51784 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 173 / Friday, September 5, 2008 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Ashland Ranger District Travel 

Management Planning, Custer National 

Forest; Powder River and Rosebud 

Counties, MT 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service plans to 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) to disclose the effects of 

designating National Forest System 

roads, trails, and areas available for 

public motorized use on the Ashland 

Ranger District (District), Custer 

National Forest. The decision will 

determine whether to add to or remove 

routes from the current network of 

National Forest System roads, trails, and 

areas for public motorized use on the 

District; designate the season of use and 

type of vehicle use for each road, trail, 

and area designated for public 

motorized use; and identify dispersed 

vehicle camping designations. 

Once a decision is made, a Motor 

Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) will be 

prepared and distributed in compliance 

with the Forest Service’s 2005 

Motorized Travel Management Rule (36 

CFR 212). The MVUM will show all 

routes and areas that are designated for 

public motorized use on the District. 

The MVUM will be the primary tool 

used for enforcement of motorized 

vehicle use designations on the ground. 

Those routes not designated on the 

MVUM will be legally closed to public 

motorized travel. This decision on 

motorized travel does not include 

motorized over-the-snow travel. 

DATES: The draft environmental impact 

statement is planned to be released in 

October 2008 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

planned for release in May 2009. The 

project was initially distributed for 

public scoping and comment November 

26, 2007 through January 25, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Ashland Ranger District Travel 

Management Plan, Custer National 

Forest, 1310 Main Street, Billings, MT 

59105 or call (406) 657–6205 extension 

225. 

If you prefer, you can submit 

comments on the Internet at commentsnorthern-custer-ashland@fs.fed.us by 

typing on the subject line ‘‘Ashland RD 

Travel Management Plan.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doug Epperly, Project Coordinator, at 

(406) 657–6205 ext. 225. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action: The 

purpose of the proposal is to designate 

a system of roads, trails, and areas for 

public motorized use (excluding overthe-snow travel) on the District, while 

minimizing the adverse resource 

impacts of those designations. The 

system of roads, trails, and areas to be 

designated will be consistent with the 

laws, regulations, and policies 

governing the management of National 

Forest System lands. Specifically, this 

includes the Forest Service’s 2005 

Motorized Travel Management Rule (36 

CFR 212); the 2001 Off-Highway Vehicle 

Record of Decision and Plan 

Amendment for Montana, North Dakota, 

and Portions of South Dakota (hereafter 

Tri-State OHV Plan); the subsequent 

Forest Plan Amendment Number 39; the 

1992 Ashland Travel Plan; and the 

Custer National Forest and National 

Grasslands Land and Resource 

Management Plan (hereafter referred to 

as the Forest Plan, 1986). 

The Chief of the Forest Service, in 

response to public comments on the 

2005 Motorized Travel Rule, established 

timeframes for completing the route 

designation process nationally, 

including completing the District route 

designation by the end of September 

2009. 

Proposed Action. The proposed action 

is to designate roads, trails, and areas 

open to public motorized use, designate 

dispersed vehicle camping, and identify 

routes necessary for administrative use 

on the District (NFS lands). The route, 

trail, and area designations will also set 

specific seasons of use, where 

appropriate, and specify the type of 

vehicle use (e.g., highway legal vehicle, 

ATVs). The Forest Service will produce 

a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) 

depicting those routes which are open 

to the general public for motorized use. 

No Action Alternative. The No Action 

alternative would be to designate the 

current District system motorized roads 

for public motorized use, but would not 

address existing unauthorized (i.e., nonsystem) routes or the lack of legal public 

right-of-way access for roads that cross 

private lands. A National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) decision is not 

required to designate roads, trails, and 

areas for public motorized use that are 

currently part of the National Forest 

System of roads, trails and areas. 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action and 

No Action will depict differing 

combinations of routes to remain open 

to motorized travel. 

A consequence of the no action 

alternative is that the existing nonsystem routes currently being used 

would not be available for public 

motorized use. Decommissioning or 

obliterating these routes, which may 

involve ground disturbing activities, is 

not a part of the Proposed Action or 

alternatives, and would generally 

require separate and site specific NEPA 

decisions regarding the implementation 

aspects of road closures. The 

environmental consequences of having 

routes closed to motorized travel will be 

evaluated in this environmental 

analysis. 

Identification of new routes that 

would meet the goals and objectives for 

a motorized transportation system on 

NFS lands will not be a part of this 

travel management planning effort, but 

may be identified as an opportunity and 

would require separate, site-specific 

NEPA decisions to implement ground 

disturbing activities associated with 

new route construction. 

Responsible Official: The Responsible 

Official is Steve E. Williams, Forest 

Supervisor, Custer National Forest, 1310 

Main Street, Billings, MT 59105. 

Nature of Decisions To Be Made: 

Based on the purpose and need for the 

proposed action, the Forest Supervisor 

will evaluate the Proposed Action and 

other alternatives in order to make the 

following decisions for the specific 

National Forest System lands: 

• Determine any non-system routes 

that should be converted to system 

roads or trails; 

• Determine the roads, trails, and 

areas that should be designated for 

public motorized travel; and, 

• Determine the season and/or type of 

use for those routes open to public 

motorized travel; and, 

• Determine if change in the extent 

and nature of dispersed vehicle camping 

is warranted. 

Scoping Process: Public scoping was 

initiated November 26, 2007 and was 

concluded January 25, 2008. Public 

meetings were held in Ashland, 

Broadus, Miles City, and Billings, 

Montana in December 2007 to discuss 

the scoping document. The Forest 

Service received over 60 letters, 

personal comments, or phone calls. 

The Forest Service has considered all 

public scoping comments and concerns 

that have been submitted, as well as 

resource related input from the 

interdisciplinary team and other agency 

resource specialists. This input will be 

used to identify issues to consider in the 

environmental analysis. A 

comprehensive list of key issues will be 

determined before the full range of 

alternatives is developed and the 

environmental analysis is begun. 

Persons and organizations 

commenting during the initial scoping 

will remain on the mailing list for future 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 173 / Friday, September 5, 2008 / Notices 51785 

information about Ashland Ranger 

District Travel Management Planning. 

The Responsible Official has 

determined that an Environmental 

Impact Statement is the appropriate 

NEPA document for this analysis. 

Comments Requested: Given that 

scoping has been conducted and that 

public meetings have been conducted, 

comments are not being requested at 

this time. 

Early Notice of Importance of Public 

Participation in Subsequent 

Environmental Review: A draft 

environmental impact statement will be 

prepared for public comment. The 

comment period on the draft 

environmental impact statement will be 

45 days from the date that the 

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 

publishes the notice of availability in 

the Federal Register. 

Written comments are preferred and 

should include the name and address of 

the commenter. Comments submitted 

for this proposed action will be 

considered part of the public record. 

The Forest Service believes it is 

important to give reviewers notice of 

several court rulings related to public 

participation in the environmental 

review process. Reviewers of draft 

environmental impact statements must 

structure their participation in the 

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 US. 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, 409 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. 

Wis. 1980)). Because of these court 

rulings, it is very important 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 the 

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 on 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 statement. 

Comments may also address the 

adequacy of the draft environmental 

impact statement or the merits of the 

alternative 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. 

Dated: August 29, 2008. 

Steve E. Williams, 

Forest Supervisor. 

[FR Doc. E8–20586 Filed 9–4–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3410–11–M 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Sioux Ranger District Travel 

Management Plan, Custer National 

Forest; Carter County, MT and Harding 

County, SD 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Notice; intent to prepare 

environmental impact statement. 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service intends to 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) to disclose the effects of 

designating National Forest System 

roads, trails, and areas available for 

public motorized use on the Sioux 

Ranger District (District), Custer 

National Forest. The decision will 

determine whether to add to or remove 

routes from the current network of 

National Forest System roads, trails, and 

areas for public motorized use on the 

District; designate the season of use and 

type of vehicle use for each road, trail, 

and area designated for public 

motorized use; and identify dispersed 

vehicle camping designations. 

Once a decision is made, a Motor 

Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) will be 

prepared and distributed in compliance 

with the Forest Service’s 2005 

Motorized Travel Management Rule (36 

CFR 212). The MVUM will show all 

routes and areas that are designated for 

public motorized use on the District. 

The MVUM will be the primary tool 

used for enforcement of motorized 

vehicle use designations on the ground. 

Those routes not designated on the 

MVUM will be legally closed to public 

motorized travel. This decision on 

motorized travel does not include 

motorized over-the-snow travel. 

DATES: The draft environmental impact 

statement is planned to be released in 

October 2008 and the final 

environmental impact statement is 

planned for release in May 2009. The 

project was initially distributed for 

public scoping and comment October 

22, 2007 through November 27, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Sioux Ranger District Travel 

Management Plan, Custer National 

Forest, 1310 Main Street, Billings, MT 

59105 or call (406) 657–6205 extension 

225. 

If you prefer, you can submit 

comments on the Internet at commentsnorthern-custer-sioux@fs.fed.us by 

typing on the subject line ‘‘Sioux RD 

Travel Management Plan.’’

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Doug Epperly, Project Coordinator, at 

(406) 657–6205 ext. 225. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Purpose and Need for Action: The 

purpose of the proposal is to designate 

a system of roads, trails, and areas for 

public motorized use (excluding overthe-snow travel) on the District, while 

minimizing the adverse resource 

impacts of those designations. The 

system of roads, trails, and areas to be 

designated will be consistent with the 

laws, regulations, and policies 

governing the management of National 

Forest System lands. Specifically, this 

includes the Forest Service’s 2005 

Motorized Travel Management Rule (36 

CFR 212); the 2001 Off-Highway Vehicle 

Record of Decision and Plan 

Amendment for Montana, North Dakota, 

and Portions of South Dakota; the 

subsequent Forest Plan Amendment 

Number 39; and the Custer National 

Forest and National Grasslands Land 

and Resource Management Plan. 

The Chief of the Forest Service, in 

response to public comments on the 

2005 Motorized Travel Rule, established 

timeframes for completing the route 

designation process nationally, 

including completing the District route 

designation by the end of September 

2009. 

Proposed Action. The proposed action 

is to designate roads, trails, and areas 

open to public motorized use, designate 

dispersed vehicle camping, and identify 

routes necessary for administrative use 

on the District (NFS lands). The route, 

trail, and area designations will also set 

specific seasons of use, where 

appropriate, and specify the type of 

vehicle use (e.g., highway legal vehicle, 

ATVs). The Forest Service will produce 

a Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) 

depicting those routes which are open 

to the general public for motorized use. 

No Action Alternative. The No Action 

alternative would be to designate the 

current District system motorized roads 

for public motorized use, but would not 

address existing unauthorized (i.e., nonsystem) routes or the lack of legal public 

right-of-way access for roads that cross 

private lands. A National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA) decision is not 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES