gov. All written 

comments received will be available to 

the public. 

Persons who desire additional 

information may contact the Regional 

Programs Unit at (202) 809–9618. 

Records and documents discussed 

during the meeting will be available for 

public viewing as they become available 

at the www.facadatabase.gov. Persons 

interested in the work of this advisory 

committee are advised to go to the 

Commission’s website, www.usccr.gov, 

or to contact the Regional Programs Unit 

at the above phone number or email 

address. 

Agenda 

Thursday, December 14, 2023, at 11:30 

a.m. (CST) 

1. Welcome & Roll Call 

2. Chair’s Comments 

3. Discussion on Report 

4. Next Steps 

5. Public Comment 

6. Adjourn 

Dated: November 14, 2023. 

David Mussatt, 

Supervisory Chief, Regional Programs Unit. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25448 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6335–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Foreign-Trade Zones Board 

[S–214–2023] 

Foreign-Trade Zone 26; Application for 

Subzone; Helena Industries, LLC; 

Cordele, Georgia; Correction 

The Federal Register notice published 

on November 14, 2023 (88 FR 77952) 

regarding the subzone application for 

Helena Industries, LLC, located in 

Cordele, Georgia, is corrected as follows: 

In the first paragraph, first sentence, 

the grantee organization should read 

‘‘Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc., 

grantee of FTZ 26’’. 

For further information contact 

Christopher Kemp at 

Christopher.Kemp@trade.gov. 

Dated: November 14, 2023. 

Elizabeth Whiteman, 

Executive Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25467 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–DS–P 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

International Trade Administration 

Renewable Energy and Energy 

Efficiency Advisory Committee 

AGENCY: International Trade 

Administration, Department of 

Commerce. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES