Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Notices 70731

comprehensively surveyed for gopher

tortoise colonies. A management area

will be designated for each colony

where thinning, prescribed fire, and

other measures will be used to reduce

or eliminate encroaching shrubs,

hardwoods, and as necessary pine trees

to create an open forest and optimal

conditions for gopher tortoises. Since

the density of tortoises is greater in

colonies, the objective of the plan is to

conserve and manage segments of the

population that most likely continue to

breed.

Gopher tortoise surveys on 20,000

acres of transects on the Applicant’s

land have not identified any colonies or

populations that are potentially viable

with 50 or more interbreeding tortoises.

Gopher tortoises occur, overall, at low

densities on the Applicant’s land. The

focus of this interim plan is to conserve

the most likely breeding segments of the

population that are important for shortterm survival. During this period, a

long-term plan will be developed based

on additional research and

comprehensive surveys on up to 80,000

acres of habitat. The goal of the future

plan is restore and manage habitat for

aggregations of colonies with the

greatest potential to contribute to

recovery.

The HCP has the following objectives:

1. Survey Applicant’s lands within

the historic gopher tortoise range to

identify tortoise occurrence in relation

to soil type and other habitat parameters

in order to develop predictive models of

tortoise occurrence.

2. Conduct research to form a

scientific basis for submission of an

HCP for at least an additional 25 years

that would seek to build and maintain

viable gopher tortoise populations on

the Applicant’s lands.

3. Conduct research to evaluate

adverse effects of mechanized forest

management and harvesting, and other

silvicultural practices on gopher

tortoises.

4. Identify gopher tortoise colonies

and designate management areas around

these sites. Improve and perpetuate

favorable habitat conditions around

these management areas.

5. Conduct research necessary to

implement long term mitigation with

the goal of creating larger, contiguous

gopher tortoise management units that

will become viable population centers

contributing to species recovery goals.

6. Demonstrate successful application

of adaptive management, sound science,

and third party involvement in

development of a broad-base HCP that

has the core objective of contributing to

gopher tortoise recovery.

7. Establish management, mitigation,

and monitoring protocol for

implementation of future versions of the

HCP in longer term incidental take

authorizations.

8. Inform and train applicant’s

employees, contractors, and recreational

users on the gopher tortoise

management guidelines specified in the

HCP.

As stated above, the Service has made

a preliminary determination that the

issuance of the ITP is not a major

Federal action significantly affecting the

quality of the human environment

within the meaning of section 102(2)(C)

of NEPA. This preliminary information

may be revised due to public comment

received in response to this notice and

is based on information contained in the

draft EA and HCP.

The Service will also evaluate

whether the issuance of a section

10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies with section 7

of the Act by conducting an intraService section 7 consultation. The

results of the biological opinion, in

combination with the above findings,

will be used in the final analysis to

determine whether or not to issue the

ITP.

Dated: November 17, 2000.

H. Dale Hall,

Acting Regional Director.

[FR Doc. 00–30218 Filed 11–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

Notice of Intent To Prepare a ACEC/

River Management Plan and EIS for the

Wild and Scenic Klamath River in

Oregon and That Portion of the

Klamath River Down to the Slack Water

of Copco Reservoir in California

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management

Oregon and California, Oregon Parks

and Recreation Department.

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare an

ACEC/River Management Plan and

Environmental Impact Statement for the

Klamath River in Southern Oregon and

Northern California.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, the Bureau of Land

Management, Lakeview District/

Klamath Falls Resource Area will be

directing the preparation of an ACEC/

River Management Plan and

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

evaluating the impacts of river uses in

southern Oregon and northern

California.

DATES: This is a scoping notice and

responses to scoping are to be received

at the Klamath Falls Resource Area

Office, 2795 Anderson Avenue, Bldg.

25, Klamath Falls, OR 97603 by January

31, 2001.

Public scoping meetings for the River

Management Plan will be held after the

first of the year, 2001, in Klamath Falls,

Oregon and/or Copco or Yreka or

Redding, California.

The Draft River Management Plan and

DEIS analysis would be available for

public review by the fall of 2001.

Comments will be accepted for the DEIS

for 90 days. After incorporation of DEIS

comments the document will be

finalized and re-sent out for review after

the first of the year, 2002. Comments

will be accepted on the FEIS for 30

days.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to

Manager, Bureau of Land Management,

Klamath Falls Resource Area, 2795

Anderson Avenue, Klamath Falls, OR

97603, ATTN: Klamath River Plan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Larry Frazier, Natural Resources Branch

Chief, (541) 883–6916.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

proposed ACEC/River Management Plan

is located on the Klamath Falls Resource

Area of the Lakeview District, Oregon

and the Redding Field Office, California.

An ACEC designation for this project

was completed as part of the Klamath

Falls Resource Area Resource

Management Plan (1995). The Upper

Klamath River was designated by the

Secretary of the Interior as a Scenic

River and was included in the National

Wild and Scenic Rivers system under

section 2(a)(ii) of the National Wild and

Scenic Rivers Act on September 22,

1994. The same reach of river was

designated a State Scenic Waterway in

1988 under Oregon’s State Scenic

Waterway Act.

The ACEC designation begins from

the John C. Boyle Dam.

The purposes of undertaking an

ACEC/River Management Plan and EIS

at this time are to evaluate current river

uses in an environmental document that

will then be included as part of the

environmental review in the Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Relicensing process of hydroelectric

uses on the river in 2005. The depth of

analysis on some issues for the ACEC/

River Management Plan will be

dependent upon the results of scoping.

Tentative issues to be addressed are

water quality and quantity, fisheries,

recreation, cultural resources, wildlife,

botanical resources, scenic river, and

hydroelectric relicensing processes.

