Notice of Opportunity to Comment Sunflower Grazing Reauthorization and Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project

Notice of Opportunity to Comment Sunflower Grazing Reauthorization and Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project Ochoco National Forest Paulina Ranger District Opportunity to Comment on Environmental Assessment The Paulina Ranger District has completed a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Sunflower Grazing Reauthorization and Wildlife Habitat Improvement Project. The Draft EA is available on the Forest Service web site: http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=56602. A hardcopy is available upon request by contacting Jacob Young via email at Jacob.young@usda.gov. The Forest is performing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and evaluation of livestock grazing reauthorization in the Sunflower Cluster allotments to meet the stipulations of the Rescission Act (1995) and ensure livestock grazing would be managed in a manner that maintains or moves National Forest grazing allotments towards the objectives, desired conditions, and standards and guidelines identified in the Ochoco National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). Review and evaluation of livestock grazing reauthorization on the Sunflower Cluster allotments is needed because: — Where consistent with other multiple use goals and objectives, Congressional intent is to allow grazing on suitable lands. — National Forest lands within the Sunflower Cluster allotments are identified as suitable for domestic livestock grazing in the Forest Plan and continued domestic livestock grazing is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Forest Plan. — It is Forest Service policy to make forage available to qualified livestock operators from lands suitable for grazing consistent with the Forest Plan. — It is Forest Service policy to contribute to the economic and social well-being of people by providing opportunities for economic diversity and promoting stability in communities that depend on range resources for their livelihood. An additional goal of the Ochoco National Forest is to provide a road system that is safe, affordable, minimizes ecological impacts, and meets immediate and projected long-term public and resource management needs. The proposed road closures and stream restoration activities in the Sunflower project area are needed to: — Promote elk and deer distribution on their seasonal ranges on National Forest System lands and reduce impacts to adjacent private lands where they can damage crops and pastures and limit the state’s ability to manage populations. — Provide more secure calving and fawning habitat for elk and deer. — Reduce sediment delivery into tributaries leading to critical steelhead habitat. — Provide an economically sustainable transportation system. This EA discloses potential environmental consequences of two alternatives: the proposed action which would reauthorize grazing on 51,530 acres, improve wildlife habitat by closing 68 miles of road, and conduct riparian restoration on approximately 1.8 miles of stream; and the no action, which would end grazing and involve no wildlife habitat improvement. How to Comment and Timeframe You will find the environmental assessment on the project web page: http://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=56602 under Project Documents – Analysis. A hardcopy is available upon request by contacting Jacob Young via email at Jacob.young@usda.gov. Notice for the opportunity to comment on this EA will be published in The Bulletin (Bend, Oregon), which is the newspaper of record for the Ochoco National Forest. As a courtesy it will also publish in the Central Oregonian (Prineville, Oregon). The comment period ends 30 days following the date of that publication. Do not rely on any other sources for the beginning date of the comment period. The legal notice will be posted to the project web page after it is published. Comments received after the 30-day comment period will be considered but will not provide the commenter with standing for objection. Those wishing to be eligible to object must meet the information requirements of 36 CFR 218. NOTICE: Documents associated with this project, including public comments, are part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process (40 CFR parts 1500-1509) and may be released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 5 U.S.C. 552. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will become 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 or the eligibility to object. How to Provide Comments Comments on the EA should be within the scope of the proposed action, have a direct relationship to the proposed action, and include supporting reasons for the responsible official to consider (36 CFR 218.2). This project will be subject to the pre-decisional administrative review (objection) process outlined at 36 CFR 218. Only those who submit timely and specific comments during a comment period designated by the responsible official will be eligible to participate in the objection process. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and considered, but do not meet the requirements under 36 CFR 218 and will not be eligible for objection. Comments received in response to this solicitation, including names and addresses of those who comment, will be considered part of the public record for this project, available for public inspection, and released if requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Electronic, written, and oral comments will be accepted. At this time, we strongly encourage you to submit comments electronically. Those wishing to provide electronic comments should use the Forest Service online comment system available at: https://cara.ecosystem-management.org/Public/CommentInput?project=56602 Comments may be typed into the online form, or uploaded as an attachment in Microsoft Word, rich text format (rtf), or portable document format (PDF) only. Comments may also be submitted in writing by mail. Written comments should be sent or delivered to Johanna Kovarik, District Ranger, Paulina District, 3106 NE 3rd Street, Prineville, OR 97754. Hand-delivery/Fax: comments can be hand-delivered by appointment only at this time, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and Executive Order by Governor Brown. Please call Jacob young at (541) 416-6409 to make an appointment to hand-deliver your comments or to request the fax number. Anyone wishing to obtain additional information on the project or to provide comments over the phone should contact Jacob Young at (541) 416-6409 or via email at Jacob.young@usda.gov. Published Nov. 24, 2020 PCO185192

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