Revised Land and Resource Management Plans for Some National Forest System Lands in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

Revised Land and Resource Management Plans for Some National

Forest System Lands in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and

Wyoming

AGENCY: USDA Forest Service.

ACTION: Revised Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement in conjunction with the revision of land and resource

management plans and modifications to existing oil and gas leasing

decisions for several National Grasslands (NG) and Forests (NF) on the

Northern Great Plains.

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The planning area includes these National Forest System lands:

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Administering unit National Grassland/Forest State County

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Dakota Prairie Grasslands Little Missouri NG.............. ND Billings, Dunn, Golden

(formerly known as Custer NF). Valley, McHenry,

McKenzie, Slope.

Cedar River NG.................. ND Grant, Sioux.

Sheyenne NG..................... ND Ransom, Richland.

Grand River NG.................. SD Corson, Perkins.

Nebraska NF..................... Oglala NG....................... NE Dawes, Sioux.

Nebraska NF..................... NE Blaine, Dawes, Sioux,

Thomas.

Samuel R. McKelvie NF........... NE Cherry.

Buffalo Gap NG.................. SD Custer, Fall River,

Jackson, Pennington.

Fort Pierre NG.................. SD Jones, Lyman, Stanley.

Medicine Bowe-Routt NF.......... Thunder Basin NG................ WY Campbell, Converse,

Crook, Niobrara,

Weston.

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SUMMARY: This planning effort is called the ``Northern Great Plains

Management Plans Revision.'' Land and Resource Management Plans

(hereafter referred to as Management Plan or Plans) will be prepared

for each participating administrative unit, while one environmental

impact statement for all affected units will be issued. In conjunction

with the Plan revisions, existing oil and gas leasing decisions will be

modified based on the analysis in the environmental impact statement.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis were requested to

be received in writing by July 31, 1997. The agency expects to file a

draft environmental impact statement with the Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) and make it available for public comment in February 1999.

The agency expects to file the final environmental impact statement in

May 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Dave Cawrse, Team Leader, Northern

Great Plains Planning Team, USDA Forest Service, 125 North Main,

Chadron NE 69337.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Dave Cawrse, Planning Team Leader, (308) 432-0300.

RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS: Dale Bosworth, Northern Regional Forester at 200

East Broadway, Missoula, MT 59807; and Lyle Laverty, Rocky Mountain

Regional Forester at P.O. Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225-0127.

COOPERATING AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management and National Park

Service.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a revised Notice of Intent for the

prior notice promulgated in the Federal Register, Vol. 62, No. 38, on

Wednesday, February 25, 1997. The Notice of Intent is being revised for

the following reasons:

(1) The draft EIS has been delayed more than six months. The

original expected release date was June 1998; the new expected date is

February 1999. The final EIS is expected to be published May 2000.

(2) Two cooperating agencies have been added. Bureau of Land

Management (State offices in Montana and Wyoming) will cooperate on the

preparation of the EIS and decisions regarding mineral leasing, and the

National Park Service (Theodore Roosevelt National Park) will cooperate

on the preparation of the EIS and decisions regarding federally

designated Wild and Scenic Rivers (specifically the Little Missouri

River).

(3) The Custer National Forest Management Plan will now be referred

[[Page 68246]]

to as the Dakota Prairie Grasslands Management Plan.

Pursuant to Part 36 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 219.10(g),

the Regional Foresters for the Northern and Rocky Mountain Regions give

notice of the agency's intent to prepare an environmental impact

statement for the revision effort described above. According to 36 CFR

219.10(g), land and resource management plans are ordinarily revised on

a 10- to 15-year cycle. The existing Management Plans were approved as

follows:

Custer National Forest--June 10, 1987;

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest--November 20, 1985;

Nebraska National Forest--December 14, 1984.

The Regional Foresters give notice that they are completing an

environmental analysis and decision-making process for this proposed

action so that interested or affected people can participate in the

analyses and contribute to the final decisions. One environmental

impact statement will be prepared. Separate decisions, documented in

Records of Decision, will be issued for each administrative unit. The

combined revision effort makes sense because of common issues and

concerns, and similar ecological landscapes. This effort will enable

the administrative units to share assessments, plan-related analyses,

and resource expertise, and will reduce costs.

Management plans describe the intended management of National

Grasslands and Forests. Agency decisions in these plans will do the

following things:

Establish multiple-use goals and objectives (36 CFR

219.11);

Establish grasslandwide and forestwide management

requirements (standards and guidelines) to fulfill the requirements of

16 U.S.C. 1604 applying to future activities (resource integration

requirements, 36 CFR 219.13 to 219.27);

Establish management areas and management area direction

(management area prescriptions) applying to future activities in that

management area (resource integration and minimum specific management

requirements) 36 CFR 219.11(c);

Establish monitoring and evaluation requirements (36 CFR

219.11(d));

Determine suitability and potential capability of lands

for producing forage for grazing animals and for providing habitat for

management indicator species (36 CFR 219.20), designate lands not

suited for timber production, and, where applicable, establish

allowable timber sale quantity (36 CFR 219.14, 219.15, and 219.21);

Where applicable to oil and gas resources, determine the

planning area leasing decision (lands administratively available for

leasing) and the leasing decision for specific lands [36 CFR

228.102(4)(d) & (e)]. Where applicable, BLM will issue a decision

document on leasing for federal minerals, both under Forest Service

administered surface and under private surface.

Where applicable, recommend Wild and Scenic River

designations, in cooperating with the National Park Service, in

accordance with 16 U.S.C. 1274; and

Where applicable, recommend non-Wilderness allocations or

Wilderness recommendations for roadless areas (36 CFR 219.17).

The authorization of project level activities within the planning

area occurs through project decision-making, the second stage of forest

and grassland planning. Project-level decisions must comply with

National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) procedures and must include a

determination that the project is consistent with the Management Plan.

RELEASE AND REVIEW OF THE EIS: The DEIS is expected to be filed with

the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and to be available for

public comment by February 1999. At that time, the EPA will publish a

notice of availability for the DEIS in the Federal Register.

The comment period on the DEIS will be 90 days from the date the

EPA publishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.

Reviewers of the DEIS must structure their participation in the

environmental review of the proposal so that it is meaningful and

alerts an agency to the reviewer's position and contentions; Vermont

Yankee Nuclear Power Com. v. NRDC. 435 U.S. 519,553 (1978). Also,

environmental objections that could be raised at the DEIS stage but are

not raised until after completion of the Final Environmental Impact

Statement (FEIS) 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, 490 F. Supp. 1334, 1338 (E.D. Wis.

1980). Because of these court rulings, it is very important that those

interested in this proposed action participate by the close of the

three-month comment period so that substantive comments and objects are

made available to the Forest Service at a time when it can meaningfully

consider them and respond to them in the FEIS.

To assist the Forest Service in identifying and considering issues

and concerns on the proposed actions, comments on the DIES 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 DEIS or the merits of the alternatives formulated and

discussed in the statements. 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.

After the comment period ends on the DIES, comments will be

analyzed, considered, and responded to by the Forest Service in

preparing the Final EIS. The FEIS is scheduled to be completed in May

2000. The responsible officials will consider the comments, responses,

environmental consequences discussed in the FEIS, and applicable laws,

regulations and policies in making decisions regarding these revisions.

The responsible officials will document their decisions and reasons for

their decisions in the separate Record of Decision for each Management

Plan. Each decision will be subject to appeal in accordance with 36 CFR

217.

The responsible official for each of the Management Plans is the

appropriate Regional Forester.

Dated: November 19, 1998.

Dale Bosworth,

Regional Forester, Northern Region.

Dated: November 9, 1998.

Lyle Laverty,

Regional Forester, Rocky Mountain Region.

[FR Doc. 98-32860 Filed 12-9-98; 8:45 am]

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