This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains documents other than rules or

proposed rules that are applicable to the

public. Notices of hearings and investigations,

committee meetings, agency decisions and

rulings, delegations of authority, filing of

petitions and applications and agency

statements of organization and functions are

examples of documents appearing in this

section.

Notices Federal Register

9302 

Vol. 72, No. 40 

Thursday, March 1, 2007 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest 

and Thunder Basin National 

Grassland; Wyoming; Thunder Basin 

Analysis Area Vegetation Management 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service is 

analyzing the management of rangeland 

vegetation resources, which includes 

livestock grazing, on the National Forest 

Service (NSF) lands within the Thunder 

Basin National Grasslands. NSF lands 

that comprise the Thunder Basin 

Analysis Area will be assessed to 

determine how existing resource 

conditions compare to the desired 

conditions outlined in the Thunder 

Basin National Grassland Land and 

Resource Management Plan (LRMP). A 

management strategy will be developed 

in order to maintain or improve 

rangeland and vegetation conditions 

toward LRMP desired conditions. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 30 

days from the date of publication in the 

Federal Register. The draft 

environmental impact statement (EIS) is 

expected July 1, 2007 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected September 1, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments 

concerning this notice should be 

addressed to Marilee Houtler at 2250 E. 

Richards, Douglas, WY 82633. 

Comments may also be sent via e-mail 

to rocky-mountain-medicine-bow-routtdouglas-thunder-basin@fs.fed.us. 

All comments including names and 

addressed when provided, are placed in 

the record and are available for public 

inspection and copying. The public may 

inspect comments received at Douglas 

Ranger District, 2250 E. Richards, 

Douglas, WY 82633. Visitors are 

encouraged to call ahead to (307) 358– 

4690 to facilitate entry into the building. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kyle 

Schmitt, Rangeland Management 

Specialist or Misty Hays, Deputy 

District Ranger, Douglas Ranger District, 

at the above address (307) 358–4690. 

Individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 

Standard Time, Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Vegetation 

resources on approximately 351,192 

acres of NFS lands, lying within the 

Thunder Basis National Grassland 

boundaries portions of Campbell, 

Converse, and Weston Counties, 

Wyoming (Townships 37–44 North, 

Ranges 66–72 West) are being analyzed 

to determine if and how existing 

conditions differ from desired 

conditions outlined in the 2001 LRMP. 

Vegetation in the Analysis Area is 

characteristic of shortgrass prairie, but is 

mainly comprised of mixed-grass prairie 

species. Johnson and Larson (1999) 

describe the Analysis Area as a Big 

Sagebrush-Wheatgrass Plains Major 

Vegetation Type, dominated by fairly 

dense dwarf shrubs, of which most are 

Wyoming big sagebrush. 

A large portion of the Thunder Basin 

Analysis Area evolved under a history 

of homesteading in the early twentieth 

century, but a prolonged drought period 

combined with the economic depression 

of the late 1920’s and early 1930’s 

caused many of these homesteads to 

fail. Starting in 1935, land was 

purchased through the Northeastern 

Wyoming Land Utilization Project 

initiated by the Agricultural Adjustment 

Administration, and continued with the 

Bankhead Jones Farm Tenant Act of 

1937, which was designed to develop a 

program of land conservation. 

Administration of these lands was 

turned over to the Soil Conservation 

Service the following year, and 

transferred to the United States Forest 

Service in 1954. 

Today the Thunder Basin National 

Grassland supports and provides a 

variety of multiple resource uses and 

values, which include recreational 

opportunities, mineral development, 

wildlife habitat, historical and cultural 

remnants, as well as domestic livestock 

grazing. Livestock ranching operations 

in the area depend on National 

Grassland acreage to create logical and 

efficient management units. Cattle, 

sheep, and horses, in accordance with 

10-year term and/or annual temporary 

livestock grazing permits, are currently 

authorized to graze the allotments 

within the Analysis Area. 

In order to determine how existing 

resource conditions compare to desired 

conditions, data collection was 

conducted from 2003 to 2006. During 

this period, drought conditions 

impacted plant vigor, canopy and litter 

cover in some parts of the Analysis 

Area. Data analysis indicates that seral 

stage and structural objectives are 

currently not meeting vegetation health 

desired conditions within some portions 

of the Analysis Area. Other areas of 

concern based on data analysis include 

enhancing vegetation conditions in 

riparian areas and decreasing the 

frequency and density of non-native 

invasive species within the Analysis 

Area. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

Need: To continue to authorize 

livestock grazing and associated 

vegetation management actions with 

appropriate identified management 

options within the Thunder Basin 

Analysis Area, and to do so in a manner 

that will resolve any disparities between 

existing and desired conditions in a 

suitable timeframe. 

Purpose: To implement vegetation 

management objectives in the Thunder 

Basin National Grassland Land and 

Resource Management Plan with goals 

of increasing native forb and perennial 

grass diversity, improving riparian area 

conditions, improving vegetation health, 

and slowing or decreasing the frequency 

and density of non-native invasive 

species. This analysis will serve as a 

guide for implementation of LRMP 

vegetation management objectives 

aimed at improving vegetation and 

riparian area conditions, providing 

desired mixes of seral and structural 

stages of vegetation, as well as 

establishing appropriate monitoring 

techniques that will measure the 

effectiveness of management activities. 

Proposed Action 

The Forest Service proposes the 

following actions to meet the need and 

purpose described above: 

—Manage vegetation through an 

adaptive management process, which 


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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 40 / Thursday, March 1, 2007 / Notices 9303 

includes authorizing livestock grazing 

on allotments within the Thunder 

Basin Analysis Area of the Thunder 

Basin National Grasslands, that will 

meet or move toward desired resource 

conditions. 

—Define an allotment specific starting 

point in which management is 

believed to be capable of meeting or 

moving toward desired conditions in 

a timely manner. 

—Monitor to evaluate both 

implementation and effectiveness of 

management actions. 

In all cases, management will use 

vegetation management tools that will 

meet LRMP Objectives, Standards and 

Guidelines, and maintain or move 

existing resource conditions toward 

Geographic Area desired conditions. If 

monitoring indicates that practices are 

being properly implemented and that 

resource trends are moving toward 

meeting desired conditions in a timely 

manner, management may continue. If 

monitoring indicates that there is a need 

to modify management practices, 

adaptive options as analyzed in the EIS 

will be selected and implemented. 

Possible Alternatives 

(1) No action. 

(2) Continued current management. 

Responsible Official 

Robert M. Sprentall, District Ranger, 

Douglas Ranger District, 2250 East 

Richards Street, Douglas, Wyoming 

82633, is the official responsible for 

making the decision on this action. He 

will document his decision and rational 

in a Record of Decision. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Responsible Official will consider 

the results of the analysis and its 

findings and then document the final 

decision in a Record of Decision (ROD). 

The decision will determine whether or 

not to authorize livestock grazing on all, 

part, or none of the allotments within 

the Thunder Basin analysis Area, and if 

so, what adaptive management design 

criteria, adaptive options, and 

monitoring will be implemented so as to 

meet or move toward the desired 

conditions in the defined timeframe. 

Scoping Process 

The Forest Service has publicly 

scoped the proposed action in August 

2006 as the Thunder Basin Analysis 

Area Vegetation Management 

Environmental Assessment. Individuals 

who submitted comments on this 

scoping will still have standing. These 

comments have been reviewed and are 

being considered as the analysis 

continues. 

Preliminary Issues 

The Forest Service has identified the 

following preliminary issues: (1) 

Current impacts to soil resources from 

the continuing drought, and livestock 

and wildlife grazing/browsing; (2) 

Potential impacts to livestock grazing 

permits on National Grasslands. 

Comment Requested 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process which guides the 

development of the draft environmental 

impact statement. 

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 environmental 

statement will be 45 days from the date 

the Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes the notice of availability in 

the Federal Register. While public 

participation is strictly optional at this 

stage, the Forest Service believes that it 

is important to give reviewers notice of 

several court rulings related to public 

participation in the subsequent 

environmental review process. First, 

reviewers of draft statements 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 be raised at the draft 

environmental impact statement 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 draft environmental 

impact statement comment period so 

that 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 also may address 

the adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternatives formulated and discussed in 

the statement. In addressing these 

points, reviewers may wish to refer to 

the Council on Environmental Quality 

regulations which implement the 

procedural provisions of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 40 CFR 

1503.3. 

Dated: February 21, 2007. 

Misty A. Hays, 

Deputy District Ranger. 

[FR Doc. 07–919 Filed 2–28–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Intergovernmental Advisory 

Committee Meeting, Northwest Forest 

Plan 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of meeting. 

SUMMARY: The Intergovernmental 

Advisory Committee (IAC), Northwest 

Forest Plan (NWFP), has scheduled a 

meeting on March 20, 2007 from 8 a.m. 

to 12 noon. at the DoubleTree Hotel & 

Executive Meeting Center, 1000 NE 

Multnomah, Portland, Oregon 97232, 

(503) 281–6111, in the Multnomah 

Conference room. We will provide 

participants with updates on several 

ongoing projects of interest including 

monitoring, agency plan revisions, 

research activities, etc. 

The meeting is open to the public and 

fully accessible for people with 

disabilities. A 10-minute time slot is 

reserved for public comments at 8:10 

a.m. Interpreters are available upon 

request at least 10 days prior to the 

meeting. Written comments may be 

submitted for the meeting record. 

Interested persons are encouraged to 

attend. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Questions regarding this meeting may 

be directed to Kath Collier, Management 

Analyst, Regional Ecosystem Office, 333 

SW. First Avenue, P.O. Box 3623, 

Portland, OR 97208 (telephone: 503–

808–2165). 

Dated: February 20, 2007. 

Anne Badgley, 

Designated Federal Official. 

[FR Doc. E7–3564 Filed 2–28–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 


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