14876 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 53 / Monday, March 20, 1995 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs

Notice of Availability of Final

Environmental Impact Statement for

Livestock Grazing and Prairie Dog

Management for the Rosebud and

Cheyenne River Sioux Reservations in

South Dakota

AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public

that a Final Environmental Impact

Statement (FEIS) for proposed livestock

grazing and prairie dog management for

the Rosebud and Cheyenne River Sioux

Reservations in South Dakota is

available for final public review. This

notice is furnished as required by the

National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) Regulations (40 CFR 1503 and

1506.9) to obtain comments from

government agencies and the public on

the FEIS.

DATE: Send comments on or before April

19, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Mr.

Donald Whitener, Acting Area Director,

Bureau of Indian Affairs, Aberdeen Area

Office, 115 4th Avenue SE., Aberdeen,

South Dakota 57401. Fax (605) 226–

7446.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.

Wayland Lilly, Bureau of Indian Affairs,

Aberdeen Area Office, 115 4th Avenue

SE., Aberdeen, South Dakota 57401.

Telephone (605) 226–7621. Fax (605)

226–7358. Copies of the FEIS are

available at this address. All agencies

and individuals who participated in the

scoping process and public hearings

have been sent copies.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 1991,

the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

reviewed tribal council proposals to

poison black-tailed prairie dogs on the

Cheyenne River and Rosebud Sioux

Reservations. An Environmental

Assessment (EA) and a Biological

Assessment were prepared, pursuant to

NEPA and to the Endangered Species

Act (ESA), respectively. Because of

insufficient personnel, time, and funds,

the BIA was unable to meet U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and

NEPA requirements for analyzing

impacts on prairie dog/black-footed

ferret habitat and threatened and

endangered species, such as the bald

eagle, peregrine falcon, and American

burying beetle. The BIA, therefore, only

investigated the effects of prairie dog

poisoning programs proposed by the

tribal councils.

The BIA initiated the EIS with a

Notice of Intent in the Federal Register

on November 18, 1992, after the USFWS

issued an opinion that the proposed

poisoning programs would jeopardize

the endangered, black-footed ferret. The

draft EIS was published in June 1994

(Federal Register, June 16, 1994).

Public involvement in scoping

included three (3) open meetings on

each reservation, radio and newspaper

announcements, and direct mailings of

scoping notices. The 60-day comment

period on the draft EIS ended on August

20, 1994. Eleven (11) Federal, state, and

local agencies, ten (10) organizations,

and twelve (12) individuals provided

comments. Some of these were

submitted by letter, in response to

extensive mailings of the draft EIS,

summary, and availability notices.

Others were delivered orally, at the

public hearing on the draft held on each

reservation. Most comment addressed

the proposed action for the Rosebud

Reservation.

The BIA received the draft Biological

Opinion for comment from the USFWS

on November 10, 1994. The Aberdeen

Area Office responded with concerns

regarding BIA trust responsibilities

towards tribes and the implementation

of reasonable and prudent alternatives

and conservation measures. The final

Biological Opinion was issued on

December 29, 1994.

The alternatives for the Cheyenne

River Reservation include No Action

(current management); a Proposed

Action (Prairie Management Plan); four

alternatives that would preserve

approximately 10,000 acres of prairie

dogs on Indian trust lands along the

Moreau River while treating various

proportions of prairie dog acreage on

trust lands away from the river; and a

fifth alternative that would treat half of

the prairie dog acres on the reservation,

including those along the Moreau River.

Alternatives for the Rosebud

Reservation include No Action; a

Proposed Action that would treat 100

percent of prairie dog acres on Indian

trust lands; an alternative that would

not treat prairie dogs within the 7,416-

acre Corn Creek Management Area

(CCMA), but would treat 100 percent of

prairie dog acres outside the CCMA; and

an alternative that also would treat all

prairie dog towns outside the CCMA,

but would limit those on trust lands

within the CCMA to a single treatment.

All action alternatives for both

reservations include grazing

management systems.

The preferred alternative for

Cheyenne River is the Proposed Action,

which consists of the tribal Prairie

Management Plan. This would restore

the prairie ecosystem to a more natural

state, in which prairie dog populations

and other wildlife species coexist with

livestock production. The plan includes:

(1) A grazing management system that

would increase water development and

fencing to improve cattle distribution;

(2) funding for habitat set-asides, to

compensate landowners for retaining

prairie dog colonies in order to maintain

biodiversity and enhance black-footed

ferret populations, should the ferret be

reintroduced; (3) conservation measures

for threatened and endangered species;

(4) education of permittees, landowners,

tribal and BIA land managers, and the

public on the use and benefits of

proposed management techniques; and

(5) limitations on the control of prairie

dogs in certain areas, such as

cemeteries, pow wow grounds, and near

residences.

The preferred alternative for Rosebud

is the Proposed Action. This consists of

a plan that would restore the prairie

ecosystem to where prairie dog

populations are maintained at levels

that improve range conditions for

livestock production, and thus increase

income to the tribe and to Indian

landowners. It includes: (1) A grazing

management system that would increase

water development, fencing, mechanical

treatments, and planting to improve

cattle distribution; (2) use of zinc

phosphide to eradicate black-tailed

prairie dogs on 100% (45,000 acres) of

trust lands, with additional treatments

in the third and fifth year following to

ensure complete control; and (3) safety

and environmental mitigation measures,

as listed on pages 3–14 through 3–15 of

the DEIS, for the use of zinc phosphide.

The black-footed ferret is not considered

in this alternative, in deference to a

Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council

resolution requesting that the ferret not

be reintroduced on or near the

reservation.

Dated: March 13, 1995.

Ada E. Deer,

Assistant Secretary—Indian Affairs.

[FR Doc. 95–6756 Filed 3–17–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–02–P