[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 218 (Monday, November 14, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68190-68192]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24717]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Fish and Wildlife Service
[PPWONRADE2, PMP00EI05.YP0000]
Notice of Intent To Prepare North Cascades Ecosystem Grizzly Bear
Restoration Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Washington
AGENCIES: National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) are jointly preparing an environmental impact statement
(EIS) for the North Cascades Ecosystem Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan to
determine how to restore the grizzly bear to the North Cascades
ecosystem (NCE), a portion of its historical range. As part of the
planning and EIS process, the NPS and the FWS will evaluate various
approaches for the restoration of a grizzly bear population to the NCE.
Action is needed to restore grizzly bears to the NCE because they are
functionally extirpated from the ecosystem, and restoration there will
contribute to overall grizzly bear recovery.
DATES: All comments must be received or postmarked by December 14,
2022.
ADDRESSES: Comment submission: To submit comments for consideration in
development of the EIS, you may use any one of the following methods:
Agency website: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/NCEGrizzly.
U.S. mail: Office of the Superintendent, 810 State Route
20, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284; or Washington Fish and Wildlife Office,
500 Desmond Dr. SE, Lacey, WA 98503.
Document availability: Information regarding the public scoping
process for the EIS and virtual public meetings is available for public
review online at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/NCEGrizzly; or, by
appointment in the Office of the Superintendent, 810 State Route 20,
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284 (360-854-7200, telephone); and in the
Washington Fish and Wildlife Office, 500 Desmond Dr. SE, Lacey, WA
98503 (360-753-9440, telephone).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Denise Shultz, Public Information
Officer, North Cascades National Park Service Complex, 810 State Route
20, Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284 (360-854-7200; nce_grizzly@nps.gov), or
Andrew LaValle, Public Affairs Specialist, Washington Fish and Wildlife
Office, 500 Desmond Dr. SE, Lacey, WA 98503 (nce_grizzly@nps.gov).
[[Page 68191]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Purpose and Need
Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42
U.S.C. 4321 et seq.; see 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the NPS and the FWS are
jointly preparing an NCE Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan and EIS. The
purpose of the Grizzly Bear Restoration Plan is to determine how to
restore the grizzly bear to the NCE, a portion of its historical range.
Action is needed at this time to:
Restore grizzly bears to the NCE because they are
functionally extirpated from the ecosystem.
Contribute to the restoration of biodiversity of the
ecosystem for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future
generations of people.
Enhance the probability of long-term survival of grizzly
bears in the NCE and thereby contribute to overall grizzly bear
recovery.
Support the recovery of the grizzly bear to the point
where it can be removed from the Federal List of Endangered and
Threatened Wildlife.
Preliminary Proposed Action and Alternatives
As part of the planning and EIS process, the NPS and FWS will
evaluate various approaches for the restoration of a grizzly bear
population to the NCE. Preliminary alternatives to be considered in the
EIS are described in greater detail below.
Actions Common to All Action Alternatives
All the action alternatives would seek to restore a self-sustaining
population through the capture and release of grizzly bears into the
NCE. Each of the action alternatives would involve several of the same
elements, including a similar approach for the capture, release, and
monitoring of grizzly bears; enhanced public education and outreach;
guidelines for management actions to respond to human--grizzly bear
conflicts; improved sanitation on public lands; additional releases of
grizzly bears to replace individuals lost to mortality; access
management; and habitat management.
No Action Alternative--Existing Management
Under the no action alternative, existing management practices
would be followed, and no new management actions would be implemented.
Existing management actions would continue to be focused on improved
sanitation, poaching control, motorized access management, outreach and
educational programs to provide information about grizzly bears and
grizzly bear recovery to the public, and research and monitoring to
determine grizzly bear presence, distribution, habitat, and home
ranges.
Proposed Action--Restoration as an Experimental Population Under the
ESA
Under the proposed action, the NPS and the FWS would capture bears
from source populations in either interior British Columbia or the
Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem. Approximately 3 to 7 captured
grizzly bears would be released into the NCE each year over roughly 5
to 10 years, with a goal of establishing an initial population of 25
grizzly bears. After the initial population of 25 grizzly bears has
been reached, an adaptive management phase would allow additional bears
to be released into the ecosystem over time to address mortality,
population and demographic trends, genetic limitations, and
distribution or to adjust the population's sex ratio to improve
reproductive success. The proposed action is expected to result in a
population of approximately 200 grizzly bears within 60 to 100 years.
The proposed action would also include a proposal to designate the
reintroduced grizzly bears in the NCE as an experimental population
under section 10(j) of the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C.
1531 et seq.). An experimental population is a group of reintroduced
plants or animals that is geographically isolated from other
populations of the species. Experimental populations must contribute to
a species' recovery and may include special protective regulations
under the ESA. Designation of grizzly bears released into the NCE as an
experimental population would allow the FWS to specify protective
regulations to provide greater management flexibility (e.g., relocation
or removal) in the event of human--grizzly bear conflict situations.
Other Potential Alternatives
Additional alternatives may be analyzed in the EIS. Potential
additional alternatives include restoring the NCE grizzly population
without an experimental population designation, as well as varying the
number and frequency of grizzly bear releases into the NCE to achieve
the restoration goal in a shorter or longer time period.
Summary of Expected Impacts
The proposed action is expected to result in restoration of a
grizzly bear population in the NCE. Expected impacts from
implementation of grizzly bear restoration actions include potential
environmental impacts on wildlife and fish (including grizzly bears),
wilderness, visitor use and recreational experience, public and
employee safety, socioeconomics, and ethnographic resources.
Anticipated Permits and Authorizations
The NPS and the FWS will comply with the ESA for potential impacts
to threatened and endangered species. If a decision is made to pursue
rulemaking, the FWS will lead the experimental population rulemaking
process. The NPS and the FWS will use and coordinate the NEPA public
scoping process to help fulfill the public involvement requirements
under the National Historic Preservation Act (54 U.S.C. 306108) as
provided in title 36 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at Sec.
800.2(d)(3). The information about historic and cultural resources
within the area potentially affected by the alternatives will assist
the NPS and the FWS in identifying and evaluating impacts to such
resources, and consulting with affected Indian Tribes and the State
Historic Preservation Officer(s).
Schedule for the Decision-Making Process
Agencies have 2 years from the date of the issuance of the
notice of intent to the date a record of decision is signed to complete
an EIS (40 CFR 1501.10).
The NPS and the FWS expect to make the draft EIS available
to the public in the summer of 2023.
After public review and comment, the NPS and the FWS
expect to make the final EIS available to the public in the spring of
2024.
The NPS and the FWS would issue a record of decision after
the final EIS in accordance with the applicable timeframes under 40 CFR
1506.11.
Public Scoping Process
This notice of intent initiates the scoping process, which guides
the development of the EIS. The NPS and the FWS will host virtual
public scoping meetings. During the virtual public scoping meetings,
the NPS and the FWS will present information pertinent to the EIS and
allow the public to ask questions regarding the scope of issues and
alternatives that should be considered when preparing the EIS. While
the NPS and the FWS will not solicit oral comments at these virtual
public meetings, written comments may be submitted at any time during
the scoping process. See ADDRESSES, above, and Submitting Comments,
below, for more information. Details regarding the
[[Page 68192]]
exact dates and times of these virtual public scoping meetings will be
announced on the project website (https://parkplanning.nps.gov/NCEGrizzly) and through local and regional media. The virtual public
scoping meetings will also be announced through email notification to
individuals and organizations, press release, and social media.
The NPS and FWS will also seek to engage directly with Tribes.
Consistent with Executive Order 13175, the NPS and FWS welcome Tribal
input and are available to engage in meaningful government-to-
government consultation with Tribes at their request.
The NPS and the FWS previously proposed to restore grizzly bears to
the NCE and produced a draft EIS for public review and comment in 2017
(82 FR 4416, January 13, 2017). Public comments that were provided
during that prior EIS process will also inform this new EIS and the
development of alternatives.
Reasonable Accommodations
Persons needing reasonable accommodations to attend and participate
in the virtual public scoping meetings should contact Denise Shultz
(NPS) or Andrew LaValle (FWS) using one of the methods listed in FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT as soon as possible. To allow sufficient
time to process requests, please make contact no later than 1 week
before the desired virtual public meeting.
Request for Identification of Potential Alternatives, Information, and
Analyses Relevant to the Proposed Action
The NPS and the FWS request comments concerning the scope of the
analysis, identification of potential alternatives, and information and
analyses relevant to the planning process. The NPS and the FWS will
consider these comments in developing the draft EIS. Specifically, the
NPS and the FWS are seeking information on:
Potential effects that the alternatives could have on
other aspects of the human environment, including ecological,
aesthetic, historic, cultural, economic, social, environmental justice,
or health effects;
Other possible reasonable alternatives that the NPS and
the FWS should consider, including additional or alternative avoidance,
minimization, and mitigation measures;
Approaches for managing reintroduced grizzly bears,
particularly in regard to potential conflicts with human activities;
and
Other information relevant to grizzly bear restoration and
its impacts on the human environment.
Submitting Comments
If you wish to comment, you may submit comments by one of the
methods listed above in ADDRESSES. Comments will not be accepted by
fax, email, or by any method other than those specified above. Bulk
comments in any format (hard copy or electronic) submitted on behalf of
others will not be accepted. Comments must be provided by the close of
the comment period and should clearly articulate the submitter's
concerns and contentions.
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, email address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so. Comments submitted anonymously will be accepted and
considered.
Decision Makers
The decision makers are the NPS Regional Director for Interior
Regions 8, 9, 10, and 12 and the FWS Regional Director for the Pacific
Region.
Frank Lands,
Regional Director, Interior Regions 8, 9, 10, & 12, National Park
Service.
Nanette Seto,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
[FR Doc. 2022-24717 Filed 11-10-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P