Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 200 / Tuesday, October 18, 2005 / Notices 60489 

the ultimate decision for a Bozeman 

Watershed Project. My address is Forest 

Supervisor, Gallatin National Forest, 

P.O. Box 130, Federal Building, 

Bozeman, MT 59771. 

Dated: October 7, 2005. 

Rebecca Heath, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 05–20788 Filed 10–17–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, 

Mountain City Ranger District, 

Mountain City Ranger District 

Rangeland Management Project; 

Environmental Statements; Notice of 

Intent 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Mountain City Ranger 

District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe 

National Forest will prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

on a proposal to authorize continued 

livestock grazing on National Forest 

System (NFS) lands within the 

boundaries administered by the Ranger 

District. The Project Area is located in 

Elko County, Nevada. 

DATES: In order to be most effective, 

comments concerning the scope of the 

proposed analysis should be received 

within 30 days from the date that this 

Notice of Intent (NOI) is published in 

the Federal Register. The draft EIS is 

expected to be completed in March 

2006, and the final EIS is expected to be 

completed in September 2006. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: 

District Ranger, Mountain City Ranger 

District, 2035 Last Chance Road, Elko, 

NV 89801. 

Electronic comments may be sent via 

e-mail to: comments-intermtnhumboldt-toiyabe-mtncity@fs.fed.us. 

Please put ‘‘Grazing EIS’’ in the 

subject line of e-mail transmissions. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: 

Douglas Clarke, Project Coordinator, 

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, 

2035 Last Chance Road, Elko, NV 89801, 

Telephone: 775–778–6127. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose of and Need for Action 

The Mountain City Ranger District 

Rangeland Management Project is an 

opportunity to provide for livestock 

grazing that is managed in a manner that 

will maintain areas that are currently 

ecologically satisfactory, according to 

Forest Plan direction (desired 

functioning conditions), or that will 

improve specific areas identified 

through this analysis or in the future as 

ecologically unsatisfactory (less than 

functioning condition). 

Given the focus on this need, the 

purpose of the project is to bring current 

improper livestock grazing practices 

into alignment with the requirements of 

wildlife and other natural resources 

where needed in the Project Area. Also 

included in this project is the need to 

be able to apply the use of adaptive 

management when managing livestock 

and the affected natural resources. 

Currently, term grazing permits provide 

for little flexibility or ability to change 

management when monitoring shows a 

need or opportunity for change. 

In the time since the Forest Plan goals 

were identified in 1986, wildlife 

science, range science, and natural 

resource management science have 

continued to evolve. More is known 

now about the relationship between 

species and the environments in which 

they live, resulting in changes in 

management direction for specific 

species over the last decade. Range 

scientists within both the Forest Service 

and the academic community have also 

conducted research and published 

scientific papers regarding the 

influences that livestock grazing has on 

the environment. In many areas across 

the American West, the results of this 

research have been applied in the 

design and implementation of effective 

adaptive management strategies. Much 

of this current science and knowledge 

should now be incorporated into grazing 

management within the Project Area. 

The primary emphasis will be an 

ecological based approach rather than 

livestock administration. However, the 

emphasis will also include reponding to 

improper livestock management. 

In addition to the need to incorporate 

new or updated research into existing 

grazing management strategies, the 

Mountain City Ranger District has 

gathered an extensive collection of 

historic and current photographs taken 

from the same places in different 

decades throughout the District. These 

photographs, known as ‘‘repeat photo 

sets’’ show that, in general, rangeland 

ecological conditions throughout the 

District have improved from the early 

1900’s to now, or maintained 

themselves at an acceptable level for the 

most part. In many instances there is a 

pronounced improvement from the 

1960’s and 1970’s until now, which is 

a timeframe when many of the grazing 

management improvements in place 

today (rotational or improved grazing 

systems, infrastructure improvements 

such as division fences and water 

developments, and improved herding or 

animal husbandry practices) were 

originally implemented. The 

information gleaned from advances in 

science since the original Forest Plan 

was implemented, the inferences to 

ecological condition available from the 

repeat photo sets, and existing sitespecific information were used to 

develop the proposed action for this 

analysis. The proposed action is 

designed to be able to specifically 

address, either currently if known 

during the course of this analysis, or 

identified through future monitoring or 

subsequent advances in knowledge 

about ecological relationships, the 

impacts from improper grazing 

practices. 

Proposed Action 

The Mountain City Ranger District of 

the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest 

is proposing to authorize continued 

livestock grazing on grazing allotments 

within the District under updated 

grazing management direction. The 

proposal encompasses approximately 

490,500 acres of NFS lands in Elko 

County, Nevada. This updated 

management direction would be 

incorporated into all livestock grazing 

permits and associated allotment 

management plans as needed. This 

direction would guide livestock grazing 

management within the Project Area 

during the coming decade, or until 

amendments are warranted based on 

changed condition or monitoring 

results. 

Other Possible Alternatives 

In addition to the Proposed Action 

detailed above, we have tentatively 

identified two (2) additional alternatives 

that will be analyzed in the EIS: 

(1) No Action Alternative: A 

continuation of the current grazing 

management without updated direction. 

