57144 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 

goals and objectives for the refuges. The 

planning process for refuges is designed 

to prioritize conservation of important 

wildlife habitats, while providing for 

wildlife-oriented recreation 

opportunities that are compatible with 

the establishing purposes of each refuge 

and the mission of the National Wildlife 

Refuge System. 

We will conduct a comprehensive 

conservation planning process that will 

provide opportunities for Tribal, State, 

and local government agencies; 

organizations; and the public to 

participate in identifying planning 

issues through public involvement 

activities. We request input in the form 

of issues, concerns, ideas, and 

suggestions for future management of 

Selawik Refuge. 

We will prepare an EA in accordance 

with the requirements of the NEPA, as 

amended; NEPA regulations (40 CFR 

parts 1500–1508); other appropriate 

Federal laws and regulations; and 

Service policies that comply with those 

laws and regulations. 

Refuge Overview 

Selawik Refuge straddles the Arctic 

Circle in northwestern Alaska, 

encompassing an area approximately 

the size of Connecticut. The Refuge was 

established by ANILCA in 1980. When 

land conveyances under the Alaska 

Native Claims Settlement Act 

(approximately 800,000 acres) are 

completed, 2.1 million acres are 

expected to remain under federal 

ownership and management. The 

Refuge staff manages Selawik Refuge 

from a headquarters office in Kotzebue, 

Alaska. 

ANILCA requires us to designate areas 

in refuges according to their respective 

resources and values and to specify 

programs and uses within the areas 

designated. To meet this requirement, 

the Alaska Region established categories 

for refuges including Wilderness, 

Minimal, Moderate, Intensive, and Wild 

River management. For each 

management category, we identified 

appropriate activities, public uses, 

commercial uses, and facilities. Only 

the Minimal, Wilderness, and Wild 

River management categories are 

applied to Selawik Refuge. The Selawik 

River and corridor is a designated Wild 

River. About 11 percent of the Refuge is 

designated Wilderness. The remainder, 

and majority of the Refuge’s acreage, is 

managed in the Minimal category. 

The Selawik River meanders through 

the heart of the Refuge, creating a rich 

succession of habitats, including vast 

wetlands. The names of both the river 

and the Refuge originated from the 

Inupiaq word ‘‘siilivik,’’ which means 

‘‘place of sheefish.’’ The sheefish, or 

innconnu, is a member of the whitefish 

family that provides an important, and 

highly desired, food resource for Native 

subsistence harvesters in this arctic 

region of Alaska. 

Extensive tundra wetlands containing 

grass and sedge meadows dominate the 

Refuge landscape, while boreal spruce 

forests, alder, and willow thickets trace 

stream and river drainages. Multitudes 

of migratory waterfowl and shorebirds 

breed on 24,000 lakes and ponds within 

the Refuge. Neo-tropical songbirds nest 

in forests and willow thickets. Moose, 

wolves, lynx, bears, muskoxen, arctic 

and red fox, beavers, and muskrats are 

year-round residents. The Western 

Arctic caribou herd migrates across 

Selawik Refuge. In mild winters, small 

bands of caribou remain on the Refuge 

to forage in the lichen-covered foothills. 

Many rivers, sloughs, and lakes support 

both freshwater and anadromous 

fisheries, and provide spawning 

grounds for northern pike, arctic 

grayling, and various types of whitefish. 

Access to the Refuge is possible only 

by boat, float-or ski-equipped airplane, 

snowmobile, or dog sled team. 

Snowmobile trails provide vital links 

among the Native villages of the region 

in winter and are usually passable to 

travelers through the end of April. 

Several Native Alaskan villages are 

located within or near the Refuge 

boundaries including Noorvik, Selawik, 

Kiana, and Ambler. 

The purposes of the Selawik Refuge 

set forth by ANILCA in 1980 are (i) to 

conserve fish and wildlife populations 

and habitats in their natural diversity, 

including but not limited to, the 

Western Arctic caribou herd (including 

participation in scientific studies to 

better manage caribou), waterfowl, 

shorebirds and other migratory birds, 

and salmon and sheefish; (ii) to fulfill 

the international treaty obligations of 

the United States with respect to fish 

and wildlife and their habitats; (iii) to 

provide, in a manner consistent with the 

purposes set forth in subparagraphs (i) 

and (ii), the opportunity for continued 

subsistence uses by local residents; and 

(iv) to ensure, to the maximum extent 

practicable and in a manner consistent 

with the purposes set forth in paragraph 

(i), water quality and necessary water 

quantity within the Refuge. 

Preliminary Issues, Concerns, and 

Opportunities: We have identified 

preliminary issues, concerns, and 

opportunities that may be addressed in 

the CCP. These are (1) management of 

legal access such as easements and 

rights-of-way; (2) management of access 

for community residents and the 

visiting public; (3) management of 

hunting and fishing, both subsistence 

and commercial; (4) concerns about 

degradation of cultural resources; (5) 

impacts of off-refuge activities to Refuge 

resources; and (6) concerns about how 

managers can proactively address 

uncertainties such as climate change 

and related large-scale habitat changes. 

These and other issues will be explored 

during the public scoping process. The 

Refuge planning team, including 

representatives from State of Alaska and 

Tribal governments, will determine 

which key issues will be addressed in 

the revised CCP. 

Public Meetings: We will involve the 

public in the planning process through 

open houses, meetings, and multiple 

requests for comments. We will mail 

planning updates to individuals, 

agencies, and organizations on the 

Selawik Refuge mailing list to keep the 

public aware of the status of the revised 

CCP. We will inform the public as to 

how we use their comments and other 

input in each stage of the planning 

process. Scoping meetings are planned 

to be held in October and November 

2008 in Kotzebue and in several local 

communities within or near the Refuge 

boundaries. Details of public 

involvement and participation activities 

will be announced locally. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your name, address, 

phone number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information with 

your comment, you should be aware 

that your entire comment—including 

your personal identifying information— 

may be made publicly available at any 

time. While you may ask us in your 

comment to withhold your personal 

identifying information from public 

review, we cannot guarantee that we 

will be able to do so. 

Dated: September 25, 2008. 

Gary Edwards, 

Regional Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife 

Service, Anchorage, Alaska. 

[FR Doc. E8–23118 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[9000; CA–690–08–1020–EE] 

Notice of Intent To Amend the 

California Desert Conservation Area 

Plan, California 

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, 

Bureau of Land Management. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent. 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 57145 

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM), Needles Field 

Office intends to prepare an amendment 

to the California Desert Conservation 

Area (CDCA) Plan with an associated 

environmental assessment (EA). This 

notice initiates the public participation 

and scoping processes for the CDCA 

Plan amendment and environmental 

assessment. 

DATES: Public comments will be 

accepted throughout the plan 

amendment and EA process, but to be 

most beneficial comments on issues and 

potential impacts should be submitted 

in writing to the address listed below 

within 30 days following the 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register. 

ADDRESSES: Comments and other 

correspondence regarding issues and 

planning criteria should be sent to the 

BLM, Needles Field Office, attention 

George R. Meckfessel, Planning and 

Environmental Coordinator, Needles 

Field Office, Bureau of Land 

Management, 1303 South US Highway 

95, Needles, California 92363. 

Documents pertinent to this notice, 

including comments of respondents, 

will be available for public review at the 

Needles Field Office, California during 

regular business hours (7:30 a.m. to 4 

p.m.) Monday through Friday, except 

holidays. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information or to have your 

name added to the project mailing list, 

contact George R. Meckfessel, (760) 

326–7008, or e-mail 

George_Meckfessel@ca.blm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

document provides notice that the BLM, 

Needles Field Office intends to prepare 

an amendment to the CDCA Plan with 

an associated environmental assessment 

that would make all or a portion of the 

Valley Wells Allotment unavailable for 

grazing. The allotment consists of 

223,000 acres and is located in 

northeastern San Bernardino County, 

California. The allotment includes 

portions of the North Mesquite 

Mountains Wilderness, Mesquite 

Wilderness, Kingston Range Wilderness, 

and the Hollow Hills Wilderness areas. 

The proposal to make a portion or all 

of the allotment unavailable for grazing 

livestock does not conform to the CDCA 

Plan and, therefore, requires the 

development of a plan amendment. 

Approximately half of the allotment is 

within a Desert Wildlife Management 

Area (DWMA), designated by the BLM 

through the Northern and Eastern 

Mojave Plan amendment (2002) to the 

CDCA Plan. Most, but not all, of the 

DWMA contains critical habitat for the 

threatened desert tortoise (Gopherus 

agassizii), designated by the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Making 

all or a portion of the allotment 

unavailable for grazing would 

complement and enhance 

implementation of the USFWS Desert 

Tortoise (Mojave Population) Recovery 

Plan (1994). Comparable desert tortoise 

habitat within the allotment is 

contained in, and outside, the DWMA. 

Additional benefits to non-listed 

species and habitats, such as the BLM 

sensitive Rusby’s desert mallow 

(Sphaeralcea rusbyi ssp. eremicola) and 

the Mojave fringe-toed lizard (Uma 

scoparia), would also be realized by 

removal of cattle grazing from all or 

portions of the allotment. 

Preliminary issues identified include: 

air quality; areas of critical 

environmental concern; cultural 

resources; environmental justice; 

livestock grazing; Native American 

religious concerns; socioeconomics; 

soils, water quality; wetlands/riparian 

zones; wilderness; wildlife, including 

threatened or endangered species; and 

vegetation, including invasive species. 

Preliminary planning criteria include: 

1. Developing the plan amendment in 

compliance with Federal Land Policy 

and Management Act, all other 

applicable laws, regulations, executive 

orders, and BLM supplemental program 

guidance; 2. developing an EA in the 

planning process that will comply with 

National Environmental Policy Act 

standards; 3. initiating government to 

government consultation, including 

tribal interests; 4. incorporating by 

reference the Standards for Rangeland 

Health and Guidelines for Livestock 

Grazing Management into the plan 

amendment/EA; 5. complying with 

Appendix C of BLM’s Planning 

Handbook (H 1601–1) in making 

resource specific determinations; 6. 

assuring that the plan amendment is 

compatible, to the extent possible, with 

existing plans and policies of adjacent 

local, State, Tribal, and Federal 

agencies; and, 7. consider the extent to 

which the plan amendment achieves the 

recovery goals outlined in the Desert 

Tortoise (Mojave Population) Recovery 

Plan and the Northern and Eastern 

Mojave Plan amendment to the CDCA 

Plan. 

You may submit comments on issues 

and planning criteria in writing to the 

BLM using one of the methods listed in 

the ‘‘ADDRESSES’’ section above. To be 

most helpful, you should submit 

comments within 30 days after the date 

of publication of this notice. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

email address, or other personal 

identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

The BLM will place issues identified 

during scoping into one of three 

categories: 

1. Issues to be resolved in the plan 

amendment; 

2. Issues to be resolved through policy 

or administrative action; or 

3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan 

amendment. 

The BLM will provide an explanation 

in the plan as to why an issue was 

placed in category two or three. The 

public is also encouraged to help 

identify any management questions and 

concerns that should be addressed in 

the plan amendment. The BLM will 

work collaboratively with interested 

parties to identify the management 

decisions that are best suited to local, 

regional, and national needs and 

concerns. 

The BLM will use an interdisciplinary 

approach to develop the plan 

amendment in order to consider the 

variety of resource issues and concerns 

identified. Specialists with expertise in 

the following disciplines that will be 

involved in the planning process 

include but are not limited to rangeland 

management, wilderness, sensitive 

species (plants and animals,) cultural 

resources, and recreation. 

Dated: September 16, 2008. 

Rodney Mouton, 

Acting Field Manager. 

[FR Doc. E8–22766 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–40–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[NV912–1640–PH–006F; 08–08807; TAS: 

14X1109] 

Notice of Public Meeting: Sierra FrontNorthwestern Great Basin Resource 

Advisory Council, Northeastern Great 

Basin Resource Advisory Council, and 

Mojave-Southern Great Basin 

Resource Advisory Council, Nevada 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Combined Resource Advisory 

Council Meeting. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES