Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 219 / Monday, November 13, 2000 / Notices 67753

Dated: November 6, 2000.

Charlie Chandler,

Chief, Branch of Permits, Division of

Management Authority.

[FR Doc. 00–28895 Filed 11–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Availability of a Draft Revised

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan Related to

Application for an Incidental Take

Permit for the Magic Carpet Woods

Association Project, Leelanau

Township, Leelanau County, Michigan

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

and other agencies of the availability for

review and comment of a

Environmental Assessment/Habitat

Conservation Plan (EA/HCP) and

Implementing Agreement. On March 29,

2000 Magic Carpet Woods Association

(Applicant) applied for an Incidental

Take Permit pursuant to section

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

Act of 1973, as amended (Act, 16 U.S.C.

1531, et seq.) from the U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (Service). This notice is

provided pursuant to section 10(c) of

the Act and National Environmental

Policy Act regulations (40 CFR 1506.6).

An April 20, 2000 Notice made

available for a permit to authorize the

incidental take associated with

harassment (i.e., harm) of the pipping

plover (Charadrius melodus; bird)

which is federally listed as endangered.

The take would occur as a result of

residential construction adjacent to Lake

Michigan beachfront in Leelanau

Township, Leelanau County, Michigan.

That application has been assigned

permit number TE–025433.

Copies of the revised EA/HCP and

Implementing Agreement may be

obtained by making a request to the

Regional Office address below.

Comments on the EA/HCP must be

submitted in writing. All comments

received, including names and

addresses, will become part of the

public record and will be available for

review pursuant to section 10(c) of the

Act. The comment period is 30 days

because the application was received

prior to issuance of the ‘‘Five-Point

Policy’’ (June 1, 2000; 65 FR 35242).

DATES: Written comments must be

received on or before COB December 13,

2000.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to review

the documents may obtain copies by

writing, telephoning, fax, or e-mail to

either of the two Service positions listed

in the following paragraphs. The EA/

HCP is also available at the following

Internet address: www/

midwest.fws.gov/nepa/

Documents will be available for

public inspection during normal

business hours (8:00–4:30), at the U.S.

Fish and Wildlife Service Regional

Office in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and

at the East Lansing Field Office in East

Lansing, Michigan. Written comments

should be submitted to the Regional

HCP Coordinator at the address or via

FAX listed below. All comments

received will become part of the

administrative record and may be

released to the public. Please refer to

permit number TE–025433 when

submitting comments.

Regional HCP Coordinator, U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Services, 1 Federal Drive,

Fort Snelling, MN 55111–4056,

Telephone: 612/713–5343, Fax: 612/

713–5292

Field Supervisor, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service, East Lansing Field

Office, 2651 Coolidge Rd., Suite 101,

East Lansing, Michigan 48823–6316,

Telephone: 517/351–2555

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Peter Fasbender, Regional HCP

Coordinator, U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service, Fort Snelling, Minnesota,

telephone (612) 713–5343, or email

peterlfasbender@fws.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 9

of the Act and federal regulations

prohibit ‘‘take’’ of fish or wildlife

species listed as endangered or

threatened. Take of listed fish or

wildlife is defined under the Act to

mean harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot,

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

attempt to engage in any such conduct.

However, the Service, under limited

circumstances, may issue permits to

take listed species, provided such take

is incidental to, and not the purpose of,

an otherwise lawful activity.

Regulations governing permits for

threatened species are found in 50 CFR

17.32.

Background

The proposed Magic Carpet Woods

Association residential construction is

located on approximately 91 acres at the

north end of Kehl Road in Leelanau

Township, Leelanau Township,

Leelanau County, Michigan. The

beachfront of the property is part of the

Lake Michigan Cathead Bay shoreline.

Magic Carpet Woods Association is

requesting a 25-year incidental take

permit for potential take (harassment) of

the piping plover on the beach of the

Association property. The beach/dune

portion of the property is the only part

potentially containing piping plover

habitat. This area consists of open,

unvegetated beach and grassy low dunes

that abuts a forested portion. The beach/

dune is narrow and averages about 85

feet wide.

Piping plovers have nested in recent

years at the adjacent Leelanau State

Park, although none nested there or

elsewhere in Cathead Bay in 2000. No

plovers have been known to nest on or

as near as one-half mile of the

Association beach, nor have they ever

been recorded using the Association

beach. The beach currently does not

have characteristics of good nesting

habitat. There may be potential for

plovers to nest on the property in the

future if an expanded plover population

exhibits variation in acceptable breeding

habitat characteristics or natural forces

alter current beach characteristics. On

July 6, 2000, the Service published a

proposal to designate critical habitat for

the piping plover. All of the Cathead

Bay shoreline is included in a proposed

3.7 mile long unit potentially containing

primary constituent elements of critical

habitat. The open dune portion of the

project site contains several hundred

individual Pitcher’s thistle (Cirsium

pitcheri) plants, a threatened species.

Piping plovers are known to be

extremely sensitive to disturbance by

human activity. Direct and indirect

effects of human activity throughout the

Great lakes and Atlantic coast breeding

range is strongly implicated in the

species decline that lead to its listing as

an endangered species in 1985. The

project involves construction of 13

single family residences within the

forested portion of the property adjacent

to and parallel with the one-half mile

long beach. Broadwalk may be

constructed through the vegetated

dunes, but otherwise the project will not

result in any construction on, or other

physical alteration of the beach portion

of the property. Construction of the

proposed project would result in human

activity along a section of beach

presently associated with undeveloped

land.

Potential take of piping plovers would

occur through harassment of adults and

chicks. The HCP provides conservation

and protective measures to minimize

and mitigate such take to a level that

will not reduce productivity to slow

progress toward recovery. The HCP

provides for seasonally restructions of

human presence on the beach, control of

all pets during the critical nesting and

rearing period, control of garbage,

67754 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 219 / Monday, November 13, 2000 / Notices

presence during selected periods of a

piping plover steward, access to the

beach by Service biologists or designees

for annual monitoring on the property

regardless of whether piping plovers

next there, provide funding for a piping

plover captive rearing program, and

other measures. In the event piping

plovers next on the property in the

future, nests will be fully protected with

predator exclosures, signing, monitoring

and all other measures normally taken

for next protection on public lands. The

presence of Association residence

owners is likely to eliminate

unregulated trespass on the property.

Take that may occur as a result of the

permit issued, will not include direct

mortality of adults or chicks.

As a result of comments received on

the original draft EA/HCP, the Service

and Applicant have revised the EA/

HCP. The Proposed Action consists of

the issuance of an incidental take permit

and implementation of the HCP. The

revised EA considers four action

alternatives and the ‘‘No Action’’

Alternative. The NEPA process will be

completed after the comment period.

After completing the NEPA process, the

Service will evaluate the permit

application (if appropriate to the

selected Alternative), the HCP, and

comments submitted thereon to

determine whether the application

meets the requirements of section 10(a)

of the Act. If the requirements are met,

the Service will issue a permit to magic

Carpet Woods Association for the

incidental take of the piping plover from

human activity associated with

residential development on the

Association property. The final permit

decision will be made no sooner than 30

days from the date of this notice.

Dated: November 6, 2000.

Charles M. Wooley,

Assistant Regional Director, Ecological

Services, Region 3, Fort Snelling, Minnesota.

[FR Doc. 00–28900 Filed 11–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Base Roll Dated May 2, 1996,

Submitted by the Pokagon Band of

Potawatomi Indians

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 9(b)(2) of

Pub. L. 103–323 (108 Stat. 2153), as

amended, notice is given for receipt of

the May 2, 1996, Base Roll of the

Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians,

containing 2,325 names of tribal

members.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Anne E. Bolton, Field Representative,

Michigan Field Office, 2901.5 I–75

Business Spur, Sault Ste. Marie,

Michigan 49783.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This

notice is published in the exercise of the

authority delegated by the Secretary of

the Interior to the Assistant Secretary—

Indian Affairs by 209 DM 8. The Base

Roll was received at the Bureau of

Indian Affairs, Michigan Field Office on

May 2, 1996. After review, corrections

to the roll were made: eight names were

added, three names were removed due

to relinquishments, two names removed

because of dual enrollment, 41 names

that were listed twice were removed, 52

names were removed because of no

ancestors on the historical rolls/filed

after date of death/insufficient

documentation. The corrected Base Roll

containing the names of 2,325 tribal

members was approved by Tribal

Council Resolution #00–04–05–03 and

submitted to the Michigan Field Office

on May 11, 2000.

Dated: November 2, 2000.

Kevin Gover,

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 00–28982 Filed 11–9–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT–070–01–1220–DA]

Final Travel Management Plan

Decision for the Clancy-Unionville

Area

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the

Record of Decision.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) and the Forest

Service completed the Final EIS (FEIS)

analysis for the Clancy-Unionville

Vegetative Manipulation and Travel

Management Project near Helena,

Montana and the BLM has finalized its

Record of Decision (ROD) for the Travel

Management portion of this project. The

Decision is to implement Alternative D

modified. This preferred alternative

restricts wheeled motorized vehicles to

designated roads and trails during

varying periods of the year to protect

vegetation, soils, water quality and

wildlife values. Snowmobiles will be

allowed across BLM lands south of

Jackson Creek from December 2 to May

15 as snow conditions allow.

Five alternatives were considered in

response to the identified issues in the

Clancy-Unionville Travel Management

Plan FEIS. The preferred Alternative D

is considered to be the environmentally

preferable alternative. The issues and

alternatives are described in Chapter II

and analyzed in Chapter III of the FEIS.

Alternative D with four minor

modifications described in the ROD was

selected as the preferred because it best

meets the Purpose and Need statements

for the Travel Management Plan. This

alternative was specifically developed

in response to wildlife issues with

emphasis given to big game security and

winter range protection. In addition,

efforts were made to provide a balanced

system of designated roads and trails to

meet the needs of both motorized and

non-motorized users while protecting

important natural resources of the area.

BLM lands restricted to motorized

travel under this decision are located in

Principal Meridian Montana

T. 8 N., R.3 W., secs. 4–8;

T. 8 N., R.4 W., secs. 1–3, 9, 10, 12–15, 22

and 23;

T. 9 N., R.3 W., secs. 17–20, 23, 26, and 29–

33;

T. 9 N., R.4 W., sec. 25; and

T. 10 N, R.4 W., sec. 36.

Travel restrictions for these above lands

will be implemented in accordance with

the Clancy-Unionville Travel Plan FEIS

ROD during the spring of 2001 subject

to the appeal process.

A final decision has also been made

to amend the Headwaters Resource

Management Plan of 1984, in that all

three Management Units (8, 23, and 24)

within the affected area would be

classified as ‘‘Restricted’’ to motorized

travel and ‘‘Closed’’ to permit

consideration for organized motor

vehicle events. A 30-day protest period

was provided for this proposed

amendment at the time the FEIS was

released to the public and published in

the Federal Register on March 17, 2000.

Six protests were received and all have

been resolved.

DATES: This travel plan decision is

subject to public appeal. You have the

right to appeal to the Board of Land

Appeals, Office of the Secretary, in

accordance with the regulations of 43

CFR, part 4. In order for your appeal to

be considered timely, it must be

received by December 13, 2000, which

is 30 days from the date of this

publishing in the Federal Register. If an

appeal is taken, you must follow the

procedures outlined on Form 1842–1,

Information on Taking Appeals to the

Board of Land Appeals. The appellant