Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 82 / Monday, April 30, 2007 / Notices 21205 

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: April 24, 2007. 

Faye L. Krueger, 

Wasatch-Cache Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. E7–8149 Filed 4–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Pacific Southwest Region, Regional 

Office, California, Sierra Nevada 

Forests—Management Indicator 

Species Amendment 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Pacific Southwest Region 

of the U.S. Forest Service proposes to 

adopt a common list of Management 

Indicator Species (MIS) and associated 

monitoring strategies by amending the 

Land and Resource Management Plans 

(LRMPs) for the Eldorado, Inyo, Lassen, 

Modoc, Plumas, Sequoia, Sierra, 

Stanislaus, and Tahoe National Forests 

and Lake Tahoe Basin Management 

Unit. These will likely be nonsignificant forest plan amendments. 

DATES: To be most effective, comments 

concerning the scope of the analysis 

should be received by May 21, 2007. 

Public scoping for this analysis, 

originally expected to be documented in 

an Environmental Assessment, began on 

February 21, 2007. Unless response to 

this notice raises concerns not yet 

expressed, the draft environmental 

impact statement is expected in late 

May 2007 and the final environmental 

impact statement is expected in July 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: Send comments to the 

Forest Service at the following 

addresses. Hardcopy mail: U.S. Forest 

Service, 1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, CA 

94592, ATTN: Brenda Kendrix. 

Electronic mail: commentspacificsouthwest-regionaloffice@fs.fed.us, Subject Line: Sierra 

Nevada Forests MIS Amendment. Use 

Rich Text Format (.rtf) or Word (.doc). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information contact Diana Craig, 

Interdisciplinary Team Leader, at U.S. 

Forest Service, 1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, 

CA, or at the e-mail address above. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

This proposed action responds to a 

need for a more suitable and 

manageable list of MIS, while 

maintaining a sufficient number of 

species to cover the range of habitats in 

the Sierra Nevada affected by Forest 

Service management activities. 

Monitoring and recent judicial 

interpretations have led to the 

conclusion that the Forest plan 

provisions related to MIS and MIS 

monitoring are in need of 

reconsideration. Specifically, some MIS 

currently identified in the LRMPs are 

problematic because (1) no tested 

monitoring methodology exists or the 

methodology is prohibitively expensive, 

(2) some MIS currently identified in the 

LRMPs are not strongly linked to 

habitats or ecosystem components that 

are affected by national forest 

management activities, or (3) some MIS 

do not occur on or occur only 

incidentally on a Forest and, therefore, 

neither populations nor habitat 

relationships can be monitored for MIS 

objectives. 

In addition, the current lists provide 

no coordination or standardization 

across the Sierra Nevada Forests. Each 

national forest has a different, and often 

unrelated, MIS list. Often forest scale 

information does not provide the most 

meaningful biological data. Maintaining 

a monitoring program on each 

individual forest is not strategic and is 

an inefficient use of money and 

resources. 

The purpose of this action is to 

improve the ability of the national 

forests to provide for the diversity of 

plant and animal communities, as 

identified in the National Forest 

Management Act (NFMA). This will be 

accomplished by identifying MIS for the 

10 national forests (1) that are clearly 

linked to habitats or ecosystem 

components that are affected by national 

forest management activities, and (2) for 

which population or habitat status and 

change can be effectively and affordably 

monitored and evaluated. 

Proposed Action 

The Forest Service proposes to adopt 

common list of MIS and associated 

monitoring strategies by amending, via 

non-significant forest plan amendment, 

the LRMPs for the ten Sierra Nevada 

National Forests in the Pacific 

Southwest Region (Eldorado, Inyo, 

Lassen, Modoc, Plumas, Sequoia, Sierra, 

Stanislaus, and Tahoe National Forests 

and Lake Tahoe Basin Management 

Unit). These ten national forests occur 

in Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, El 

Dorado, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Lassen, 

Madera, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, 

Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Shasta, Sierra, 

Siskiyou, Tulare, Tuolumne, Yuba, and 

Douglas Counties in California and 

Esmeralda and Mineral Counties in 

Nevada. 

This action will replace the existing 

MIS lists and associated monitoring 

strategies identified in the LRMPs for 

each of the 10 national forests. Other 

MIS-related parts of the LRMPs (e.g., 

habitat objectives, desired conditions, 

standards and guidelines) will NOT be 

changed by this proposal; therefore, 

habitat and species-specific protection 

measures will continue for all current 

MIS. 

The proposed action will have the 

following components: (1) Major 

habitats or ecosystem components that 

are affected by national forest 

management activities on the ten 

national forests; (2) suitability and 

feasability criteria to assess whether a 

species meets the identified need; (3) 

MIS for major habitats or ecosystem 

components identified in component 1; 

and (4) appropriate monitoring 

strategies for each identified MIS 

(habitat or population monitoring, 

including the specific type of 

population monitoring). 

Possible Alternatives 

Public comment has suggested an 

alternative analyzing all species 

identified as MIS in Appendix E of the 

2001 Final Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Sierra Nevada Forest 

Plan Amendment (2001 SNFPA FEIS) 

and associated monitoring. We will 

analyze this alternative, called SNFPA 

Appendix E, in detail. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
21206 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 82 / Monday, April 30, 2007 / Notices 

Responsible Official 

Bernard Weingardt, Regional Forester, 

Pacific Southwest Region, U.S. Forest 

Service, 1323 Club Drive, Vallejo, 

California 94592, is the Responsible 

Official. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Responsible Official will decide 

whether to amend by adopting a 

common list of MIS and associated 

monitoring strategies for each of the 10 

LRMPs as proposed, to amend with an 

alternative MIS list and associated 

strategies, or retain the existing MIS lists 

and associated monitoring strategies. 

Although non-significant Forest Plan 

amendments are normally signed by 

Forest Supervisors, the Regional 

Forester for the Pacific Southwest 

Region will be the Deciding Officer for 

this decision. 

Scoping Process 

The analysis of this proposed action 

was originally expected to be 

documented in an Environmental 

Assessment (EA). Formal scoping for 

this analysis began on February 21, 2007 

when a scoping letter was sent to over 

4,000 addresses. The Forest Service 

used the last known distribution list of 

the 2004 Sierra Nevada Forests Plan 

Amendment Record of Decision because 

the current amendment covers roughly 

the same area and communities of 

interest. An open house was held on 

March 23, 2007. The proposed action 

was first published in the Schedules of 

Proposed Actions for each of the ten 

Forests for the Second Quarter of Fiscal 

Year 2007. An Internet Web site (http:// 

www.fs.fed.us/r5/snfmisa) displays 

comprehensive information about the 

project. This notice of intent offers the 

opportunity to comment to a larger 

audience. 

Preliminary Issues 

Comments about implementing the 

existing monitoring requirements in the 

Sierra Nevada Forests Plan Amendment 

and concerns that those requirements 

should not be weakened will drive 

development of an alternative as 

described above in the Possible 

Alternatives section. 

Comment Requested 

This notice of intent continues the 

scoping process which now guides the 

development of an environmental 

impact statement. 

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 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: April 24, 2007. 

Beth G. Pendleton, 

Deputy Regional Forester, Pacific Southwest 

Region. 

[FR Doc. E7–8160 Filed 4–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Notice of New Fee Site; Federal Lands 

Recreation Enhancement Act (Title VIII, 

Pub. L. 108–447) 

AGENCY: Tonto National Forest, USDA 

Forest Service 

ACTION: Notice of new fee site 

(Reference to previously published 

Federal Register document, Vol. 772, 

No. 12, Page 2490, January 19, 2007). 

SUMMARY: The Tonto National Forest 

plans to implement a $6 per vehicle fee 

for overnight camping and day-use at 

Haigler Canyon Recreation Site. This 

site is undergoing major improvements 

which will increase facilities and 

services available to the public once 

completed. Fees paid at similar 

recreation sites on the Tonto National 

Forest demonstrate that the public 

appreciates and enjoys the availability 

of developed recreation sites and is 

willing to pay reasonable fees for use of 

such sites. Funds from the fee revenue 

will be used for the continued operation 

and maintenance of Haigler Canyon 

Recreation Site. 

DATES: Haigler Canyon will become 

available for recreation use in August, 

2007. 

ADDRESSES: Forest Supervisor, Tonto 

National Forest, 2324 E. McDowell 

Road, Phoenix, AZ 85006 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Dave Killebrew, Recreation Fee 

Coordinator, 602–225–5239 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal Recreation Lands Enhancement 

Act (Title VIII, Pub. L. 108–447) 

directed the Secretary of Agriculture to 

publish a six month advance notice in 

the Federal Register whenever new 

recreation fee areas are established. 

This new fee will be reviewed by a 

Recreation Resource Advisory 

Committee prior to a final decision and 

implementation. The Arizona Bureau of 

Land Management Resource Advisory 

Council serves as the Recreation 

Resource Advisory Committee for this 

project. 

The Tonto National Forest currently 

has over 50 recreation sites where use 

fees are charged. A business analysis 

has shown that people desire having 

this sort of recreation experience on the 

Tonto National Forest. A market 

analysis indicates that the $6 per 

vehicle fee is both reasonable and 

acceptable for camping and day-use at 

Haigler Canyon. Once the site is 

complete, visitors wanting to use 

facilities at Haigler Canyon Recreation 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES