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

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]

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