Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Notices 8393 

Health, Building 45, Room 2AS25, 45 

Center Drive, MSC 6200, Bethesda, 

Maryland 20892–6200; 301–594–0943; 

greenbej@nigms.nih.gov. 

Dated: February 16, 2007. 

Jeremy M. Berg, 

Director, National Institute of General 

Medical Sciences, National Institutes of 

Health. 

[FR Doc. E7–3152 Filed 2–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Notice of Availability of an 

Environmental Assessment and 

Receipt of an Application for 

Amendment to an Incidental Take 

Permit for the Green Diamond 

Resource Company Habitat 

Conservation Plan for the Northern 

Spotted Owl, Del Norte and Humboldt 

Counties, CA 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability and 

receipt of application. 

SUMMARY: Green Diamond Resource 

Company (Green Diamond) (previously 

Simpson Timber Company) has applied 

to the Fish and Wildlife Service 

(Service) to amend its existing 

incidental take permit (ITP) for the 

federally threatened northern spotted 

owl (Strix occidentalis caurina; ‘‘NSO’’). 

The existing ITP was issued in 1992, in 

association with a Habitat Conservation 

Plan (Plan) and Implementation 

Agreement (IA), pursuant to section 

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

Act (Act) of 1973, as amended. 

The proposed ITP amendment would 

authorize the take of eight additional 

owl pairs on Green Diamond’s 

ownership in Humboldt and Del Norte 

counties, California. These additional 

takes would be authorized during the 

existing permit term expiring in 2022, 

and would provide Green Diamond 

operational flexibility while they and 

the Service further consider and 

evaluate the findings of a 10-year, 

comprehensive Plan review. 

The application for permit 

amendment includes proposed 

amendments to the existing IA and Plan, 

which describe the proposed action and 

the measures that Green Diamond will 

undertake to minimize and mitigate take 

of the NSO. 

DATES: Written comments must be 

received on or before April 27, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Ms. Amedee Brickey, ES Program 

Manager, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, 1655 Heindon Road, Arcata, 

California 95521. You also may send 

comments by facsimile to 707–822–

8411. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Gary Falxa, [see ADDRESSES] or call 707–

822–7201. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Documents 

You may obtain copies of these 

documents for review by contacting the 

above office. Documents also will be 

available for public inspection, by 

appointment, during normal business 

hours at the Arcata Fish and Wildlife 

Office [see ADDRESSES] and at each of 

the following libraries: 

(1) Eureka Main Library, 1313 3rd 

Street, Eureka, CA; telephone: 707–269–

1900. 

(2) Fortuna Branch, Humboldt County 

Library, 775 14th Street, Fortuna, CA; 

telephone: 707–725–3460. 

(3) Arcata Branch, Humboldt County 

Library, 500 7th Street, Arcata, CA; 

telephone: 707–822–5924. 

(4) Del Norte County Library, 190 

Price Mall, Crescent City, CA; 

telephone: 707–464–9793. 

Background 

Section 9 of the Act and Federal 

regulations prohibit the ‘‘take’’ of fish 

and wildlife species listed as 

endangered or threatened. Take of 

federally listed fish and wildlife is 

defined under the Act to include 

‘‘harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, 

wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or 

to attempt to engage in any such 

conduct.’’ The Service may, under 

limited circumstances, issue permits to 

authorize incidental take (i.e., take that 

is incidental to, and not the purpose of, 

the carrying out of an otherwise lawful 

activity). Regulations governing 

incidental take permits for threatened 

and endangered species are found in 50 

CFR 17.32 and 17.22. 

On September 17, 1992, the Service 

issued an ITP to the Applicant 

authorizing take of up to 50 NSO pairs 

in accordance with conditions set forth 

in the Plan and an IA. The ITP was 

issued in response to a permit 

application with an associated Habitat 

Conservation Plan for timber harvesting 

on the firm’s properties in Del Norte, 

Humboldt, Mendocino, and Trinity 

counties, California. The effects of the 

proposed ITP were analyzed and 

described in an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) prepared and issued 

by the Service (Notice of Availability, 

Federal Register, May 27, 1992). 

Green Diamond is proposing to 

amend its ITP to authorize take of up to 

eight additional NSO pairs on that part 

of its ownership, currently about 

416,533 acres, on the west slopes of the 

Klamath Mountains and the Coast Range 

in Humboldt and Del Norte counties, 

California. The Applicant anticipates 

that these takes would be in the form of 

displacement of NSO pairs, incidental 

to timber harvest activities in or near 

NSO nest sites or activity centers. 

To mitigate take of eight additional 

owl pairs, Green Diamond proposes, in 

addition to measures in the existing 

Plan, to conduct new research on the 

habitat overlap and interaction between 

the NSO and barred owl (Strix varia), 

and to re-establish, through year 2012, 

a special management area of about 

20,310 acres on its ownership, within 

which Green Diamond would not take 

owls. 

The Service’s EA considers the 

environmental consequences of three 

alternatives, including: (1) The 

Proposed Project Alternative, which 

consists of issuance of an amended ITP 

and implementation of the additional 

Plan measures; (2) an alternative that 

provides for the take of eight additional 

owl pairs (similar to the Proposed 

Action), plus release for harvest entry of 

three set-aside areas that are otherwise 

not available for timber harvest during 

the term of the ITP; and (3) the No 

Action Alternative, which provides for 

continued implementation of measures 

contained in the existing Plan and 

associated IA, and the level of 

incidental take authorized in the 

existing 1992 ITP. 

National Environmental Policy Act 

Proposed permit issuance triggers the 

need for compliance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). 

Accordingly, as the NEPA lead agency, 

the Service is providing this notice of 

the availability and is making the EA 

available for public review. 

Public Review 

The Service invites the public to 

review the EA and amendments to the 

Plan and IA during a 60-day public 

comment period [see DATES]. Written 

comments from interested parties are 

welcome to ensure that the issues of 

public concern related to the proposed 

action are identified. Comments and 

materials received will be available for 

public inspection, by appointment, 

during normal business hours at the 

office listed in the ADDRESSES section of 

this notice. All materials received will 

become part of the administrative 

record. Our practice is to make 

comments, including names, home 

addresses, home phone numbers, and 

email addresses of respondents, 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
8394 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 37 / Monday, February 26, 2007 / Notices 

available for public review. Individual 

respondents may request that we 

withhold their names and/or homes 

addresses, etc., but if you wish us to 

consider withholding this information 

you must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comments. In 

addition, you must present a rationale 

for withholding this information. This 

rationale must demonstrate that 

disclosure would constitute a clearly 

unwarranted invasion of privacy. 

Unsupported assertions will not meet 

this burden. In the absence of 

exceptional, documentable 

circumstances, this information will be 

released. We will always make 

submissions from organizations or 

businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives of or officials of 

organizations or businesses, available 

for public inspection in their entirety. 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

section 10(a) of the Act and the 

regulations for implementing NEPA, as 

amended (40 CFR 1506.6). We will 

evaluate the application, associated 

documents, and comments submitted 

thereon to determine whether the 

application meets the requirements of 

NEPA regulations and section 10(a) of 

the Act. If we determine that those 

requirements are met, we will issue an 

amended permit to the Green Diamond. 

We will make our final permit decision 

no sooner than 60 days from the date of 

this notice. 

Dated: February 20, 2007. 

Ken McDermond, 

Deputy Manager, California/Nevada 

Operations Office, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. E7–3176 Filed 2–23–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Multistate Conservation Grant 

Program; Priority List for Conservation 

Projects 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of receipt of priority list. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (FWS), announce the 

FY 2007 priority list of wildlife and 

sport fish conservation projects from the 

Association of Fish and Wildlife 

Agencies (AFWA). As required by the 

Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration 

Programs Improvement Act of 2000, 

each year AFWA submits a list of 

projects to us for consideration of 

funding by the Multistate Conservation 

Grant Program. We then review and 

award grants from this list. 

ADDRESSES: John C. Stremple, Multistate 

Conservation Grants Program 

Coordinator, Division of Federal 

Assistance, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service, 4401 North Fairfax Drive, Mail 

Stop MBSP–4020, Arlington, Virginia 

22203. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

C. Stremple, (703) 358–2156 (phone) or 

John_Stremple@fws.gov (e-mail). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration 

Programs Improvement Act of 2000 

(Improvement Act, Pub. L. 106–408) 

amended the Pittman-Robertson 

Wildlife Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 669 

et seq.) and the Dingell-Johnson Sport 

Fish Restoration Act (16 U.S.C. 777 et 

seq.) and established the Multistate 

Conservation Grant Program. The 

Improvement Act authorizes us to 

award grants of up to $3 million 

annually from funds available under 

each of the Restoration Acts, for a total 

of up to $6 million annually. We may 

award grants from a list of priority 

projects recommended to us by AFWA. 

The FWS Director, exercising the 

authority of the Secretary of the Interior, 

need not fund all AFWA-recommended 

projects, but may fund recommended 

projects on the list only. 

Grantees under this program may use 

funds for sport fisheries and wildlife 

management and research projects, 

boating access development, hunter 

safety and education, aquatic education, 

fish and wildlife habitat improvements 

and other purposes consistent with the 

enabling legislation. 

To be eligible for funding, a project 

must benefit fish and/or wildlife 

conservation in at least 26 States, or in 

a majority of the States in any one FWS 

region, or it must benefit a regional 

association of State fish and wildlife 

agencies. We may award grants to a 

State, a group of States, or one or more 

nongovernmental organizations. For the 

purpose of carrying out the National 

Survey of Fishing, Hunting and 

Wildlife-Associated Recreation, we may 

award grants to the FWS, if requested by 

AFWA, or to a State or a group of States. 

Also, AFWA requires all project 

proposals to address its National 

Conservation Needs, which are 

announced annually by AFWA at the 

same time as its request for proposals. 

Further, applicants must provide 

certification that no activities conducted 

under a Multistate Conservation Grant 

will promote or encourage opposition to 

the regulated hunting or trapping of 

wildlife or to the regulated angling for 

or taking of fish. 

Eligible project proposals are 

reviewed and ranked by AFWA 

Committees and interested 

nongovernmental organizations that 

represent conservation organizations, 

sportsmen’s organizations, and 

industries that support or promote 

fishing, hunting, trapping, recreational 

shooting, bow hunting, or archery. 

AFWA’s Committee on National Grants 

recommends a final list of priority 

projects to the directors of State fish and 

wildlife agencies for their approval by 

majority vote. By statute, AFWA then 

must transmit the final, approved list to 

the FWS for funding under the 

Multistate Conservation Grant Program 

by October 1. 

This year, we received a list of 11 

recommended projects. They are 

recommended for funding in 2007, 

contingent on the Multistate 

Conservation Grant Program receiving 

additional funds as specified in the 

Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and 

Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 

2005 (Pub. L. 109–059) passed in 

August 2005. AFWA’s recommended 

list follows: 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 


ycherry on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES