[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 61007]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-24576]
[[Page 61007]]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Adoption of Final Environmental Impact Statement (DOI-BLM-ID-
B000-2014-0002-EIS) Prepared for the Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-Grouse Habitat
Project
AGENCY: Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI) to Adopt Final Environmental Impact
Statement (FEIS).
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SUMMARY: NRCS announces its intent to adopt the FEIS, titled ``Bruneau-
Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project'' (BOSH), prepared by the U.S.
Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM), under the
provisions of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations.
The proposed action will improve and maintain suitable sage-grouse
habitat within southwestern Idaho by removing early stage encroaching
western juniper.
DATES: We will consider comments that we receive by December 12, 2019.
ADDRESSES: We invite you to submit comments on this notice. In your
comments, include the volume, date, and page number of this issue of
the Federal Register. Comments may be submitted by any of the following
methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRCS-2019-0018. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
Mail, or Hand Delivery: Trisha Cracroft, State Biologist,
Natural Resources Conservation Service, 9173 or W Barnes Drive, Suite C
Boise, Idaho 83709.
NRCS will post all comments on http://www.regulations.gov. In
general, personal information provided with comments will be posted. If
your comment includes your address, phone number, email, or other
personal identifying information (PII), your comments, including PII,
may be available to the public. You may request that your PII be
withheld from public view, but this cannot be guaranteed. The copies of
the BOSH FEIS is available at https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=dispatchToPatternPage¤tPageId=56816.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Trisha Cracroft, State Biologist,
NRCS, at (208) 378-5725 or [email protected]. Persons with
disabilities who require alternative means for communication should
contact the USDA Target Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: NRCS announces its intent to adopt the
Bruneau-Owyhee Sage-grouse Habitat Project Final EIS, as prepared by
the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM),
under the provisions of the CEQ regulations (40 CFR 1506.3). In
response to the threat of sagebrush steppe habitat loss posed by the
encroachment of western juniper, the proposed action is vegetative
treatments to address early stage juniper encroachment in southwestern
Idaho in order to maintain and improve sagebrush steppe habitat for the
benefit of sage-grouse and other wildlife that rely on these habitats.
Treatment methods would include cutting junipers with handsaws or
chainsaws, lopping with pruning shears, and using heavy equipment such
as a track-hoe fitted with a grinding implement (masticator) or a
shearing implement (large, powerful pruning shears). Material may be
scattered on site and left in place, or the material may be piled and
burned or jackpot burned. Jackpot burning is a type of prescribed fire
used to reduce concentrations (or jackpots) of vegetative fuel. Jackpot
burning consumes surface fuels but not the overstory vegetation and is
used following a pre-treatment such as thinning and/or pile burning to
further reduce the surface fuels, help maintain the desired vegetation
conditions and enhance the overall health and resiliency of the plant
community. Old growth juniper would not be cut or burned regardless of
encroachment phase, proximity to leks, or proximity to sage-grouse
migration corridors. Cut juniper would be burned in areas near roads
for public and fire fighter safety, areas where viewshed issues are a
concern, and/or areas where fuel loading is a concern. Burning may also
be completed to remove slash from meadow areas that would provide
suitable sage-grouse brood rearing habitat. Jackpot and pile burning
would take place once the juniper biomass has dried sufficiently and
when soils are moist, frozen, or covered by snow. Project
implementation would be in accordance with the methods (Section 2.2.4
in the FIES) and design features (Section 2.2.5 in the FEIS) to
minimize or eliminate adverse impacts by the proposed action to the
identified resources (i.e., cultural resources, soils, vegetation,
wildlife).
Sage-grouse inhabit sagebrush ecosystems that are at risk from
juniper encroachment in areas including southwest Idaho and the BOSH
project area. The BOSH project will improve and maintain suitable sage-
grouse habitat by removing early stage encroaching western juniper on
BLM-managed lands within the Bruneau and Owyhee field office boundaries
in southwest Idaho. As described in the FEIS the project is 1.67
million acres with up to 726,000 acres proposed for treatment.
Privately-owned land within the project area totals 241,820 acres.
Private landowners in the project area may voluntarily choose to
conduct the vegetative treatments described above on their own lands.
NRCS proposes to provide technical and financial assistance through
Farm Bill conservation program contracts with landowners to implement
these vegetative treatments to remove early stage encroaching juniper
for the purpose of improving sagebrush habitat. Each landowner will be
responsible for ensuring that treatment methods meet NRCS conservation
practice standards and specifications and may choose to do the work
themselves, hire a contractor or coordinate with BLM (or its
contractors) to complete the vegetative treatments.
Prior to recommending adoption, NRCS completed an internal
checklist per NRCS's Title 190--, National Environmental Compliance
Handbook, Part 610, subpart F, section 610.83(D) and subpart H, section
610.134. NRCS was not a cooperating agency on the development of the
FEIS. NRCS proposed action is substantially similar to that analyzed in
the FEIS therefore, it was determined that the FEIS does not need to be
supplemented prior to adoption because circumstances have not changed
nor is there new information indicating a new or supplemental EIS
should be prepared.
NRCS requests feedback from the public, other agencies, tribes, and
other interested parties on the proposal to adopt the BOSH FEIS, the
FEIS itself, and any associated issues and concerns.
Mary Goode,
Acting Idaho State Conservationist, Natural Resources Conservation
Service.
[FR Doc. 2019-24576 Filed 11-8-19; 8:45 am]
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