Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 164 / Friday, August 22, 2008 / Notices 49647 

20230, Appointment Expires: 12/31/ 

10. 

Sivaraj Shyam-Sunder (C) (alternate), 

Director, Building and Fire Research 

Laboratory, National Institute of 

Standards & Technology, 

Gaithersburg, MD 20899, 

Appointment Expires: 12/31/10. 

Dated: August 19, 2008. 

James M. Turner, 

Deputy Director, National Institute of 

Standards and Technology Department of 

Commerce. 

[FR Doc. E8–19556 Filed 8–21–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3510–13–P 

DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XI26 

Availability of a Draft Environmental 

Impact Statement and Habitat 

Conservation Plan, and Receipt of 

Applications for Incidental Take 

Permits 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior; National Marine Fisheries 

Service, National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration, 

Commerce 

ACTION: Notice of availability, receipt of 

applications. 

SUMMARY: This notice advises the public 

that the Oregon Department of Forestry 

(ODF), has submitted applications to the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) 

and the National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS) for incidental take 

permits (Permit(s)) pursuant to the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA). As required by the 

ESA, ODF has also prepared a Habitat 

Conservation Plan (Plan) designed to 

minimize and mitigate any such take of 

endangered or threatened species. The 

Permit applications are related to forest 

management and timber harvest 

activities on the Elliott State Forest in 

Coos and Douglas Counties, Oregon. 

The FWS and NMFS (together, the 

Services) are co-lead agencies in this 

effort. 

The Permit applications include the 

proposed Plan and a draft 

Implementation Agreement (IA). The 

Services also announce the availability 

of a draft Environmental Impact 

Statement (DEIS) for the proposed 

action. 

The Services are requesting comments 

from the public on the Permit 

applications, the Plan, the IA, and DEIS, 

all of which are available for review. 

The Services are furnishing this notice 

to allow other agencies and the public 

an opportunity to review and comment 

on these documents. All comments 

received will become part of the public 

record and will be available for review 

pursuant to the ESA. For locations to 

review the documents, please see the 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section 

below. A 90–day comment period, 

rather then a standard 60–day comment 

period, is being provided to allow the 

public sufficient time to comment on 

the draft documents. 

DATES: All comments must be received 

no later than November 20, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: All written comments 

should be addressed to: Lee Folliard, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2600 SE 

98th Avenue, Suite 100, Portland, OR 

97266, facsimile: (503) 231–6195; or 

Chuck Wheeler, National Marine 

Fisheries Service, 2900 NW Stewart 

Parkway, Roseburg, OR 97470–1274, 

facsimile: (541) 957–3386. Comments 

may also be submitted by e-mail to 

ElliottHCP@fws.gov or 

ElliottStateForest.nwr@noaa.gov. In the 

subject line of the email include the 

identifier Elliott State Forest HCP EIS. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information or to receive copies 

of the documents on CD ROM, please 

contact Lee Folliard at (503) 231–6179; 

or Chuck Wheeler, (541) 957–3379. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Availability of Documents 

Copies of the draft documents are 

available for public inspection and 

review, by appointment, at the above 

addresses during normal business hours 

or by requesting copies on CD ROM by 

contacting the Services (see FOR 

FURTHER INFORMATION section 

above). The documents are also 

available on the Internet at http:// 

www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/ 

ToolsForLandowners/ 

HabitatConservationPlans/ or at the 

following offices or libraries: 

Oregon Department of Forestry, 2600 

State Street, Building C, Salem, OR 

97310 

Oregon Department of Forestry, 63612 

Fifth Road, Coos Bay, OR 97420 

Oregon State Library, 250 Winter 

Street NE, Salem, OR 97301–3950 

Coos Bay Public Library, 525 

Anderson Avenue, Coos Bay, OR 97420 

North Bend Public Library, 1800 

Sherman Avenue, North Bend, OR 

97459 

Douglas County Library, 1409 NE 

Diamond Lake Boulevard, Roseburg, OR 

97470. 

Background 

Section 9 of the ESA and Federal 

regulations prohibits the taking of a 

species listed as endangered or 

threatened. The term take is defined 

under the ESA to mean harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, 

capture, or collect, or to attempt to 

engage in any such conduct. Harm is 

defined to include significant habitat 

modification or degradation where it 

actually kills or injures wildlife by 

significantly impairing essential 

behavioral patterns, including breeding, 

feeding, and sheltering. 

Section 10(a) of the ESA and its 

implementing regulations specify the 

requirements for issuance of permits to 

non-Federal parties for the take of listed 

species. Any proposed take must be 

incidental to, and not the purpose of, 

otherwise lawful activities, must not 

appreciably reduce the likelihood of the 

survival and recovery of the species in 

the wild, and must minimize and 

mitigate the impact of such take to the 

maximum extent practicable. FWS 

regulations governing permits for 

threatened and endangered species are 

promulgated in 50 CFR 13.21. NMFS 

regulations governing permits for 

threatened and endangered species are 

promulgated at 50 CFR 222.307. 

The Elliott State Forest encompasses 

approximately 93,000 acres of stateowned forestlands in Coos and Douglas 

Counties in Oregon’s Coast Range. ODF 

manages the Elliott State Forest out of 

its Coos District Office, located in Coos 

Bay. The action area for this proposal 

focuses on a mostly contiguous block of 

land approximately 18 miles long from 

north to south, and about 16 miles wide 

from west to east. An additional 4,000 

acres, scattered tracts in Coos, Douglas, 

and Curry Counties, were originally 

included as part of the action area, but 

have been removed from the proposal 

by the applicant. 

The Elliott State Forest is managed in 

accordance with the 1994 Elliott State 

Forest Management Plan (FMP). ODF 

currently holds a section 10(a)(1)(B) 

Permit for potential incidental take of 

the northern spotted owl on the Elliott 

State Forest; the Permit and associated 

Plan went into effect in 1995. ODF is 

proposing to manage the forest 

according to a revised FMP that would 

go into effect concurrently with the 

proposed Plan. Some of the proposed 

forest management activities have the 

potential to affect the northern spotted 

owl, as well as other species subject to 

protection under the ESA, including the 


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49648 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 164 / Friday, August 22, 2008 / Notices 

marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus 

marmoratus) and Oregon Coast coho 

salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). As a 

result, ODF prepared a new, 50–year 

Plan, based on the revised FMP that 

would address incidental take of all 

these listed species, as well as 15 

unlisted species (covered species). This 

new Plan forms the basis of ODF’s 

current Permit applications, and is the 

proposed action in the Services’ DEIS. 

The Permit application ODF 

submitted to the FWS addresses the 

potential take of northern spotted owl 

and marbled murrelet, which are listed 

as threatened under the ESA. Unlisted 

species under FWS’s jurisdiction 

included in ODF’s application, and 

which would receive incidental take 

allowance should they be listed during 

the term of the Plan, are the bald eagle 

(Haliaeetus leucocephalus), northern 

goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), olive-sided 

flycatcher (Contopus borealis), western 

bluebird (Sialia mexicana), coastal 

cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki 

clarki), Pacific lamprey (Lampetra 

tridentatus), river lamprey (Lampetra 

ayresi), brook lamprey (Lampetra 

richardsoni), fisher (Martes pennanti), 

southern torrent salamander 

(Rhyacotriton variegates), red-legged 

frog (Rana aurora), and coastal tailed 

frog (Ascaphus truei). The fisher is 

currently a candidate for listing under 

the ESA. 

The Permit application ODF 

submitted to the NMFS addresses the 

potential take of Oregon Coast coho 

salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), which 

is listed as threatened under the ESA. 

Unlisted species under NMFS’s 

jurisdiction included in ODF’s 

application, and which would receive 

incidental take allowance should they 

be listed during the term of the Plan, are 

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha), chum salmon 

(Oncorhynchus keta), and steelhead 

trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). 

Activities that ODF is proposing for 

Permit coverage include: 

1. Mechanized timber harvest; 

2. Forest product transportation; 

3. Road and landing construction, use, 

maintenance, and abandonment; 

4. Site preparation and tree planting 

(excluding use of herbicides); 

5. Site Fertilization; 

6. Silvicultural practices; 

7. Fire suppression; 

8. Aquatic habitat restoration; 

9. Rock pit development; and 

10. Other management activities, 

including vertebrate control and 

harvesting of minor forest products, and 

11. Research and monitoring. 

The Services formally initiated an 

environmental review of the project 

through publication of a Notice of Intent 

to prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement in the Federal Register on 

May 9, 2005 (70 FR 24450). That notice 

also announced a public scoping period 

during which interested parties were 

invited to provide written comments 

expressing their issues or concerns 

relating to the proposal, and to attend 

public scoping meetings held in 

Roseburg, North Bend, and Salem, 

Oregon. 

Based on public scoping comments, 

the Services prepared a DEIS to analyze 

the effects of alternatives on the human 

environment. Alternative 2 in the DEIS 

is described as implementation of ODF’s 

Plan, FWS issuance of a Permit for 

northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, 

and other unlisted species, and NMFS 

issuance of a Permit for Oregon Coast 

coho salmon, and other unlisted 

species, should they become listed 

during the term of the Plan. Two other 

alternatives are analyzed in the DEIS: 

Alternative 1, No-Action, under which 

ODF would continue operating under 

the existing FMP and incidental take 

permit for northern spotted owls only; 

and, Alternative 3, Increased Stream 

Buffers and Intensive Forestry, under 

which ODF would manage 

approximately one-half of the action 

area on a short rotation (40–50 years), 

and the remainder of the lands would be 

designated conservation areas around 

core areas and riparian buffer areas. 

Note that at the time the Notice of 

Intent was published for this project (70 

FR 24450), Oregon Coast coho salmon 

was proposed for ESA listing as a 

threatened species. The Notice of Intent 

indicated that ODF was expected to 

submit a Permit application to NMFS 

for incidental take of Oregon Coast coho 

salmon, and three unlisted fish species 

under NMFS’ jurisdiction, should they 

become listed in the future. NMFS has 

since determined that the Oregon Coast 

coho salmon does warrant listing as a 

threatened species (73 FR 7816). 

This notice is provided pursuant to 

ESA and the National Environmental 

Policy Act of 1969, as amended. The 

Services will evaluate the applications, 

associated documents, and comments 

submitted thereon to determine whether 

the applications meet the requirements 

of the ESA and National Environmental 

Policy Act. The Services are particularly 

interested in comments pertaining to the 

application requirements under 50 CFR 

17.22(b)(1). These include whether the 

Plan: provides complete descriptions of 

the activities under which the 

incidental taking of covered species is 

likely to occur; describes the impacts to 

covered species individuals that will 

likely result from the incidental taking; 

outlines the steps ODF will take to 

monitor, minimize, and mitigate such 

impacts for each covered species and 

the available funding to implement such 

steps over the term of the Permits; and, 

describes alternative actions to such 

taking and the reasons why such 

alternatives are not proposed to be 

utilized. As part of evaluating whether 

the permit issuance criteria are met, the 

Services specifically seek comment on 

whether the minimization and 

mitigation measures are being 

undertaken to the maximum extent 

practicable. In addition, the FWS is 

seeking comment on the assumptions 

regarding how suitable habitat is being 

defined for all the covered species, as 

well as assumptions about the 

development of those species habitat 

over time. 

The Services will revise the DEIS in 

a Final Environmental Impact Statement 

(FEIS). The Services decision of whether 

to issue Permits will be made upon 

completion of the FEIS and the 

associated Record of Decision. 

Dated: June 26, 2008. 

David Patte, 

Acting Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife 

Service, Region 1, Portland, Oregon. 

Dated: August 13, 2008. 

Angela Somma, 

Chief, Endangered Species Division, Office 

of Protected Resources, National Marine 

Fisheries Service. 

[FR Doc. E8–19575 Filed 8–21–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODES 4310–55–S, 3510–22–S 

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration 

RIN 0648–XJ77 

Marine Mammals; File No. 774–1847–03 

AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries 

Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 

Commerce. 

ACTION: Notice; issuance of permit 

amendment. 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science 

Center, Antarctic Marine Living 

Resources Program (Rennie Holt, Ph.D., 

Principal Investigator), 8604 La Jolla 

Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 has 

been issued an amendment to Scientific 

Research Permit No. 774–1847–02. 

ADDRESSES: The amendment and related 

documents are available for review 

upon written request or by appointment 

in the following office(s): 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES