Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 21, 2007 / Notices 65561 

Authority: 7 U.S.C. 450, 7701–7772, and 

7781–7786; 21 U.S.C. 136 and 136a; 7 CFR 

2.22, 2.80, and 371.3. 

Done in Washington, DC, this 14th day of 

November 2007. 

Kevin Shea, 

Acting Administrator, Animal and Plant 

Health Inspection Service. 

[FR Doc. E7–22760 Filed 11–20–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–34–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Umatilla National Forest, Grant County, 

Oregon; Farley Analysis Area 

Vegetation Management Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environment impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department 

Agriculture—Forest Service proposes to 

conduct vegetation management 

activities on approximately 167,500 

acres of upland forest sites in the Farley 

Analysis Area to restore sustainable 

forest conditions in the Desolation 

Creek watershed. The proposed action 

will use a range of mechanical harvest 

and non-harvest thinning and 

prescribed fire activities to alter species 

composition, stand structure, and fire 

regime condition class to re-create 

conditions that are consistent with the 

historic range of variably for forests of 

the Blue Mountains of northeastern 

Oregon, and to capture the commercial 

value of forest raw materials for the 

benefit of local economies. 

The Farley Analysis Area 

encompasses the Desolation Creek 

watershed which covers 69,672 acres of 

diverse mountainous, mostly forested 

landscapes ranging in elevation from 

7,765 ft at its headwaters to 2810 ft at 

its confluence with the North Fork John 

Day River near Dale, Oregon. It includes 

both National Forest and privatelyowned lands; private lands comprise 

about 18 percent of the total area, 

mostly at lower elevations at the 

western end of the watershed. 

Development and implementation of 

these actions will be conducted in 

accordance with the National Forest 

Management Act, National 

Environmental Policy Act, Council on 

Environmental Quality regulations, 

Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, 

Endangered Species Act, and with the 

Umatilla National Forest Land and 

Resource Management Plan and 

scientific recommendations of the 

Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem 

Management Project. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

November 21, 2007. The Draft EIS is 

expected to be filed with the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

and be available to the public for review 

by February 2008. The Final EIS is 

scheduled to be completed by April 

2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

the Responsible Official, Kevin D. 

Martin, Forest Supervisor, Umatilla 

National Forest, 2517 S.W. Hailey 

Avenue, Pendleton, OR 97801. Send 

electronic comments to: commentspacificnorthwest-umatilla@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Michael A. Beckwith, Technical WriterEditor, North Fork John Day Ranger 

District, 401 Main Street, Ukiah, OR 

97880, phone (541) 427–5335. E-mail: 

mabeckwith@fs.fed.us. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose 

and Need. Since the early 1900s, fire has 

been aggressively excluded from forest 

ecosystems throughout the Nation. From 

the mid to late 1900s, timber harvest 

practices in the interior Columbia Basin 

have emphasized removal primarily of 

mature ponderosa pine. The result has 

been a shift in forest conditions toward 

dense stands of Douglas and grand fir 

containing large amounts of dead and 

decaying wood that now are subject to 

insect infestations, disease, and very 

large wildfires, in contrast to the more 

open stands of fire-adapted species 

(such as ponderosa pine) that would be 

expected to occur historically. 

In addition, in 1996 the Bull, Summit 

and Tower wildfires in and near the 

Farley Analysis Area involved mature 

lodgepole pine forests that had 

experienced substantial insect mortality. 

These fires were uncharacteristically 

intense and covered large area (over 

130,000 acres) because, as a result of 

past fire suppression and timber harvest 

practices, the forests had become more 

dense (more trees per acre) and 

contained a larger amount of dead wood 

than would have existed historically. 

These fires resulted in greater loss of old 

forest structure, wildlife cover and 

habitat, riparian structure and 

vegetation, erosion and detrimental 

effects to soils over very large areas than 

would have been anticipated 

historically. 

The Desolation Watershed Analysis 

(1999) found that almost 60 percent of 

upland-forest sites in the Farley area 

exhibit moderate or high departures 

from the characteristic species 

composition, structure and stand 

density conditions than would have 

existed historically. These conditions 

are outside the range of historic 

variability for forests in the Blue 

Mountains and are not sustainable over 

the long-term, with the end result likely 

to be very large, destructive wildfires. 

Therefore, the purpose and need for the 

Farley Vegetation Management Project 

is to improve the long-term 

sustainability of upland forests by 

reducing stand densities and fuel loads, 

restoring appropriate species 

composition, altering forest structure 

and fire regime condition class, 

regenerating mature lodgepole stands 

that currently exits, and to capture the 

commercial value of raw wood materials 

for the benefits of local economies. 

Proposed Action. The Forest Service 

proposes to conduct mechanical harvest 

and non-harvest thinning, prescribed 

fire, fuels treatment, and reforestation 

activities on approximately 17,460 acres 

in the Farley Analysis Area in 

accordance with the resource 

management objectives and standards 

set forth in the Umatilla National Forest 

Land and Resource Management Plan 

(1990) and the scientific 

recommendations of the Interior 

Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management 

Project (1996). These activities are 

anticipated to yield approximately 

60,000 hundred cubic feet of 

merchantable material. Approximately 

100 miles of open and seasonally open 

roads will be required for the proposed 

action, including construction of 

approximately 40 miles of new system 

and temporary roads, and 

approximately 50 miles of 

reconstruction and maintenance of 

existing forest system roads. 

Approximately 2 miles of existing road 

will be closed and/or decommissioned 

at the conclusion of the proposed 

activities. 

The proposed action requires 

amendments to the Forest Plan with 

respect to connectivity among stands 

exhibiting old forest structure, scenic 

values, and total area (at the specific 

stand, subwatershed and watershed 

level) allowed to be in the less than 20 

year old age class. Implementation of 

the proposed actions could begin in late 

2008. 

Possible Alternatives. Alternatives 

will include the proposed action, no 

action, and additional alternatives that 

respond to issues generated during the 

scoping process. The agency will give 

notice of the full environmental analysis 

and decision-making process so 

interested and affected people may 

participate and contribute to the final 

decision. 

Scoping. Correspondence with tribes, 

government agencies, organizations, and 

individuals who have indicated interest 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
65562 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 21, 2007 / Notices 

will be conducted and input will be 

solicited. 

Preliminary Issues. Preliminary issues 

identified include the potential effects 

of the proposed action on long-term 

forest conditions and sustainability, fish 

and wildlife habitat, hydrology and 

water quality, soils and scenic values. 

Comment. Public comments on this 

proposed action are requested to 

identify issues and alternatives to the 

proposed action and to focus the scope 

of the analysis. Comments received in 

response to this solicitation, including 

names and address of those who 

comment, will be considered part of the 

public record on this proposed action, 

and will be available for public 

inspection. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered; however, those who submit 

anonymous comments will not have 

standing to appeal the subsequent 

decisions under 36 CFR parts 215 or 

217. Additionally, pursuant to 7 CFR 

1.27(d), any person may request the 

agency to withhold a submission from 

the public record by showing how the 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

permits such confidentiality. Persons 

requesting such confidentiality should 

be aware that under the FOIA, 

confidentiality may be granted in only 

very limited circumstances such as to 

protect trade secrets. The Forest Service 

will inform the requester of the agency’s 

decision regarding the request for 

confidentiality, and where the request is 

denied; the agency will return the 

submission and notify the requester that 

the comments may be resubmitted with 

or without name and address within a 

specified number of days. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review. A draft EIS will 

be filed with the Environmental 

Protection Agency (EPA) and made 

available for public review by January 

2008. The EPA will publish a Notice of 

Availability (NOA) of the draft EIS in 

the Federal Register. the final EIS is 

scheduled to be available April 2008. 

The Forest Service believes 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 impact statements 

must structure their participation in the 

environmental review of the proposal so 

that it is meaningful and alerts the 

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 be raised at the draft 

environmental impact stage but that are 

not raised until after completion of the 

final environmental impact statement 

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 meaningfully 

consider them and respond to them in 

the final environmental impact 

statement. 

To assist the Forest Service in 

identifying and considering issues and 

concerns on the proposed action, 

comments on the draft environmental 

impact statement should be as specific 

as possible. It is also helpful if 

comments refer to specific pages or 

chapters of the draft statement. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternatives formulated and discussed in 

the statement. Reviewers may wish to 

refer to the Council on Environmental 

Quality Regulations for implementing 

the procedural provisions of the 

National Environmental Policy Act at 40 

CFR 1503.3 in addressing these points. 

In the final EIS, the Forest Service is 

required to respond to substantive 

comments received during the comment 

period for the draft EIS. The Forest 

Service is the lead agency and the 

responsible official is Craig Dixon, 

District Ranger, North Fork John Day 

Ranger District, Umatilla National 

Forest. The responsible official will 

decide where, and whether or not to 

salvage timber, and remove potential 

hazard trees. The responsible official 

will select the treatment alternative(s) 

for the Farley Vegetation Management, 

as well as potential mitigation and 

monitoring measures that may be 

needed. The decision will be 

documented in a record of decision. The 

decision will be subject to Forest 

Service Appeal Regulations (36 CFR 

part 215). 

Dated: November 2, 2007. 

Kevin Martin, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. 07–5773 Filed 11–20–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

The Department of Commerce will 

submit to the Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) for clearance the 

following proposal for collection of 

information under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. 

Chapter 35). 

AGENCY: National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). 

Title: NOAA Fisheries Northeast 

Region Gear Identification 

Requirements. 

OMB Approval Number: 0648–0351. 

Form Number(s): None. 

Type of Request: Regular submission. 

Burden Hours: 24,429. 

Number of Respondents: 200 

Average Hours per Response: 1 

minute. 

Needs and Uses: Regulations at 50 

CFR 648.84(a),(b), and (d), 

§ 648.123(b)(3), § 648.144(b)(1), 

§ 648.264(a)(5), and § 697.21(a) and (b) 

require that Federal fishing permit 

holders using specified fishing gear 

mark that gear with specified 

information for the purposes of 

identification (e.g., official vessel 

number, permit number, or other 

methods identified in the regulations). 

The regulations also specify how the 

gear is to be marked for the purposes of 

visibility (e.g., buoys, radar reflectors, or 

other methods identified in the 

regulations). The display of the 

identifying characters on fishing gear 

aids in fishery law enforcement. The 

marking of gear for visibility increases 

safety at sea. 

Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations. 

Frequency: Every three years. 

Respondent’s Obligation: Mandatory. 

OMB Desk Officer: David Rostker, 

(202) 395–3897. 

Copies of the above information 

collection proposal can be obtained by 

calling or writing Diana Hynek, 

Departmental Paperwork Clearance 

Officer, (202) 482–0266, Department of 

Commerce, Room 6625, 14th and 

Constitution Avenue, NW., Washington, 

DC 20230 (or via the Internet at 

dHynek@doc.gov). 

Written comments and 

recommendations for the proposed 

information collection should be sent 

within 30 days of publication of this 

notice to David Rostker, OMB Desk 

Officer, FAX number (202) 395–7285, or 

David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov. 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES