3232 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 12 / Thursday, January 17, 2008 / Notices 

Description of Respondents: Not-forprofit Institutions. 

Number of Respondents: 100. 

Frequency of Responses: Reporting: 

Yearly. 

Total Burden Hours: 25. 

Charlene Parker, 

Departmental Information Collection 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E8–739 Filed 1–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

[Docket No. FV–08–376] 

Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory 

Committee 

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, 

USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of public meeting. 

SUMMARY: The purpose of this notice is 

to notify all interested parties that the 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

will hold a Fruit and Vegetable Industry 

Advisory Committee (Committee) 

meeting that is open to the public. The 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

established the Committee to examine 

the full spectrum of issues faced by the 

fruit and vegetable industry and to 

provide suggestions and ideas to the 

Secretary of Agriculture on how USDA 

can tailor its programs to meet the fruit 

and vegetable industry’s needs. This 

notice sets forth the schedule and 

location for the meeting. 

DATES: Thursday, February 7, 2008, 

from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, 

February 8, 2008, from 8 a.m. to 12 

noon. 

ADDRESSES: The Committee meeting 

will be held at the Capital Hilton, 1001 

16th Street, NW., Washington, DC. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Andrew Hatch, Designated Federal 

Official, USDA, AMS, Fruit and 

Vegetable Programs. Telephone: (202) 

690–0182. Facsimile: (202) 720–0016. Email: andrew.hatch@usda.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant 

to the Federal Advisory Committee Act 

(FACA) (5 U.S.C. App. II), the Secretary 

of Agriculture established the 

Committee in August 2001 to examine 

the full spectrum of issues faced by the 

fruit and vegetable industry and to 

provide suggestions and ideas to the 

Secretary on how USDA can tailor its 

programs to meet the fruit and vegetable 

industry’s needs. The Committee was 

re-chartered in July 2003, June 2005 and 

again in May 2007 with new members 

appointed by USDA from industry 

nominations. 

AMS Deputy Administrator for Fruit 

and Vegetable Programs, Robert C. 

Keeney, serves as the Committee’s 

Executive Secretary. Representatives 

from USDA mission areas and other 

government agencies affecting the fruit 

and vegetable industry will be called 

upon to participate in the Committee’s 

meetings as determined by the 

Committee Chairperson. AMS is giving 

notice of the Committee meeting to the 

public so that they may attend and 

present their recommendations. 

Reference the date and address section 

of this announcement for the time and 

place of the meeting. 

Topics of discussion at the advisory 

committee meeting will include: the 

Agricultural Marketing Service’s role in 

food safety related activities; the Food 

and Drug Administration’s import food 

safety plan; fresh produce procurement 

activities under the National School 

Lunch Program; Country of Origin 

Labeling; and agriculture transportation 

matters. Additional agenda items can be 

expected. 

Those parties that would like to speak 

at the meeting should register on or 

before January 31, 2008. To register as 

a speaker, please e-mail your name, 

affiliation, business address, e-mail 

address, and phone number to Mr. 

Andrew Hatch at: 

andrew.hatch@usda.gov or facsimile to 

(202) 720–0016. Speakers who have 

registered in advance will be given 

priority. Groups and individuals may 

submit comments for the Committee’s 

consideration to the same e-mail 

address. The meeting will be recorded, 

and information about obtaining a 

transcript will be provided at the 

meeting. 

The Acting Secretary of Agriculture 

selected a diverse group of members 

representing a broad spectrum of 

persons interested in providing 

suggestions and ideas on how USDA 

can tailor its programs to meet the fruit 

and vegetable industry’s needs. Equal 

opportunity practices were considered 

in all appointments to the Committee in 

accordance with USDA policies. 

If you require special 

accommodations, such as a sign 

language interpreter, please use either 

contact name listed above. 

Dated: January 14, 2008. 

Lloyd Day, 

Administrator, Agricultural Marketing 

Service 

[FR Doc. E8–801 Filed 1–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–02–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Spruce Gulch Bark Beetle and Fuels 

Reduction Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA—

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act, 

notice is hereby given that the Forest 

Service, Medicine Bow-Routt National 

Forests, will prepare a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement to 

disclose the environmental 

consequences of the proposed Spruce 

Gulch Bark Beetle and Fuels Reduction 

project (Spruce Gulch). The Spruce 

Gulch analysis area encompasses 

approximately 32,000 acres of National 

Forest System (NFS) land, 390 acres of 

interspersed private land, and 150 acres 

of State of Wyoming land. The majority 

of the analysis area is situated within 

the Ecological Restoration—Forest 

Products Management Area (MA 5.15). 

MA 5.15 is managed to maintain or 

restore healthy ecological conditions 

through a variety of management 

activities, including timber harvest, 

while providing a mix of ecological and 

human needs. The remaining area is 

situated within a Wildland—Residential 

Interface Management Area (MA 7.1). 

National Forest System (NFS) lands 

adjacent to the residential interface 

areas are managed to minimize risks of 

catastrophic fires and insect and disease 

epidemics. 

Mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus 

ponderosae) are at epidemic levels in 

northern Colorado and southern 

Wyoming and are causing significant 

mortality of lodgepole pine trees. In 

response to this situation, a Mountain 

Pine Beetle Epidemic Declaration was 

issued by the Rocky Mountain Regional 

Office on June 25, 2007. The declaration 

was based on analysis of aerial survey 

data and ground survey data sets of 

forests containing lodgepole pine at risk 

for mountain pine beetle infestation. 

The mountain pine beetle epidemic 

declaration encompasses the Spruce 

Gulch analysis area in southern 

Wyoming. Proposed treatments 

associated with the Spruce Gulch 

project will focus on salvaging dead and 

dying timber to promote regeneration of 

future lodgepole pine stands and 

reducing hazardous fuel concentrations 

adjacent to private lands and egress 

routes. 

The Forest Supervisor of the Medicine 

Bow-Routt National Forests has 

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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 12 / Thursday, January 17, 2008 / Notices 3233 

determined that the Spruce Gulch 

project is authorized under sections 

102(a)(1) (Federal land in wildlandurban interface areas) and 102(a)(4) 

(insect and disease epidemics) of the 

Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) 

of 2003. HFRA provides for expedited 

environmental analysis and treatments 

of lands that are at risk of wildland fire, 

have experienced windthrow or 

blowdown or are at risk of insect and 

disease epidemics. Accordingly, the 

environmental analysis associated with 

the Spruce Gulch project will proceed 

according to section 104 of the HFRA. 

To move toward the desired future 

condition, as described in the Medicine 

Bow Revised Land and Resource 

Management Plan (Revised Forest Plan 

2003), and meet the purpose and need 

of the project proposal, proposed 

silvicultural treatments include: (1) 

Clearcutting; (2) commercial thinning; 

(3) shelterwood removal; (4) 

shelterwood preparatory cut; (5) 

shelterwood seed cut; (6) group 

selection; (7) individual tree selection; 

(8) sanitation/salvage; and (9) salvage 

treatments. Transportation activities 

associated with the project proposal 

consist of road construction and road 

reconstruction. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis must be received by 

February 15, 2008. The Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

expected to be available for public 

review in April 2008, the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement is 

expected to be available in June 2008, 

and the Record of Decision is expected 

to be released in September 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Submit written, oral, or Email comments by: (1) Postal service–

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests, 

ATTN: Melissa Martin, Project 

Coordinator, 2468 Jackson Street, 

Laramie, WY 82070; (2) telephone–(307) 

745–2371; (3) E-mail–

mmmartin@fs.fed.us. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Charles Cobb at (307) 245–2338. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose of the Spruce Gulch 

project is to reduce current mountain 

pine beetle populations in forested 

stands dominated by lodgepole pine 

trees, decrease the risk and hazard of 

catastrophic wildfire in the proximity of 

private lands and homes, and to reduce 

the susceptibility of vegetation to 

catastrophic fire and further mountain 

pine beetle attacks. 

The project is needed to: 

• Reduce the threat of future beetle 

infestations in stands that have a 

moderate to high beetle risk; 

• Reduce the risk of high intensity/ 

high severity wildfires within treatment 

areas by reducing hazardous fuel 

loadings associated with treatments and 

beetle killed trees; 

• Reduce the effects of tree mortality 

on the overall health, scenic quality, 

and condition of forested areas; and 

• Salvage forest products from 

forested lands classified as being 

suitable to keep them in production and 

positively contributing to the Forest’s 

Allowable Sale Quantity. 

Proposed Action 

Under the Proposed Action, the 

Laramie Ranger District of the Medicine 

Bow-Routt National Forests will 

evaluate a variety of bark beetle related 

salvage, suppression, and prevention 

silvicultural treatments and hazardous 

fuels abatement treatments on 

approximately 4,500 acres. Current 

estimates identify 1,859 acres of 

clearcutting, 146 acres of commercial 

thinning, 38 acres of overstory removal, 

and 2,463 acres of adaptive management 

prescriptions. Adaptive management 

prescriptions including salvage, 

sanitation/salvage, shelterwood, group 

selection, individual tree selection, 

commercial thinning, and overstory 

removal. Adaptive management 

strategies are proposed on these acres 

because it would be difficult, at this 

point in time, to determine the exact 

location, timing, treatment types, and 

specific amounts of treatment type that 

would best address the rapidly 

spreading mountain pine beetle 

epidemic. The treatments would be 

located primarily within MAs 5.15 and 

7.1, with a small amount of treatments 

within MA 5.13—Forest Products. 

Approximately 1,041 of the 4,500 

acres identified above fall within MA 

7.1—Residential/Forest Interface; these 

acres would be managed using a 

combination of silvicultural treatments 

to reduce hazardous fuels. Management 

activities would generally occur less 

than one-half mile, or as identified 

within specific community wildfire 

protection plans, from the identified 

communities and would be subordinate 

to more restrictive management areas. 

Appropriate treatment boundaries 

would be based on site-specific 

conditions such as topography, 

vegetation conditions, and fuel loadings. 

Approximately 0.3 miles of specified 

road construction, 2.7 miles of 

temporary road construction, and 8.8 

miles of road reconstruction could be 

required for project implementation. 

The final assessment of road needs has 

not been determined, and could be more 

or less. To accommodate the amount of 

harvest and road construction, the 

proposal may include some soil and 

water projects to mitigate road related 

problems. 

Note: Forest-wide Direction contained in 

the Medicine Bow Land and Resource 

Management Plan (Forest Plan 2003) 

generally limits the size of openings created 

by even-aged management (e.g. clearcuts) to 

40 acres (Forest Plan page 1–35). Exceptions 

are granted, however, in areas that have 

experienced natural catastrophic conditions 

such as fire, insect or disease attacks, or 

windstorms. The Spruce Gulch Proposed 

Action currently proposes a clearcut 

prescription on 49 units (totaling 1,859 

acres), 22 of which exceed the 40 acre 

maximum size limitation. The largest 

proposed clearcut unit is 138 acres, while the 

majority of the other units are between 41 

and 80 acres. These larger clearcut units 

primarily fall within MA 5.15 (Ecological 

Restoration) which allows created openings 

as large as 250 acres (Forest Plan page 2–63, 

Vegetation Guideline #2) 

Collaboration Process: As required by 

Title I, section 104 of the HFRA, the 

Forest Service engaged in a 

collaborative process with local 

stakeholders prior to developing the 

Proposed Action described above. 

Members of the collaborative group 

included, but were not limited to, 

private landowners within or adjacent 

to the analysis area boundary, industry 

representatives, State and local 

government officials, and members of 

public interest groups. The collaborators 

participated in three meetings hosted by 

the Forest Service during the months of 

November and December of 2007, and 

contributions from the group were 

considered and incorporated in to the 

final design of the Proposed Action. 

Responsible Official 

The responsible official for the Spruce 

Gulch Bark Beetle and Fuels Reduction 

project is the Laramie District Ranger of 

the Medicine Bow-Routt National 

Forests. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Spruce Gulch Bark Beetle and 

Fuels Reduction Environmental Impact 

Statement will evaluate site-specific 

management proposals, consider 

alternatives to the Proposed Action, and 

analyze the effects of the activities 

proposed in the alternatives. It will form 

the basis for the Responsible Official to 

determine: (1) Whether or not the 

Proposed Action and alternatives are 

responsive to the issues, are consistent 

with Forest Plan direction, meet the 

purpose and need, and are consistent 

with other related laws and regulations 

directing National Forest Management 

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3234 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 12 / Thursday, January 17, 2008 / Notices 

activities; (2) whether or not the 

information in the analysis is sufficient 

to implement proposed activities; and 

(3) which actions, if any, to approve. 

Preliminary Issues 

The following potential issues and 

concerns were identified via internal 

scoping and collaboration efforts: (1) 

Beetle spread from NFS lands to 

adjacent private lands; (2) cumulative 

impacts of past and proposed 

treatments; (3) intensity of vegetative 

treatments and slash disposal adjacent 

to wildland-urban interface areas; (4) 

ingress/egress for forest users and 

property owners; and (5) management of 

mapped and inventoried old growth 

stands. 

Comment Requested 

This notice of intent initiates the 

scoping process that guides the 

development of the environmental 

impact statement. Comments that are 

site-specific in nature are most helpful 

to resource professionals when trying to 

narrow and address the public’s issue 

and concerns. Comments on the Spruce 

Gulch proposal will be accepted until 

February 15, 2008 as identified 

previously in this notice of intent. 

Comments will be reviewed and issues 

will be identified. Issues that cannot be 

resolved by design criteria or minor 

changes to the Proposed Action may 

generate alternatives to the Proposed 

Action. This process is driven by 

comments received from the public, 

other agencies, and internal Forest 

Service concerns. To assist in 

commenting, a scoping letter providing 

more detail on the project proposal has 

been prepared and is available to 

interested parties. Contact Melissa 

Martin, Project Coordinator, at the 

address listed in this notice of intent if 

you would like to receive a copy. 

Release of Names 

Comments received in response to 

this solicitation, including names and 

addresses of those who commented, 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 

object to the subsequent decision under 

36 CFR Part 218. 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 ten (10) days. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review 

A draft environmental impact 

statement will be prepared for comment. 

The comment period on the draft 

environmental impact statement will be 

45 days from the date of the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes the notice of availability in 

the Federal Register. 

The Forest Service believes, at this 

early stage, that it is important to give 

reviewers notice of several court rulings 

related to public participation in the 

environmental review process. First, 

reviewers of draft environmental impact 

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 during the draft environmental 

impact statement stage, but 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 related to 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 document. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternatives displayed in the document. 

Reviewers should refer to the Council 

on Environmental Quality Regulations 

at 40 CFR 1503.3 for implementing the 

procedural provisions of the National 

Environmental Policy Act for addressing 

these points. 

Dated: January 9, 2008. 

Thomas A. Florich, 

Acting Laramie District Ranger. 

[FR Doc. 08–113 Filed 1–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

San Juan National Forest; Columbine 

Ranger District; Colorado; Hermosa 

Landscape Grazing Analysis 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The San Juan National Forest 

proposes to continue to authorize 

livestock grazing on all or portions of 

the Missionary Ridge-Lakes Landscape 

in a manner that moves resource 

conditions toward desired on-theground conditions and is consistent 

with Forest Plan standards and 

guidelines. The analysis area 

encompasses approximately 119,000 

acres on 12 active cattle allotments: Bear 

Creek, Coon Creek, Elkhorn, Graham 

Creek, Haflin Creek, Jack Creek, Lemon, 

Lion Creek, Red Creek, Stevens/Shearer, 

Vallecito, and Waldner Allotments. The 

area is located north of Durango and 

Bayfield, Colorado; from the Animas 

Valley on the west to just past the La 

Plata County line on the east; in T35N 

and T36N, R5–9W, N.M.P.M. and is 

within the Columbine Ranger District, 

San Juan National Forest, Colorado. 

The proposed action is designed to 

increase the flexibility of livestock 

grazing systems through adaptive 

management, which will allow quicker 

and more effective response to problems 

areas when they are revealed. Problems 

will be revealed through the use of short 

and long term monitoring. Application 

of adaptive management practices 

should result in healthier soil, 

watershed, and vegetative conditions. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of the analysis should be received on or 

before February 19, 2008. The draft 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in June 2008 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

expected in September 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Cam Hooley, Environmental 

Coordinator, Columbine Public Lands, 

POB 439, 367 South Pearl Street, 

Bayfield, CO 81122; e-mail 

chooley@fs.fed.us. 

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