45800 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2017 / Notices 

where fish-bearing would be the highest 

priority followed by non-fish bearing 

perennial streams (these would be 

determined and prioritized based on 

field review); replacing crossings on 

perennial streams with structures 

appropriately sized for a 100-year event 

(these would be prioritized by the 

district fisheries biologist); and stabilize 

eroding sections of road that may be 

accomplished by blading followed by 

spot rocking or the addition of drainage 

structures where needed. 

• Road maintenance and 

reconditioning would occur on 

approximately 157 miles of system 

roads. Maintenance consist of culvert 

cleaning, surface blading, and roadside 

brushing; and reconditioning includes 

minor road reshaping, waterbar 

removal, and road surface brush 

removal. 

• Road decommissioning is proposed 

on approximately 60 miles of system 

road and approximately 30 miles of 

non-system road. In most cases this 

includes fully re-contouring the road. 

• Approximately 4 miles of system 

roads would be converted to an offhighway vehicle (OHV) trail. 

• Approximately 0.74 miles of new 

system roads would be constructed to 

contribute to the long term 

transportation system while reducing 

roads located within riparian habitat 

conservation areas. 

The following actions are proposed to 

improve soil and vegetation conditions 

in the Musselshell Restoration Area 

portion (1,600 acres) of the project area: 

• Approximately 745 acres of white 

pine restoration would be accomplished 

through intermediate harvest by creating 

small openings to plant blister rust 

resistant seedlings, benefit other 

species, and contribute to ecosystem 

health. 

• Approximately 92 acres of riparian 

habitat conservation area (RHCA) 

restoration would occur where RHCAs 

of perennial streams are overstocked 

with trees. Trees would be 

commercially thinned to promote a 

healthy stand and promote long term 

RHCA function. 

• Soil rehabilitation would occur on 

approximately 55 acres of currently 

detrimentally disturbed areas associated 

with past harvest related activities. 

Activities could include decompaction, 

mastication, fertilization, seeding, and 

addition of woody/organic material. 

• Deferred maintenance would occur 

on mile of Trail #853. Work may 

include improvement and development 

of drainage structures within the 

existing tread. Rock and/or gravel 

material may be placed on the exiting 

tread surface to complement the 

drainage structures and provide 

adequate base to support motorized 

OHV use, reduce erosion, and loss of 

fine materials. 

The Lolo Insect & Disease project will 

also include a variety of project design 

criteria that have been developed from 

past projects, verified by field surveys, 

and will be used to limit possible 

adverse effects to soils, water quality, 

fish and wildlife habitat, recreation 

opportunities, and culturally significant 

areas. 

Possible Alternatives 

In addition to the No Action and the 

Proposed Action, alternatives that do 

not harvest in riparian habitat 

conservation areas, within the Eldorado 

Creek Roadless Area and special areas of 

historic or tribal significance (such as 

the National Historic Landmark 

corridor), as well as minimal temporary 

road construction with more helicopter 

logging are expected. These preliminary 

alternatives were developed based on 

prior scoping comments received. 

Alternatives will be developed based on 

previous and additional comments 

received during the scoping periods. 

Responsible Official 

Nez Perce-Clearwater Forest 

Supervisor. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

The Responsible Official will 

determine whether to adopt the 

proposed action or another alternative, 

in whole or in part, and what mitigation 

measurements and management 

requirements will be implemented. 

Preliminary Issues 

Issues received during the previous 

scoping period include harvesting in the 

Eldorado Creek Roadless Area, the 

National Historic Landmark corridor, 

and other special areas of historic or 

tribal significance; riparian habitat 

conservation area thinning, helicopter 

logging systems, winter logging, and 

minimal road construction. 

Permits or Licenses Required 

Any required permits for disturbance 

of water or wetlands would be obtained 

prior to initiating work (Army Corps of 

Engineers 404 permit, Idaho Department 

of Water Resources Stream Alteration 

Permit). Any additional mitigation 

measures identified in the permitting 

process would be incorporated into the 

project plans. 

Scoping Process 

This Notice of Intent initiates the 

scoping process, which guides the 

development of the EIS. The 

interdisciplinary team will continue to 

seek information and comments from 

Federal, State, and local agencies, Tribal 

governments, and other individuals or 

organizations that may interested in, or 

affected by, the proposed action. There 

is a collaborative group in the area that 

the interdisciplinary team will interact 

with during the analysis process. It is 

important that reviewers provide their 

comments at such times and in such 

manner that they are useful to the 

agency’s preparation of the EIS. 

Therefore, comments should be 

provided prior to the close of the 

comment period and should clearly 

articulate the reviewer’s concerns and 

contentions. 

Comments received in response to 

this solicitation, including names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will be accepted and 

considered, however, anonymous 

comments will not provide the Agency 

with the ability to provide the 

respondent with subsequent 

environmental documents. 

Dated: September 13, 2017. 

Jeanne M. Higgins, 

Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National 

Forest System. 

[FR Doc. 2017–21008 Filed 9–29–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests; 

Apache, Coconino, Greenlee and 

Navajo Counties, Arizona; Revised 

Draft Environmental Impact Statement 

for Public Motorized Travel 

Management Plan 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent (NOI). 

SUMMARY: The Forest Service is revising 

the Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Public Motorized Travel 

Management Plan on the ApacheSitgreaves National Forests. 

DATES: Comments concerning the 2010 

DEIS were received by December 13, 

2010, 45 days from the date of 

publication of the Notice of Availabiliy 

(NOA) of the draft EIS in the Federal 

Register (75 FR 66756). An additional 

45 day comment period will occur after 

the publication of the revised DEIS in 

the Federal Register. The revised DEIS 

is expected in the summer of 2018 and 

the final EIS is expected in the winter 

of 2019. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2017 / Notices 45801 

ADDRESSES: Send written inquiries to 

Travel Management, Apache-Sitgreaves 

National Forests, P.O. Box 640, 

Springerville, AZ 85938. Inquiries may 

also be sent via email to commentssouthwestern-apache-sitgreaves@

fs.fed.us with ‘‘Travel Management’’ in 

the subject line. Inquiries may also be 

sent via facsimile to (928) 333–5966. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennie O’Connor Card, Team Leader at 

(406) 522–2537 or jennieoconnorcard@

fs.fed.us; or, Tim Gilloon, NEPA 

Program Manager at (928) 333–6333 or 

tgilloon@fs.fed.us. 

Individuals who use 

telecommunication devices for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern 

Time, Monday through Friday. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: : On 

October 10, 2007, the Federal Register 

published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Public Motorized 

Travel Management Plan on the 

Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests (72 

FR 57514–57517). On October 31, 2007, 

the Federal Register published a 

corrected NOI for that document (72 FR 

61607). On February 29, 2008 the 

Federal Register published a revised 

NOI for those documents (73 FR 11088– 

11091). The Forest Service is hereby 

entirely revising all those NOI 

documents, Federal Register of October 

10, 2007 (72 FR 57514–57517), Federal 

Register of October 31, 2007 (72 FR 

61607) and Federal Register of February 

29, 2008 (73 FR 11088–11091), to read 

as follows. 

Revision: The Forest Service is 

preparing a Revised Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) 

for the Apache-Sitgreaves Public 

Motorized Travel Management Plan (the 

Project) on the Apache-Sitgreaves 

National Forests (the Forests). The 

Forest Service is issuing this NOI to 

advise the public and agencies that we 

will be preparing a revised DEIS using 

new information, based on changed 

conditions, in order to make the best 

possible decision. The new information 

includes: Changed conditions due to the 

Wallow Fire of 2011; the 2015 Land 

Management Plan for the ApacheSitgreaves National Forests (the Forest 

Plan); changes in aquatic and terrestrial 

species status; more accurate road 

mapping based on Light Detection and 

Ranging (LIDAR) data and aerial 

photography; and Forest Service 

decisions made under the National 

Environmental Policy Act since the 

2010 DEIS. The revised DEIS will use 

the 2010 DEIS as a foundation, and will 

consider all public comments received; 

the revised DEIS does not change the 

nature or scope of the proposed action. 

The Project proposes to designate 

which routes (roads and trails) and areas 

on federal lands administered by the 

Forests are open to motorized travel. 

This proposed action will bring the 

Forests into compliance with the Travel 

Management Rule (36 CFR 212, subpart 

B) to provide for a system of National 

Forest System (NFS) roads, motorized 

trails, and motorized areas designed for 

motor vehicle use. The proposed action 

prohibits cross-country travel and motor 

vehicle use off the designated system. 

This proposed action also will designate 

use of motor vehicles within a specified 

distance of certain designated routes for 

the purposes of dispersed camping and/ 

or retrieval of a downed big game 

animal. 

The Forest Service will produce a 

Motorized Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) 

that displays those routes and areas on 

the Forests that are open to motorized 

travel. The MVUM will be the primary 

tool used to determine compliance and 

enforcement with motor vehicle use 

designations. Existing routes, 

unauthorized routes, and areas not 

designated as open on the MVUM will 

be legally closed to motorized travel 

except as allowed by permit or other 

authorization. The decisions on 

motorized travel do not include oversnow travel or existing winter-use 

recreation. 

Purpose and Need for Action 

The purpose of this project is to 

comply with the Travel Management 

Rule by providing a system of roads, 

trails, and areas designated for motor 

vehicle use that reduces impacts to 

biological, physical, and cultural 

resources on the forests (36 CFR 212, 

sections 212, 251, 261). At 36 CFR 

261.13, the Forests are required to 

prohibit motor vehicle use off the 

system of designated roads, trails, and 

areas and motor vehicle use that is not 

in accordance with the designations. 

There is a need for a safe and efficient 

transportation system for public use, 

Agency administration, and resource 

protection, while recognizing historic 

and current uses of the forests. 

Specifically, there is a need for: (1) 

Identifying the system of roads that 

would be open to motor vehicle use; (2) 

identifying the system of motorized 

trails for vehicles 50 inches or less in 

width; and (3) optional designation of 

the limited use of motor vehicles within 

a specified distance of designated routes 

solely for the purposes of dispersed 

camping or retrieval of big game by an 

individual who has legally killed the 

animal. 

There is a need to counter detrimental 

effects to resources from continued use 

of some roads and motorized trails, as 

well as cross-country travel. Some 

detrimental effects from motorized use 

of the Forests include increased 

sediment deposits in streams which 

degrade water quality and fish habitat, 

the spread of invasive plants across the 

forests, disturbances to a variety of plant 

and wildlife species, and the risk of 

damaging cultural resource sites. 

Changed Conditions 

The changed conditions and new 

information since the 2010 DEIS, which 

lead to the need for a revised 

environmental analysis, are 

incorporated in the updated alternatives 

being considered in detail. The first 

substantive change stemmed from the 

Wallow Fire of 2011, which resulted in 

changes to the physical environment 

within the project area. The fire resulted 

in changes in the ecology of the 

landscape, creating a need to conduct 

significant restoration and monitoring 

efforts in order to return the Forests to 

its natural fire regime. The Forest Plan 

is another substantive change to the 

existing conditions. This has changed 

the desired conditions, standards and 

guidelines, and suitability directing how 

the Forests are managed. The Forest 

Plan provides overarching management 

direction for how motorized travel will 

be managed on the Forests. 

In addition, changes in aquatic and 

terrestrial species status under the 

Endangered Species Act for threatened 

and endangered species, and under 

Forest Service policy for sensitive 

species, resulted in another changed 

condition. Critical and sensitive habitats 

for some species can be found across the 

Forests which must now be considered 

and analyzed. Additionally, the Forests 

updated the existing conditions in the 

databases of record to match the on-theground conditions using LIDAR data 

and aerial photography. The result of 

this corrects or clarifies the existing 

physical NFS roads, changing the 

baseline of which the alternatives 

considered are compared against. 

Other decisions made under the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

since the 2010 draft EIS by the Forests 

changed the existing conditions and led 

to changes in the action alternatives. 

While the Project is proposing to look at 

the entire National Forest System of 

roads, numerous decisions about 

specific roads and trails have been made 

since 2010 that provide definitive 

environmental analysis and designation 


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45802 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 189 / Monday, October 2, 2017 / Notices 

for those roads and trails that does not 

require redundant analysis. 

Collectively, these changes will be 

analyzed and incorporated into the 

revised DEIS, which will be circulated 

for public comment. The previous 

public comments and analysis will be 

used as the foundation for this revision. 

At the time that the revised DEIS is 

circulated, the public will have the 

opportunity to comment on the entire 

DEIS, including portions that have not 

been revised. 

Preliminary Issues 

The Forest analyzed all scoping 

comments received in 2007 to identify 

issues, which are defined as cause-effect 

relationships directly or indirectly 

caused by implementing the proposed 

action. The issues defined as within the 

scope of the project, and directly or 

indirectly caused by implementing the 

proposal, were used to develop the 

range of action alternatives. Four issues 

were identified: (1) Restricting 

motorized access for dispersed camping; 

(2) restricting motorized big game 

retrieval; (3) impacts to resources from 

motorized use; and, (4) economics: loss 

of revenues and jobs. 

Proposed Action 

The revised proposed action would 

designate a system of roads, trails, and 

areas for motorized use as well as 

motorized access for dispersed camping 

and motorized access for big game 

retrieval. The road system would have 

15 percent fewer roads and 68 percent 

more motorized trails than the current 

system. That would result in 2,890 

miles of NFS roads open to public 

motorized travel, including 2,143 miles 

of roads that are open to both highway 

legal and off-highway vehicles. Also, 

this would result in 270 miles of 

motorized trails across the Forests, with 

20 miles open to all vehicles and 182 

miles open to vehicles less than 50 

inches wide. 

The proposed action would designate 

300 feet from either side of around 35 

percent of the designated open roads 

(1,027 miles) for the sole purpose of 

accessing dispersed camping locations 

with motor vehicles. Motorized big 

game retrieval would be allowed within 

a 1-mile distance off the designated road 

and motorized trail system (1.2 million 

acres) for elk. No other species would be 

retrieved using motor vehicles. There 

would be one motorized use area 

designated (17 acres). All other cross 

country travel would be prohibited. 

Possible Alternatives 

The revised DEIS will analyze three 

alternatives in detail. These revised 

alternatives used the 2010 DEIS as a 

foundation and the public comments 

received from that DEIS. 

Alternative 1 (no action) represents 

the existing transportation system and 

proposes no changes. The existing 

system includes 3,418 miles of open 

roads and 127 miles of motorized trails. 

Cross-country travel off system roads on 

around 1.6 million acres would 

continue, except where currently 

prohibited. This alternative is not be 

compliant with the travel management 

rule because it does not designate a 

system of roads, trails and areas for 

motorized use. 

Alternative 2 is the Proposed Action, 

which would designate a system of 

roads, trails, and areas for motorized use 

as well as motorized access for 

dispersed camping and motorized 

access for big game retrieval. The road 

system would have 15 percent fewer 

roads and 68 percent more motorized 

trails than the current system. That 

would result in 2,890 miles of NFS 

roads open to public motorized travel, 

including 2,143 miles of roads that are 

open to both highway legal and offhighway vehicles. 

Alternative 3 is being designated to 

address the following issues: (1) 

Restricting motorized access for 

dispersed camping; (2) restricting 

motorized big game retrieval; and, (3) 

impacts to resources from motorized 

use. 

Scoping Process 

The proposed action outlined in this 

revised NOI is identical to the scope of 

the proposed action that was originally 

scoped, and therefore a new scoping 

period is not required. The original 

scoping process solicited over 20,000 

public comments, which are being used 

to guide the development of the revised 

DEIS. Comments received in response to 

this solicitation, including names and 

addresses of those who comment, will 

be part of the public record for this 

proposed action. Comments submitted 

anonymously will also be accepted and 

considered. 

Responsible Official 

The Responsible Official is the Forest 

Supervisor of the Apache-Sitgreaves 

National Forests, P.O. Box 640, 

Springerville, AZ 85938. 

Nature of Decision To Be Made 

Based on the effects to social, natural, 

and cultural resources, the Forest 

Supervisor will decide what changes to 

make to the current motorized travel 

system to be compliant with the Travel 

Management Rule. The decision will 

also include whether to provide 

motorized access for dispersed camping, 

whether to designate motorized use 

areas, and whether to provide access for 

motorized big game retrieval. The 

Record of Decision, which will be 

published after analyzing the public’s 

comments, will document the decision 

with the rationale. 

Dated: September 15, 2017. 

Jeanne M. Higgins, 

Acting Associate Deputy Chief, National 

Forest System. 

[FR Doc. 2017–21009 Filed 9–29–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 3411–15–P 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

Forest Service 

Kemmerer Ranger District; BridgerTeton National Forest; Wyoming; 

Kemmerer Grazing and Rangeland 

Vegetation Management Project 

AGENCY: Forest Service, USDA. 

ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to 

prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement. 

SUMMARY: The Bridger-Teton National 

Forest will prepare an Environmental 

Impact Statement (EIS) to analyze the 

effects of continued authorization of 

grazing on 17 sheep allotments on the 

Kemmerer Ranger District in southwest 

Wyoming. 

DATES: Although comments are accepted 

at any time, two designated comment 

periods concerning the scope of the 

analysis were established: June 26, 2017 

through July 26, 2017 and November 17, 

2008 through January 2, 2009. 

Comments will be accepted for an 

additional 30 days after October 2, 2017. 

The Draft EIS is expected in June 2018. 

Following its release, an opportunity to 

comment on the Draft EIS will be 

provided. The Final EIS is expected 

June 2019. 

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to 

Kemmerer Ranger District, 308 U.S. 

Highway 189 North, Kemmerer, WY 

83101. Comments may also be sent via 

email to comments-intermtn-bridgerteton-kemmerer@fs.fed.us, or via 

facsimile to 307–828–5135. Please put 

‘‘Comments on Kemmerer Grazing’’ in 

the subject line. 

It is important that reviewers provide 

their comments at such times and in 

such a way that they are useful to the 

Agency’s preparation of the EIS. 

Therefore, comments should be 

provided prior to the close of the 

comment period and should clearly 

articulate the reviewer’s concerns and 

contentions. 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES