[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 76 (Thursday, April 20, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Page 19761]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9743]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
[NV-055-1150-00, 5-0151-LM]


Caliente Management Framework Plan Desert Tortoise Amendment and 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent and Additional Scoping Period.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management intends to amend the Caliente 
Management Framework Plan to implement the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service Desert Tortoise (Mojave Population) Recovery Plan, issued June 
1994. The purpose of the plan amendment is to outline the specific 
objectives and planned actions needed for desert tortoise recovery and 
for eventual removal of the desert tortoise from the federal list of 
threatened and endangered animals. The amendment will delineate Desert 
Wildlife Management Areas (Coyote Springs, Mormon Mesa, and Beaver Dam 
Slope) in desert tortoise habitat, and prescribe management actions 
inside and outside these areas in accordance with provisions in the 
recovery plan. These areas will be evaluated for potential designation 
as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. Potential impacts will be 
analyzed through an environmental impact statement.
    There will be an additional 30-day scoping period to solicit public 
comment on the desert tortoise amendment.

DATES: Additional written comments must be submitted and postmarked no 
later than May 22, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: Curtis G. Tucker, 
Area Manager, Caliente Resource Area, P.O. Box 237, Caliente, Nevada 
89126.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kyle Teel, Wildlife Biologist, at the above Caliente Resource Area 
Office address or telephone (702) 726-8100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Desert Wildlife Management Areas 
outlined in the Recovery Plan that are located within the Caliente 
Management Framework Plan area are: Coyote Springs, Mormon Mesa, and 
Beaver Dam slope. For a legal description and/or a map of these areas, 
contact the Caliente Resource Area Office. The boundaries of these 
areas may be modified based on public comments and resource information 
received during this land use plan amendment process.
    This amendment was started in December of 1994 with a ``Notice of 
Intent and Scoping Period,'' published in the Federal Register on 
January 30, 1995, Vol. 60, No. 19, p. 5794. The original intent was to 
amend the Caliente Management Framework Plan and analyze the potential 
impacts through an environmental assessment. However, due to the 
complexity of the resource management issues and responses from the 
public, the determination was made to prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement to fully analyze the impacts of implementing the recovery 
plan and complete the amendment.
    Federal, state and local agencies, and other individuals or 
organizations who are interested in, or affected by aspects of amending 
the Caliente Management Framework Plan to implement the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service Desert Tortoise (Mojave Population) Recovery Plan, are 
invited to participate in this planning process. If you submitted 
comments during the previous scoping period, you need not resubmit 
them. They will be considered along with comments received as a result 
of this notice.

    Dated: April 7, 1995.
Ann J. Morgan,
State Director, Nevada.
[FR Doc. 95-9743 Filed 4-19-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-HC-M