[Federal Register: January 9, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 6)]
[Notices]
[Page 1190-1191]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09ja03-42]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Proposed Integrated Resource Management Plan for the Spokane Indian
Reservation, Stevens County, WA
AGENCY: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Spokane Tribe of
Indians, as co-lead agencies, intend to prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) on a proposed update to the Integrated Resource
Management Plan (IRMP) for the Spokane Indian Reservation. The purpose
of updating the IRMP is to develop long-term resource management
policies that will ensure direction and stability for needed sustained
growth of reservation economics, compatible with traditional values and
needs for a quality human environment. Details on the project area and
the proposed action are provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section. This notice also announces a public scoping meeting for the
content of the EIS.
DATES: Comments on the scope and content of the EIS must arrive by
February 7, 2003. The public scoping meeting will be held on Thursday,
January 23, 2003, at 6 p.m.
ADDRESSES: You may mail or hand carry written comments to Rudy Peone,
Spokane Tribe Department of Natural Resources, P.O. Box 480, Wellpinit,
Washington 99040; or to Ted Hensold, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Spokane
Agency, P.O. Box 389, Wellpinit, Washington 99040. You may also telefax
comments to Rudy Peone at (509) 258-9600. Please include your name and
mailing address with your comments so documents pertaining to this
project may be sent to you.
The public meeting will be held at the Fire Management Conference
Room, 6290 Ford-Wells Road, Wellpinit, Washington.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rudy Peone, 509-258-9042, extension
14.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The boundaries of the Spokane Indian
Reservation encompass approximately 157,000 acres, located in southern
Stevens County, Washington. These include 110,500 acres of tribal trust
lands, 1,400 acres of tribal fee lands, 24,800 acres of individually
owned trust (allotment) lands, 14,400 acres of private fee lands, 1,100
acres of Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) lands above the Lake Roosevelt
high pool line, and about 4,800 acres covered by Lake Roosevelt, under
BOR administration. The lands range from dry, ponderosa pine steppe on
the southern boundary of the Spokane River at 1,300 foot elevation to
moist, inland coniferous forest on the northern portion of the
reservation where elevation reaches about 4,000 feet.
Major land uses include timber management, livestock grazing,
agriculture, hunting and fishing, recreation, and cultural practices.
Timber harvesting occurs on about 108,000 acres of commercial forest
lands.
The Spokane Tribe first enacted an IRMP in 1994. Its purpose was to
provide a holistic framework to guide all land management of the
reservation. It is now approaching its useful end. While the IRMP
served an important role in managing resources during the formative
stages of the Tribe's natural resource programs, human population
growth and various economic activities have placed new and competing
demands on reservation resources. These changes include encroachment of
housing into formerly unpopulated areas; local shortages of drinking
water during dry periods; increased demand for employment related to
natural resource extraction and use; larger areas impacted by economic
development; increased visitor and tourist traffic; increasing threats
to surface and ground water resources by solid waste, sewage discharge,
timber harvesting and other economic activities; and aesthetic
degradation.
The proposed update of the IRMP will integrate more specific
policies for land uses, natural resources, economic development and
cultural resources and values on all lands within the boundaries and/or
under the jurisdiction of the reservation. Services that affect natural
resources and are affected by land use designations (such as housing,
utilities, and roads) are also included. The proposed action includes
specifically and accurately identifying the current needs that affect
the natural resources on the reservation, projecting needs over the
next 10 years, and developing the range of feasible alternatives to
address those needs.
In addition to no action (continued management under the current
IRMP), the alternatives will include a mix of possibilities for change
which relate to each specific resource. Timber harvest options may
range from a diminished harvest level to allow maximum protection of
soil, water, cultural and aesthetic resources to an increased harvest
level to meet economic demands of the Tribe. Housing options may range
from unrestricted locating of housing through various forms of
restrictions to protect natural areas. Recreation options may range
from commercial development of recreation opportunities to attract
vacationers from around the region to creating opportunities for tribal
members alone. Range management options may include terminating the
open range policies versus restricting open range to limited areas or
pasture leases. Water resources options may include a more flexible
approach to the current fixed riparian buffers or increasing those
buffers. Cultural resource management options may range from protecting
only those resources which are defined in the National Historic
Preservation Act to defining standards for protection of cultural
properties and cultural landscapes which are uniquely important to the
Spokane Tribe.
Public Comment Availability
Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be
available for public review at the mailing address shown in the
ADDRESSES section, during regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may
request confidentiality. If you wish us to withhold your name and/or
address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent
allowed by law. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. All
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses will be made available for public inspection in their
entirety.
Authority
This notice is published in accordance with section 1503.1 of the
[[Page 1191]]
Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500 through
1508) implementing the procedural requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.),
and the Department of the Interior Manual (516 DM 1-6), and is in the
exercise of authority delegated to the Assistant Secretary--Indian
Affairs by 209 DM 8.1.
Dated: December 18, 2002.
Neal A. McCaleb,
Assistant Secretary--Indian Affairs.
[FR Doc. 03-427 Filed 1-8-03; 8:45 am]