54922 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 187 / Thursday, September 27, 2007 / Notices 

only. The refuge would work with 

partners to facilitate the voluntary use of 

approved disposal sites for human 

waste. Guided motorized access to the 

North Fork Goodnews River would be 

limited from current maximum 

allowable levels but would be above 

current use levels. 

Alternative D: This alternative would 

provide additional opportunities for 

commercially guided recreation 

throughout the refuge. At Cape Peirce, 

opportunities for visiting the area would 

be doubled from current levels and 

would be commercially guided. 

Unguided recreation on the Kanektok 

and Goodnews rivers would remain 

unrestricted. Additional commercial 

sport fishing guide opportunities would 

be provided on the Goodnews, Togiak, 

Osviak, and Matogak rivers. 

Alternative E: This alternative would 

reduce the level of use on the Kanektok 

and Goodnews rivers and implement a 

human waste pack out program on the 

Kanektok River. It would also provide 

additional opportunities for public use 

at Cape Peirce. Commercial sport fishing 

guide opportunities would be continued 

at current levels. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your name, address, 

phone number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Dated: September 21, 2007. 

Thomas O. Melius, 

Regional Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife 

Service, Anchorage, Alaska. 

[FR Doc. E7–19086 Filed 9–26–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Virgin River Habitat Conservation and 

Recovery Program, Clark County, NV 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) 

and notice of public meetings. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 

Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), 

advises the public that we intend to 

gather information necessary to prepare 

an Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) regarding the proposed Virgin 

River Habitat Conservation and 

Recovery Program (VRHCRP) and 

issuance of an incidental take permit 

(Permit) for endangered and threatened 

species in accordance with section 10(a) 

of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, 

as amended (Act). The intent of the 

VRHCRP is to provide a recovery 

strategy for five species in the Lower 

Virgin River Basin. The VRHRCP would 

be used as a tool when conducting 

future section 7 consultations, 

implementing recovery actions and 

preparing habitat conservation plans for 

new and existing development. 

We provide this notice to: (1) Describe 

the proposed action and possible 

alternatives; (2) advise other Federal 

and State agencies, affected tribes, and 

the public of our intent to prepare an 

EIS; (3) announce the initiation of a 30- 

day public scoping period; and (4) 

obtain suggestions and information on 

the scope of issues to be included in the 

EIS. 

DATES: Written comments from all 

interested parties must be received on or 

before October 29, 2007. Public 

meetings will be held on October 16 and 

17, 2007 from 4 to 6 p.m. 

ADDRESSES: The public meetings will be 

held at the following locations: October 

16, 2007 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Federal 

Interagency Building, 4701 North Torrey 

Pines Dr., Las Vegas, NV 89130; and 

October 17, 2007 from 4 to 6 p.m. at 

Mesquite City Hall, 10 East Mesquite 

Blvd., Mesquite, NV 89027. 

Information, written comments, or 

questions related to the preparation of 

the EIS and NEPA process should be 

sent to Robert D. Williams, Field 

Supervisor, Nevada Fish and Wildlife 

Office, Fish and Wildlife Service, 4701 

North Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas, NV 

89130; or fax (702) 515–5231. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Amy LaVoie, Nevada Fish and Wildlife 

Office, Fish and Wildlife Service, 4701 

North Torrey Pines Dr., Las Vegas, 

Nevada 89130, or at (702) 515–5230. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Reasonable Accommodation 

Persons needing reasonable 

accommodations in order to attend and 

participate in the public meeting should 

contact Amy LaVoie (See ADDRESSES) at 

(702) 515–5230 as soon as possible. In 

order to allow sufficient time to process 

requests, please call no later than one 

week before the public meeting. 

Information regarding this proposed 

action is available in other formats upon 

request. 

Background 

The Service together with the Bureau 

of Land Management, City of Mesquite, 

Clark County, National Park Service, 

Nevada Department of Wildlife, 

Southern Nevada Water Authority, and 

Virgin Valley Water District propose to 

develop the VRHCRP. The intent of the 

VRHCRP is to provide a recovery 

strategy for five species in the Lower 

Virgin River Basin: Virgin River chub 

(Gila seminuda), woundfin (Plagopterus 

argentissimus), southwestern willow 

flycatcher (Empidonax traillii extimus), 

Yuma clapper rail (Rallus longirostris 

yumanensis), and yellow-billed cuckoo 

(Coccyzus americanus). Species may be 

added or deleted during the course of 

the development of the VRHCRP based 

on further analysis, new information, 

agency consultation, and public 

comment. The VRHRCP would be used 

by the participating agencies as a tool 

when conducting future section 7 

consultations, implementing recovery 

actions and preparing habitat 

conservation plans. 

The area to be addressed within the 

proposed VRHCRP would be all lands 

within the the 100-year floodplain of the 

Virgin River and its tributaries 

(including ephemeral washes) from the 

Mesquite Diversion (located 

approximately 2 miles upstream of the 

Nevada/Arizona border) to the 

confluence of Lake Mead, as defined by 

a line from the southern end of Lower 

Mormon Mesa, through Fish Island, to 

Little Bitter Wash. In addition, some 

recovery actions may be expanded to 

include all land within the 100-year 

floodplain of the Virgin River and its 

tributaries from the Mesquite Diversion 

upstream to the base of the Virgin River 

Gorge in Arizona or to the location of 

the future non-native fish barrier to be 

established by the Virgin River Resource 

Management and Recovery Program 

(Utah program). 

The VRHCRP would contain a habitat 

conservation plan (HCP) for the City of 

Mesquite and Clark County (Permit 

Applicants). The HCP would result in 

take authorization for otherwise lawful 

actions, such as municipal and private 

development that may incidentally take 

or harm animal species or their habitats 

within the HCP area. Conservation 

measures to offset the effects on the 

covered species from proposed 

development activities would be 

developed and implemented. The 

applicants propose to expand the city 

limits of Mesquite and unincorporated 

Clark County in and near the township 

or area of Bunkerville and Riverside, 

and implement conservation measures 

for the resulting development activities, 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 187 / Thursday, September 27, 2007 / Notices 54923 

along with existing activities currently 

undertaken by the Permit Applicants 

with the potential to affect federally 

listed species. These activities may 

include new and existing development 

activities in upland and riparian areas; 

ongoing water supply and flood control 

activities; ongoing agricultural and 

livestock practices; and the ongoing 

management of trails, parks, and open 

spaces. The Permit Applicants intend to 

request a Permit for incidental take of 

federally listed threatened or 

endangered species, as well as other 

species identified in the VRHCRP. 

Section 9 of the Act and Federal 

regulations prohibit the ‘‘take’’ of 

wildlife species listed as endangered or 

threatened (16 U.S.C. 1538). The Act 

defines the term ‘‘take’’ as: To harass, 

harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, 

trap, capture or collect listed species, or 

to attempt to engage in such conduct (16 

U.S.C. 1532). Harm includes significant 

habitat modification or degradation that 

actually kills or injures listed wildlife 

by significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding 

feeding, and sheltering [50 CFR 17.3(c)]. 

Pursuant to section 10(a)(1)(B) of the 

Act, we may issue permits to authorize 

‘‘incidental take’’ of listed species. 

‘‘Incidental take’’ is defined by the Act 

as take that is incidental to, and not the 

purpose of, carrying out an otherwise 

lawful activity. Regulations governing 

permits for threatened species and 

endangered species, respectively, are at 

50 CFR 17.32 and 50 CFR 17.22. 

Environmental Impact Statement 

The EIS will consider the proposed 

action, no action, and a reasonable range 

of alternatives. A detailed description of 

the proposed action and alternatives 

will be included in the EIS. Alternatives 

considered for analysis in an EIS may 

include variations in the scope of 

proposed activities; variations in the 

location, amount, and types of 

conservation measures and/or recovery 

actions; variations in activity duration; 

or a combination of these elements. In 

addition, the EIS will identify 

potentially significant direct, indirect, 

and cumulative impacts on biological 

resources, land use, air quality, water 

quality, water resources, socioeconomic 

conditions, and other environmental 

issues that could occur with 

implementation of the proposed action 

or other alternatives. For all potentially 

significant impacts, the EIS identifies 

avoidance, minimization, and 

mitigation measures to reduce these 

impacts, where feasible, to a level below 

significance. 

Environmental review of the EIS will 

be conducted in accordance with the 

requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 

et seq.), its implementing regulations 

(40 CFR parts 1500–1508), other 

applicable regulations, and Service 

procedures for compliance with those 

regulations. This notice is being 

furnished in accordance with 40 CFR 

Section 1501.7 and 1508.22 to obtain 

suggestions and information from other 

agencies and the public on the scope of 

issues and alternatives to be addressed 

in the EIS. The primary purpose of the 

scoping process is to identify important 

issues raised by the public related to the 

proposed action. Written comments 

from interested parties are invited to 

ensure that the full range of issues 

related to the permit application is 

identified. Comments will only be 

accepted in written form. You may 

submit written comments by mail, 

facsimile transmission, or in person (see 

ADDRESSES). All comments received, 

including names and addresses, will 

become part of the official 

administrative record and may be made 

available to the public. 

Our practice is to make comments, 

including names, home addresses, home 

phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of 

respondents, available for public 

review. Individual respondents may 

request that we withhold their names 

and/or homes addresses, etc., but if you 

wish us to consider withholding this 

information you must state this 

prominently at the beginning of your 

comments. In addition, you must 

present a rationale for withholding this 

information. This rationale must 

demonstrate that disclosure would 

constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of privacy. Unsupported 

assertions will not meet this burden. In 

the absence of exceptional, 

documentable circumstances, this 

information will be released. We will 

always make submissions from 

organization or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives of or officials of 

organizations or businesses, available 

for public inspection in their entirety. 

Dated: September 21, 2007. 

Ken McDermond, 

Deputy Manager, California/Nevada 

Operations Office, Sacramento, California. 

[FR Doc. 07–4781 Filed 9–26–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Indian Affairs 

Land Acquisitions; Shakopee 

Mdewakanton Sioux Community 

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of final agency 

determination to take land into trust 

under 25 CFR part 151. 

SUMMARY: The Assistant Secretary—

Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the 

Interior has made a final determination 

to acquire real property ‘‘in trust’’ for 

the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux 

Community. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. 

Vicki Forrest, Deputy Director of Trust 

Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1849 

C Street, NW., MS 4620–MIB, 

Washington, DC 20240; telephone: 202–

208–5831. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

notice is published to comply with the 

requirement of 25 CFR 151.12(b) that 

notice be given to the public of the 

decision by the authorized 

representative of the Secretary of the 

Interior to acquire land ‘‘in trust’’ at 

least 30 days prior to signatory 

acceptance of land ‘‘in trust’’. The 

purpose of the 30-day waiting period is 

to afford interested parties the 

opportunity to seek judicial review of 

administrative decisions to take land 

‘‘in trust’’ for Tribes or individual 

Indians before transfer of title to the 

properties occurs. On June 7, 2007, the 

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs 

issued a Notice of Decision to accept 

approximately 752.41 acres of land ‘‘in 

trust’’ for the Shakopee Mdewakanton 

Sioux Community under the authority 

of Section 5 of the Indian 

Reorganization Act of 1934, 25 United 

States Code (U.S.C.) 465. 

The Assistant Secretary—Indian 

Affairs, on behalf of the Secretary of the 

Interior, shall acquire title in the name 

of the United States of America in trust 

for Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux 

Community no sooner than 30 days after 

the initial date this notice is published 

in the Federal Register. 

The land is referred to as Parcels 1, 2, 

3 & 4, herein and is described as: 

752.41 Acres—Fourth Principal Meridian, 

Scott County, Minnesota 

SMSC Trust Acquisition 

PARCEL NUMBER 1 

Legal Description excluding land 

transferred to Scott County. 

Containing 569.01 acres more or less. 

Parcel 1: The West Half of the Southwest 

Quarter of Section 15, Township 115, Range 

22, Scott County, Minnesota. 


rwilkins on PROD1PC63 with NOTICES