70732 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 228 / Monday, November 27, 2000 / Notices

The proposed project area for the

Klamath River in Oregon is @11 miles

long from the John C. Boyle Dam to the

OR/CA State Line and encompasses

@4960 acres. The California portion of

the project is from the OR/CA State Line

to the slack water of Copco Reservoir in

California, a distance of @10 miles and

encompasses @4200 acres.

The proposed project is within

Klamath County, Oregon and Siskiyou

County, California. The proposed

project is approximately 12–25 miles

south west of Klamath Falls, Oregon

beginning at the John C. Boyle Dam.

The BLM/Klamath Falls Resource

Area, 2795 Anderson Avenue, Bldg. 25,

Klamath Falls, OR 97603, (541) 883–

6916 will be the lead agency in

preparation of documents. Future

documents will be available from this

address. Related documents include the

Final Eligibility and Suitability Report

for the Upper Klamath Wild and Scenic

River Study (1990) (Department of the

Interior). Copies of this document are

available from the Klamath Falls

Resource Area office. Another related

document is the Klamath Wild and

Scenic River Eligibility Report and

Environmental Assessment (1994)

(National Park Service, Pacific

Northwest Region). Copies of this

document are available at the National

Park Service, Northwest Regional Office,

909 First Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104–

1060.

The interdisciplinary team will be

made up of a team leader, wildlife,

fisheries, botany, archaeology,

recreation, hydrology, and planning

specialists. An Interagency Review

Committee comprised of representatives

from county, state, and federal agencies

will ensure the project complies with

regulatory processes in California and

Oregon. The Upper Basin Subcommittee

of the Klamath Provincial Advisory

Committee will assist in the gathering of

information from private river users,

local private landowners and other

interested parties to include in the

interdisciplinary analysis.

The Oregon Parks and Recreation

Department is a cooperative agency in

the preparation of this document. Other

cooperating agencies are the BLM/

Redding Field Office in California. The

proposed project is for the BLM/

Klamath Falls Resource Area to prepare

an ACEC/River Management Plan and

Environmental Impact Statement for the

Klamath River project area. For this

River Management Plan and EIS, the

State of Oregon will prepare a chapter

in the EIS document that will be the

management plan for the State scenic

waterway and the scenic river.

Comments, including names and

addresses of respondents, will be

available for public review at the

Klamath Falls Resource Area office

during regular business hours (8 a.m.to

5 p.m., M–F, except holidays) and may

be published as part of the EIS or other

related documents. Individuals may

request confidentiality. If you wish to

withhold your name or address from

public review or from disclosure under

the Freedom of Information Act, you

must state this promptly at the

beginning of your written comment.

Such request will be honored to the

extent allowed by law. All submissions

from organizations or businesses, and

from individuals identifying themselves

as representatives or officials of

organizations or businesses, will be

made available for public inspection in

their entirety.

If this management direction is

approved, one or more of the

alternatives would amend the Klamath

Falls Resource Area Resource

Management Plan (June 1995) and the

Redding Resource Management Plan

(June 1993). If the proposed direction

amends the RMP plans in both

California and Oregon, Bureau of Land

Management regulations and associated

manuals and handbooks for land use

planning would apply.

Sincerely,

Teresa A. Raml,

Manager, Klamath Falls Resource Area.

[FR Doc. 00–30064 Filed 11–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–40–U

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV–020–1220–XQ]

Sierra Front-Northwestern Great Basin

Resource Advisory Council—Notice of

Meeting—Agenda Amendment, Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Amend the Federal Register

Notice, published November 1, 2000 for

the Special Resource Advisory Council

Meeting—Black Rock Desert

Management Plan, to include discussion

of the Southern Nevada Public Lands

Management Act acquisition

nominations.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Federal Land Policy and Management

Act and the Federal Advisory

Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), a

Department of the Interior, Bureau of

Land Management (BLM) Resource

Advisory Council meeting will be held

as indicated below. Topics for

discussion include the review of public

comments received on the Black Rock

Desert Management Plan, and the time

line proposed for completion of the final

management plan and environmental

impact statement. The second round of

Southern Nevada Public Lands

Management Act acquisition

nominations will also be discussed.

This meeting is open to the public. The

public comment period for the Black

Rock Desert Management Plan will

begin at 11 a.m. The public comment

period for the Southern Nevada Public

Management Act will begin at 3 p.m.

The public may present written

comments to the Council. Individuals

who plan to attend and need further

information about the meeting, should

contact Les Boni at the Winnemucca

Field Office, BLM, 5100 E. Winnemucca

Blvd., Reno, Nevada 89445, or by

telephone at (775) 623–1500.

LOCATION, DATE AND TIME: The Council

will meet on Monday, December 4,

2000, beginning at 9 a.m. and may

continue into the evening, at the Fernley

Town Complex, 595 Silver Lace Blvd.,

Fernley, Nevada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Les

Boni, Assistant Field Manager

Nonrenewable Resources, Winnemucca

Field Office, 5100 E. Winnemucca

Blvd., Winnemucca, Nevada 89445,

telephone (775) 623–1500.

Dated: November 12, 2000.

Terry A. Reed,

Winnemucca Field Manager.

[FR Doc. 00–30062 Filed 11–24–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO–200–1430–EQ]

Notice of Realty Action—Lake County

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Department of Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Realty Action, Federal

Land Policy and Management Act

Section 302 Lease, in Lake County,

Colorado.

SUMMARY: All public land within the

City of Leadville, Colorado is available

for lease under Section 302 of the

Federal Land Policy and Management

Act of 1976 as amended, and the

regulations thereunder 43 CFR part 2920

for authorization of historic commercial

or residential use. Owners of qualified

improvements may make application

and after analysis they may be offered

a 20-year lease to allow continued