(2) No Grazing Alternative: New 

grazing permits would not be issued 

when existing permits expired. 

Responsible Official 

The responsible official is: Forest 

Supervisor, Humboldt-Toiyabe National 

Forest, 1200 Franklin Way, Sparks, NV 

89431. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

Based on the environmental analysis 

presented in the EIS, the Forest 

Supervisor will decide whether or not to 

continue grazing on the allotments 

within the Project Area in accordance 

with the standards in the Proposed 

Action or as modified by mitigation 

60490 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 200 / Tuesday, October 18, 2005 / Notices 

measures and monitoring requirements 

identified during the course of the 

analysis. 

Scoping Process 

The Forest Service will mail 

information to interested and/or affected 

parties. Public involvement will be 

ongoing throughout the analysis 

process, and public input will be 

specifically requested at certain times. 

There are currently no scoping meetings 

planned. 

Preliminary Issues 

The following are some potential 

issues identified through internal Forest 

Service scoping based on experience 

with similar projects. We are asking you 

to help us further refine the existing 

issues as wells as identify other issues 

or concerns relevant to the Proposed 

Action. This list is not considered allinclusive; rather, it should be viewed as 

a starting point: 

• Improper livestock grazing has the 

potential to affect the following 

resources as identified by internal 

scoping: 

• Water quality in streams throughout 

the District; 

• Habitat for Lahontan Cutthroat 

trout, a federally-listed species found in 

the Humboldt River Basin; 

• Heritage resources within the 

Project Area; 

• Vegetation, including riparian plant 

communities and aspen stands, which 

may result in a decline in the long-term 

productivity of the land base; 

• Wildlife habitat for several species, 

including mule deer, pygmy rabbits, 

spotted frogs, northern goshawk, and 

sage grouse. 

Comment Requested 

This NOI initiates the scoping process 

which will guide the development of 

the EIS. The public is invited to submit 

comments stating your concerns and 

issues that are relevant to the proposed 

project. These comments will be used to 

help establish the scope of study and 

analysis for the EIS. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review 

A draft EIS will be prepared for 

comment. The comment period on the 

draft EIS will be 45 days from the date 

that the Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA) publishes the notice of 

availability (NOA) in the Federal 

Register. 

The Forest Service believes that, 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 EISs 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 have been raised at the draft EIS 

stage but that are not raised until after 

completion of the final EIS 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 substantive 

comments and objections are made 

available to the Forest Service at a time 

when it can consider them and respond 

to them in a meaningful manner within 

the final EIS. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns regarding the Proposed Action, 

comments on the draft EIS should be as 

specific as possible. It is also helpful if 

the comments refer to specific pages, 

sections, or chapters of the draft 

document. Comments may also address 

the adequacy of the draft EIS or the 

merits of the alternatives formulated 

and discussed in the document. 

Reviewers may wish to refer to the 

Council on Environmental Quality 

(CEQ) Regulations for implementing the 

procedural provisions of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 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 of 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: October 12, 2005. 

Edward C. Monnig, 

Acting Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 05–20781 Filed 10–17–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Notice of Tri-County Advisory 

Committee Meeting 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the authorities in 

the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(Pub. L. 92–463) and under the Secure 

Rural Schools and Community SelfDetermination Act of 2000 (Public Law 

106–393) the Beaverhead-Deerlodge 

National Forest’s Tri-County Resource 

Advisory Committee will meet on 

Thursday, November 3, 2005, from 4 

p.m. to 8 p.m. in Philipsburg, Montana, 

for a business meeting. The meeting is 

open to the public. 

DATES: Thursday, November 3, 2005. 

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at 

the USDA Forest Service office, 88 10–

A Business Loop, Philipsburg, Montana. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Bruce Ramsey, Designated Forest 

Official (DFO), Forest Supervisor, 

Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, 

at (406) 683–3973. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Agenda 

topics for this meeting includes a review 

of projects proposed for funding as 

authorized under Title II of Pub. L. 106–

393 and public comment. If the meeting 

location is changed, notice will be 

posted in local newspapers, including 

The Montana Standard. 

Dated: October 11, 2005. 

Bruce Ramsey, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 05–20782 Filed 10–17–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

ARCHITECTURAL AND 

TRANSPORTATION BARRIERS 

COMPLIANCE BOARD 

Courthouse Access Advisory 

Committee; Meeting 

AGENCY: Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Architectural and 

Transportation Barriers Compliance 

Board (Access Board) has established an 

advisory committee to advise the Board 

on issues related to the accessibility of 

courthouses covered by the Americans 

with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the 

Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. The 

Courthouse Access Advisory Committee 

(Committee) includes organizations 

with an interest in courthouse 

accessibility. This notice announces the 

date, times and location of the next 

Committee meeting, which will be open 

to the public. 

DATES: The meeting of the Committee is 

scheduled for November 17, 2005 

(beginning at 9 a.m. and ending at 5 

p.m.) and November 18, 2005