[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 5 (Tuesday, January 8, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1317-1318]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 08-17]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, OR; Westside Rangeland Analysis

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION:  Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The USDA, Forest Service will prepare an environmental impact 
statement to authorize livestock grazing within the Westside Rangeland 
Analysis Area on the Wallowa Valley Ranger District of the Wallowa-
Whitman National Forest.

DATES: Written comments concerning the proposed action should be 
received by February 11, 2008. Send written comments and suggestions to 
Wallowa Valley District Ranger, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, 88401 
Highway 82, Box A, Enterprise, OR 97828.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alicia Glassford, Interdisciplinary 
Team Leader, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, Wallowa Mountains Office, 
88401 Hwy 82, Box A, Enterprise, OR, Phone: (541) 426-5689.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need

    The purpose of and need for this action is to allocate forage for 
commercial livestock grazing. The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Land 
and Resource Management Plan allows for livestock forage production 
where forage is in excess to basic plant and soil needs, wildlife 
needs, and where other specific resource conditions are to be achieved 
or maintained. While livestock grazing has been ongoing for many years 
in the Westside Rangeland Analysis Area, this grazing has been 
addressed through annual operating instructions which have not been 
subjected to a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analysis 
process. Thus, the NEPA process for this group of allotments is being 
initiated.

Proposed Action

    The Westside Rangeland Analysis Area (63,507 acres) is located 
approximately 20 miles north of Enterprise, Oregon and is the portion 
of National Forest System lands within the Wallowa Valley Ranger 
District generally located west of State Highway 3. The proposal will 
result in Allotment Management Plans for the six allotments within the 
Westside Rangeland Analysis Area: Buck Creek Allotment, Day Ridge 
Allotment, Mud Creek Allotment, North Powwatka Allotment, South 
Powwatka Allotment, and Tope Creek Allotment. Specific elements of the 
Proposed Action are as follows:
    Authorize a total of 1579 head-months of livestock grazing on the 
22,718-acre Buck Creek Allotment between June 1 and October 31.
    Authorize a total of 100 head-months of livestock grazing on the 
2,765-acre Day Ridge Allotment between May 15 and June 15.
    Authorize a total of 3,528 head-months of livestock grazing on the 
11,032-acre Mud Creek Allotment between May 15 and September 15.
    Authorize a total of 774 head-months of livestock grazing on the 
8074-acre North Powwatka Allotment between April 15 and November 15.
    Authorize a total of 1171 head-months of livestock grazing on the 
11,455-acre South Powwatka Allotment between June 1 and October 31.
    Authorize a total of 429 head-months of livestock grazing on the 
7,463-acre Tope Creek Allotment between June 1 and September 30.

Responsible Official

    The Wallowa Valley District Ranger, Barbara C. Van Alstine, will be 
the responsible official for making the decision and providing 
direction for the analysis.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The responsible official will decide whether or not to authorize 
commercial livestock grazing within the Westside Rangeland Area. The 
responsible official will also decide whether or not to select the 
proposed action as stated or modified, or to select an alternative to 
it, any mitigation measures needed and any monitoring that may be 
required.

Scoping Process

    This notice of intent begins the scoping process in the development 
of the environmental impact statement. Public participation is 
especially important at several points during the development of the 
EIS. The Forest Service is seeking information, comments, and 
coordination with the Federal, State, and local agencies and tribal 
governments and individuals or organizations who may be interested in 
or affected by the proposed action. The public is asked to provide the 
responsible official with written comments describing their concerns 
about this project. The most useful comments to developing or refining 
the proposed action would be site specific concerns and those that 
pertain to authorizing livestock grazing within the Westside Rangeland 
Analysis Area that meets the Purpose of and Need for

[[Page 1318]]

Action. See DATES above for the mailing address for written comments.

Early Notice of Importance of Public Participation in Subsequent 
Environmental Review

    The draft environmental impact statement is expected to be filed 
with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available to 
the public for review by May 2008. EPA will publish a notice of 
availability of the draft EIS in the Federal Register. The comment 
period on the draft EIS will extend 45 days from the date the EPA 
notice appears in the Federal Register. At that time, copies of the 
draft EIS will be distributed to interested and affected agencies, 
organizations, and members of the public for their review and comment. 
It is very important that those interested in the management of the 
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest participate at that time.
    The final EIS is scheduled to be completed in September 2008. In 
the final EIS, the Forest Service is required to respond to substantive 
comments received during the comment period that pertain to the 
environmental consequences discussed in the draft EIS and applicable 
laws, regulations, and policies considered in making the decision 
regarding authorization of livestock grazing. 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 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. 
Substantive comments are defined as ``comments within the scope of the 
proposed action, specific to the proposed action, and have a direct 
relationship to the proposed action, and include supporting reasons for 
the Responsible Official to consider (36 CFR 215.2). Submission of 
substantive comments is a prerequisite for eligibility to appeal under 
the 36 CFR part 215 regulations.
    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 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 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 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.
    Comments received, including the names and addresses of those who 
comment, will be considered part of the public record on 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: December 20, 2007.
Barbara C. Van Alstine,
Wallowa Valley District Ranger.
[FR Doc. 08-17 Filed 1-7-08; 8:45 am]
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