33090 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 /Wednesday, June 17, 1998 / Notices

there is a need for the facility, that there

are minimum standards of licensure and

for operating the project, and that the

standards will be enforced for the

insured project.

Agency form numbers, if applicable:

Form HUD–2576–HF.

Estimation of the total numbers of

hours needed to prepare the information

collection including number of

respondents, frequency of response, and

hours of response: The estimated

number of respondents are 100, 40

hours per response, and the frequency

of responses is 1.

Status of the proposed information

collection: Reinstatement of previously

approved collection.

Authority: The Paperwork Reduction Act

of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Chapter 35, as amended.

Dated: June 3, 1998.

Ira G. Peppercorn,

General Deputy, Assistant Secretary for

Housing—Deputy Federal Housing

Commissioner.

[FR Doc. 98–16044 Filed 6–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4210–27–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Application to Amend an

Endangered Species Act Incidental

Take Permit: Inclusion of Bull Trout on

the Washington Department of Natural

Resources Permit for Western

Washington

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Permit Amendment

Application.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that the Fish and Wildlife Service

(Service) has received a request to add

bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) to the

species covered by an incidental take

permit PRT–812521, issued to the

Washington Department of Natural

Resources under the Endangered

Species Act (Act) on January 30, 1997.

This request is pursuant to the

Implementation Agreement for the

Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan)

accompanying incidental take permit

PRT–812521. The Department of

Natural Resources has requested the

Service add bull trout to their permit.

DATES: Written comments regarding the

application to add bull trout to the

Department of Natural Resources’

permit must be received on or before

July 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be addressed to Mr. John Engbring, Fish

and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond

Drive, S.E., Suite 101, Lacey,

Washington 98503; facsimile (360) 534–

9331. Documents cited in this notice

and comments received will be

available for public inspection at the

above office by appointment during

normal business hours (8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,

Monday through Friday).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

William Vogel, Wildlife Biologist, Fish

and Wildlife Service, 510 Desmond

Drive, S.E., Suite 101, Lacey,

Washington 98503; telephone (360)

753–4367.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On January 30, 1997, the Service

issued an incidental take permit (PRT–

812521) to the Department of Natural

Resources, pursuant to Section

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

Act (Act) of 1973, as amended (16 USC

1531 et seq.). This permit authorizes the

incidental take of the threatened

northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis

caurina) and other listed species in the

course of the otherwise lawful forest

management and other land-use

activities within the range of the spotted

owl. Pursuant to the Plan and the

Implementation Agreement, the

Department of Natural Resources

received assurances from the Service

that then-unlisted species occurring on

their lands west of the Cascade Crest

would be added to the permit upon

listing of those species, in accordance

with the Act, the Plan, and the

Implementation Agreement.

On June 8, 1998 (63 FR 31647), the

Service published the final rule to list

the Columbia River distinct population

segment of bull trout as a threatened

species. On May 20, 1998, the Service

received a request from the Department

of Natural Resources that bull trout be

added to its incidental take permit (PRT

812521). The purpose of this notice is to

seek public comment on the Department

of Natural Resources’ application to add

bull trout to its permit.

According to the Implementation

Agreement for the Department of

Natural Resources permit, if any species

that was unlisted at the time of permit

issuance subsequently becomes listed

under the Act, the Department of

Natural Resources may request a permit

amendment to have that species added

to their permit. Under the terms of the

Plan and the Implementation

Agreement, the Service would add the

newly listed species to the Department

of Natural Resources permit without

requiring additional mitigation unless

extraordinary circumstances exist.

Prior to adding bull trout to the

Department of Natural Resources’

permit, the Service will determine if

extraordinary circumstances exist and

will also reinitiate consultation under

section 7 of the Act to determine

whether adding bull trout to the

Department of Natural Resources’

permit would be likely to jeopardize the

continued existence or destroy modify

the critical habitat of any listed species.

Bull Trout Conservation

Bull trout rely on cold, clean water.

They are most closely associated with

complex habitats, including large

woody debris, undercut banks,

boulders, and pools. Cover provides

critical rearing, foraging, and resting

habitat, and protection from predators.

Bull trout spawn in the fall and the

young have a strong association with

stream bottoms, thus making them

particularly vulnerable to altered stream

flow patterns and channel instability.

Bull trout prefer cold, low-gradient

streams with loose, clean gravels for

spawning and rearing. There is also a

correlation between increasing road

densities and declines in the health of

bull trout populations. These

characteristics make bull trout

particularly susceptible to effects of

timber-management and other streamside and forest management activities.

Historic adverse impacts to bull trout

from forest management and related

land-use activities included removal of

large woody debris from streams and

riparian areas, inputs of sediment from

upslope logging and road construction,

elevated stream temperatures, and

transportation of logs within the

channel network.

Department of Natural Resources Plan

Measures

The Department of Natural Resources’

Plan utilizes a combination of

conservation measures that are expected

to adequately minimize or mitigate the

impacts of any incidental take of bull

trout. All fishbearing streams

(Washington State Types 1 through 3)

receive a conservatively managed buffer

equal in width (measured horizontally

from the 100-year floodplain) to a sitepotential tree height (derived from 100-

year site-index curves) or 150 feet,

whichever is greater. The first 25 feet is

a no-harvest zone. Perennial streams

without fish (Type 4) receive a 100-foot

buffer. Additional information,

including a description of wind buffers,

can be found in the Plan at pages IV 56–

59.

Inner gorges and mass-wasting areas

are protected by unstable hillslope and

mass wasting protection provisions of
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 116 /Wednesday, June 17, 1998 / Notices 33091

the Plan (IV 62) and it is expected that

50 percent of the seasonal streams (Type

5) will be protected as a result of the

mass-wasting protection provisions. The

other 50 percent of Type 5 streams

receive interim protections as necessary

and will be addressed within the Type

5 research and adaptive-management

component to be completed within the

first 10 years of the Plan. Watershed

Analysis can only increase, not

decrease, the level of protection these

streams receive. Road management is

another critical component of the

Department of Natural Resources’ Plan

(IV 62–68).

Provisions for the Olympic

Experimental State Forest are described

in the Plan on pages IV 81–86, 106–121.

In general, the strategy for the Olympic

Experimental State Forest provides

conservation very similar to the

remainder of the Department of Natural

Resources Plan, but a higher emphasis

is placed on research, landscape

assessments, and validation monitoring.

These minimization and mitigation

measures described above represent the

minimum level of riparian conservation

the Department of Natural Resources

will provide under the Plan. Several

aspects of the Plan, including riparian

protection, are subject to adaptive

management. To ensure that the

mitigation and minimization strategies

are effective, the Plan incorporates a

variety of aquatic monitoring

components that will provide feedback

for adaptive management and, if

needed, increase riparian protection.

Dated: June 11, 1998.

Ronald E. Lambertson,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland,

Oregon.

[FR Doc. 98–16056 Filed 6–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT–924–1430–01; MTM 41504]

Public Land Order No. 7340; Opening

of Lands Under Section 24 of the

Federal Power Act; Montana

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Public Land Order.

SUMMARY: This order opens 1,278.84

acres of public lands in Bureau of Land

Management Powersite Classification

No. 334, subject to the provisions of

Section 24 of the Federal Power Act.

This action will permit disposal of the

lands through a pending exchange and

retain the waterpower rights to the

United States. The lands are temporarily

closed to surface entry and mining due

to the pending exchange. The lands

have been and will remain open to

mineral leasing.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 17, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sandra Ward, BLM Montana State

Office, P.O. Box 36800, Billings,

Montana 59107–6800, 406–255–2949, or

Susie Williams, BLM Headwaters

Resource Area, P.O. Box 3388, Butte,

Montana 59702–3388, 406–494–5059.

By virtue of the authority vested in

the Secretary of the Interior by the Act

of June 10, 1920, Section 24, as

amended, 16 U.S.C. 818 (1994), and

pursuant to the determination by the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

in DVMT–243 and DVMT–247, it is

ordered as follows:

1. At 9:00 a.m. on June 17, 1998, the

following described public lands

withdrawn by the Secretarial Order

dated February 18, 1943, which

established Powersite Classification No.

334, will be opened to disposal by

exchange, subject to the provisions of

Section 24 of the Federal Power Act,

and subject to valid existing rights, the

provisions of existing withdrawals,

other segregations of record, and the

requirements of applicable law:

Principal Meridian, Montana

T. 2 S., R. 9 E.,

Sec. 34, W1⁄2SE1⁄4.

T. 3 S., R. 9 E.,

Sec. 2, lot 2, SW1⁄4NW1⁄4, and SW1⁄4;

Sec. 10, all.

T. 4 S., R. 9 E.,

Sec. 20, W1⁄2SE1⁄4 and SE1⁄4SE1⁄4;

Sec. 30, lots 3 and 4, and E1⁄2SW1⁄4;

Sec. 32, NW1⁄4SW1⁄4.

The areas described aggregate 1,278.84

acres in Park County.

2. The State of Montana was afforded

timely notice to file an application for

a reservation to the State for any lands

required as a right-of-way for a highway,

or as a source of materials for the

construction and maintenance of such

highways in accordance with the

provisions of Section 24 of the Federal

Power Act of June 10, 1920, as

amended, 16 U.S.C. 818 (1994).

Dated: June 4, 1998.

Bob Armstrong,

Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

[FR Doc. 98–16031 Filed 6–16–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–DN–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Keweenaw National Historical Park

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

SUMMARY: Availability of Final General

Management Plan/Final Environmental

Impact Statement for the Keweenaw

National Historical Park in Houghton

County, Michigan.

Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) of 1969, the National Park

Service (NPS) announces the

availability of the final General

Management Plan/Final Environmental

Impact Statement (GMP/FEIS) for

Keweenaw National Historical Park. The

draft General Management Plan/Draft

Environmental Impact Statement for the

park was on a 60-day public review

from August 29, 1997, to October 31,

1997.

The NPS will manage resources it

owns in the Quincy and Calumet Units

and provide interpretive and other

services in conjunction with the

programs of Keweenaw National

Historical Park as described in the GMP/

FEIS. The action is in response to a

mandate by Congress in Public Law

102–543, an Act to establish Keweenaw

National Historical Park (16 U.S.C.

410yy et seq.). The GMP/FEIS was

prepared by the NPS.

The NPS’s preferred alternative for

Keweenaw National Historical Park is

identified in the GMP/FEIS as

Alternative 4 (The Proposed Action).

Under the preferred alternative, the NPS

would manage NPS-owned resources

and work cooperatively with

landowners, local and state government

agencies, and others to protect cultural

and historical resources associated with

the copper-mining heritage of the park.

Alternative 4 includes a combination of

technical and financial assistance, and a

traditional park concept. The goal is to

create a dynamic national park area

where the NPS has a strong public

presence and, through community

assistance, is a contributing member of

a very organized and active partnership

of local government and community

groups. The park boundary will remain

unchanged. Any recommendations to

revise the park’s boundary would be

developed through a future boundary

study process that would include public

involvement. Congressional approval

would be required for any boundary

changes.

Three other alternatives are also

considered: Alternative 1—No Action,

projects a scenario of static or reduced

fiscal resources available for the

management of the park resulting in a

caretaker mode of operation. Alternative

2—Community Assistance, emphasizes

community assistance and partnership

cooperation to manage and protect