10868 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 28, 1995 / Notices

amendment: lands, wildlife, range,

minerals, cultural resources, watershed/

soils, threatened/endangered species,

and hazardous materials. Staff members

representing each resource will be

consulted during preparation of the

environmental document.

The primary issue to be addressed is

the change in land designation from

retention to transfer status. The

amendment is not expected to be

controversial as the City of Mud Lake

currently holds an airport lease on the

same land. No public meetings are

scheduled; however, written comments

may be submitted after each of two

public notices.

Prepared documents will be available

at the BLM Idaho Falls office. Office

hours are 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,

Monday through Friday, except

holidays.

Dated: February 16, 1995.

Gary L. Bliss,

Associate District Manager.

[FR Doc. 95–4801 Filed 2–27–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–GG–M

Fish and Wildlife Service

Marine Mammals; Polar Bear Habitat

Conservation

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service,

Interior.

ACTION: Availability of a draft Habitat

Conservation Strategy for Polar Bears in

Alaska; request for comments.

SUMMARY: Final Fish and Wildlife

Service (Service) regulations published

in the Federal Register on November 16,

1993, authorized and governed the

incidental, unintentional take of small

numbers of polar bear and walrus

during oil and gas industry operations

year-round in the Beaufort Sea and

adjacent northern coast of Alaska. Those

regulations contained provisions

requiring the Service by June 15, 1995,

to develop and being implementing a

strategy for the identification and

protection of important polar bear

habitats. The Service has developed a

draft Habitat Conservation Strategy for

Polar Bears in Alaska (Strategy),

announces its availability, and solicits

public comments.

DATES: Comments on the draft Strategy

must be received by May 1, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft Strategy

are available by contacting the Office of

Marine Mammals Management, Fish

and Wildlife Service, 1011 E. Tudor

Road, Anchorage, AK 99503; Telephone:

907/786–3800; FAX: 907/786–3816.

Written comments should be

submitted either by mail or FAX to

David McGillivary, Supervisor, Office of

Marine Mammals Management at the

above identified address, telephone, or

FAX numbers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

David McGillivary in Anchorage,

Alaska, at 907/786–3800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972

(Act) vested authority for management

and conservation of polar bears in the

United States (i.e., Alaska) with the

Service. Provisions in section 101(a)(5)

of the Act authorize the incidental,

unintentional take by U.S. citizens of

small numbers of marine mammals (e.g.,

polar bear) in specified activities other

than commercial fishing. As defined in

section 3 of the Act, the term ‘‘take’’

means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill,

or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or

kill any marine mammal.

While the Act authorizes these

incidental takes, section 2(6) of the Act

states that:

Marine mammals * * * should be

protected and encouraged to develop to the

greatest extent feasible commensurate with

sound policies of resource management and

that the primary objective of their

management should be to maintain the

health and stability of the marine ecosystem.

In this regard, section 112(a) of the Act

authorizes the Secretary of the Interior

to prescribe regulations that are

necessary and appropriate to carry out

the purposes of the Act.

In addition to its responsibilities

under the Act, the Service has further

responsibilities under the 1973

International Agreement on the

Conservation of Polar Bears

(International Agreement). Article II of

this International Agreement states that:

Each Contracting Party [i.e., Canada,

Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the U.S.] shall

take appropriate action to protect the

ecosystems of which polar bears are a part,

with special attention to habitat components

such as denning and feeding sites and

migration patterns * * *

On December 17, 1991, BP

Exploration (Alaska), Inc., for itself and

on behalf of 14 other oil and gas related

companies operating in Alaska,

petitioned the Service to promulgate

regulations pursuant to section 101(a)(5)

of the Act to allow for the incidental,

unintentional take of small numbers of

polar bears and walrus during yearround oil and gas activities (i.e.,

exploration, development, and

production) in the Beaufort Sea and

adjacent northern coast of Alaska.

Culminating a two-year process, the

Service ultimately published a final rule

in the Federal Register on November 16,

1993 (58 FR 60402), with final

regulations initially effective beginning

on December 16, 1993, for an 18-month

period through June 16, 1995.

Consistent with the intent of the

International Agreement, the final rule

contains provisions that require the

Service to develop and begin

implementing a strategy, as part of our

management plan process pursuant to

section 115 of the Act, for the

identification and protection of

important polar bear habitats.

Development of a strategy, as well as the

initiation of steps to implement it, is

necessary for the Beaufort Sea final

regulations to be extended beyond their

initial 18 month effective period (now

set to expire on June 16, 1995) for a total

5-year period (through December 15,

1998) as authorized by the Act.

Initiating efforts to develop this draft

Strategy, the Service on December 28,

1993, published a ‘‘Notice of intent to

prepare a polar bear habitat protection

strategy, conduct public meetings, and

request [for] information,’’ in the

Federal Register (58 FR 68659). Public

meetings were held in Anchorage and

Barrow, Alaska, on January 20 and 25,

1994, respectively, in order to provide

background information and our

proposed plan for development of a

Strategy, and to solicit input from those

in attendance. The formal public

comment period associated with the

Notice closed on February 11, 1994.

Additional meetings subsequently were

held in coastal Alaska communities and

discussions have been conducted with

Alaskan Native hunters to collect

knowledge on polar bear habitat use.

The Service has also consulted with the

Marine Mammal Commission,

signatories to the International

Agreement, the Department of State, the

State of Alaska, the oil and gas industry,

conservation organizations, and

academia. Information obtained during

these various efforts has been

incorporated into the draft Strategy.

The objective of this Strategy is to

identify and enhance protection of

important polar bear habitats in Alaska.

This will enable the United States to

address the ecosystem protection

provisions of the Act and the

Agreement, and to ensure oil and gas

activities are conducted in a manner

that minimizes adverse impacts on polar

bears, their habitat, and on their

availability for subsistence uses. Its goal

is to maintain the integrity of the

ecosystem upon which polar bears

depend and to maintain polar bear

populations at optimum sustainable

population levels. The Service hereby

announces the availability of its draft

Strategy. Public review and comment is

solicited.
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 28, 1995 / Notices 10869

The Service has prepared a draft

Environmental Assessment (EA) in

conjunction with the draft Strategy. A

copy of the draft EA may be obtained

from the Service’s Office of Marine

Mammal Management identified above

in the ADDRESSES section.

Dated: February 17, 1995.

Bruce Blanchard,

Acting Director, Fish and Wildlife Service.

[FR Doc. 95–4903 Filed 2–27–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

National Park Service

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Meeting of Subcommittee on Design Competition

Package.

SUMMARY: This notice announces an

upcoming meeting of the Indian

Memorial Advisory Sub-Committee

producing the Design Competition

Package. Notice of this meeting is

required under the Federal Advisory

Committee Act (Public Law 92–463).

MEETING DATE AND TIME: Thursday,

March 2, 1995, 1:30—5:00 pm.; and

Friday, March 3, 1995, 8:00—12:00 a.m.,

and 1:30—5:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: American Institute of

Architects (AIA), Denver Chapter Office,

1526 15th Street, Denver, Colorado

80202: (303) 446–2266.

THE AGENDA OF THIS MEETING WILL BE:

Continue work begun by the Indian

Memorial Advisory Committee and the

National Park Service Support Team to

produce a package that establishes the

structure, rules, processes that will

guide an upcoming national design

competition for the creation of a

memorial to the Indian participants in

the 1876 conflict at Little Bighorn

Battlefield National Monument, located

at Crow Agency, Montana. This meeting

will incorporate help from a select

group of four architects under the

sponsorship of the AIA. The architects

will provide professional insight into

formulating and managing design

competitions and will help steer the

final decisions of the sub-committee.

The components of the meeting will

consist of a review of project progress to

date and discussion/decisions about;

competition staging; advertising and

promotional strategies; applicant

registration, rules, and fees; design

competition language; design criteria;

base data needs and format; evaluation

criteria; jury composition and scoring/

selection alternatives; stipends for

finalists; awards and commendations

(amounts and categories); competition

and design development schedule; and

transforming the final design into a

finished product.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Advisory Committee was established

under Title II of the Act of December 10,

1991, for the purpose of advising the

Secretary on the site selection for a

memorial in honor and recognition of

the Indians who fought to preserve their

land and culture at the Battle of Little

Bighorn, on the conduct of a national

design competition for the memorial,

and ‘‘* * * to ensure that the memorial

designed and constructed as provided in

section 203 shall be appropriate to the

monument, its resources and landscape,

sensitive to the history being portrayed

and artistically commendable.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms.

Barbara A. Booher, Indian Affairs

Coordinator and Indian Advisory

Committee Liaison, National Park

Service, Rocky Mountain Regional

Office, 12795 W. Alameda Parkway,

P.O. Box 25287, Denver, Colorado

80225–0287 (303) 969–2511.

Dated: February 9, 1995.

Gerard Baker,

Superintendent, Little Bighorn Battlefield

National Monument, Designated Federal

Official, National Park Service.

[FR Doc. 95–4805 Filed 2–27–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–M

Pea Ridge National Military Park

Advisory Team; Meeting

Notice is hereby given in accordance

with the Federal Advisory Committee

Act that a meeting of the Pea Ridge

National Military Park Advisory Team

will be held at 6:00 p.m., on Thursday,

March 16, 1995, in the park visitor

center auditorium, 15930 Highway 62,

Garfield, Arkansas.

The Pea Ridge National Military Park

Advisory Team was established under

authority of section 3 of Public Law 91–

383 (16 U.S.C. 1a–2(c)) to provide a

forum for dialogue between community

representatives and the Pea Ridge

National Military Park on management

issues affecting the park and the

community.

The matter to be discussed at this

meeting includes:

—Boundary Study

The meeting will be open to the

public. However, facilities and space for

accommodating members of the public

are limited, and persons will be

accommodated on a first-come-first

served basis. Any member of the public

may file a written statement concerning

the matters to be discussed with the

superintendent, Pea Ridge National

Military Park.

Persons wishing further information

concerning this meeting, or who wish to

submit written statements may contact

Steve Adams, Superintendent, Pea

Ridge National Military Park, P.O. Box

700, Pea Ridge, AR 72751–0700,

Telephone 501/451–8122.

Minutes of the meeting will be

available for public inspection four

weeks after the meeting at the office of

Pea Ridge National Military Park.

Dated: February 21, 1995.

Jerry Rogers,

Regional Director, Southwest Region.

[FR Doc. 95–4803 Filed 2–27–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–M

Trail of Tears National Historic Trail

Advisory Council; Meeting

Notice is hereby given in accordance

with the Federal Advisory Committee

Act, Public Law 92–463, that a meeting

of the Trail of Tears National Historic

Trail Advisory Council will be held

March 30–31, 1995, at 8:30 a.m., at the

Comfort Hotel River Plaza, 407 Chestnut

Street, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

The Trail of Tears National Historic

Trail Advisory Council was established

pursuant to Public Law 100–192

establishing the Trail of Tears National

Historic Trail to advise the National

Park Service on such issues as

preservation of trail routes and features,

public use, standards for posting and

maintaining trail markers, as well as

administrative matters.

The matters to be discussed include:

—Plan Implementation Status

—Trail Association Status

—Cooperative Agreements Negotiation

—Fundraising

The meeting will be open to the

public. However, facilities and space for

accommodating members of the public

are limited, and persons will be

accommodated on a first-come, firstserved basis. Any member of the public

may file a written statement concerning

the matters to be discussed with David

Gaines, Superintendent.

Persons wishing further information

concerning this meeting, or who wish to

submit written statements may contact

David Gaines, Superintendent, Long

Distance Trails Group Office-Santa Fe,

National Park Service, Southwest

Region, P.O. Box 728, Santa Fe, New

Mexico 87504–0728, telephone 505/

988–6888. Minutes of the meeting will

be available for public inspection at the

office of the Superintendent, located in

Room 358, Pinon Building, 1220 South

St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe, New

Mexico.