[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46132-46133]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21965]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Interagency Desert Management Plan Northern and Eastern Mojave 
Desert Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, CA; Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement

SUMMARY: In accordance with 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1508.22, of the 
regulations of the President's Council on Environmental Quality for the 
National Environmental Policy Act (Pub. L. 91-190), the National Park 
Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (FWS) are initiating the preparation of a management 
plan and environmental impact statement for the Northern and Eastern 
Mojave Desert.

Background

     The purposes of this interagency desert management plan are to 
guide protection, public use, and development of a 7.7 million acre 
region in parts of Inyo and San Bernardino counties of southern 
California. Once approved, the plan will provide broad guidance over 
the next two decades for management of federally owned lands in the 
Northern and Eastern Mojave Desert. The plan also will contain more 
detailed plans for two major units of the National Park System and for 
BLM lands. Specifically, the existing Death Valley general 

[[Page 46133]]
management plan of 1988 will be amended, the first general management 
plan for Mojave National Preserve will be prepared, and management 
decisions for BLM wilderness areas will amend the California Desert 
Conservation Area Plan of 1980.
    The principal issues proposed to be resolved through this planning 
effort include the following topics: Access to public lands; 
infrastructure necessary for managing these areas; habitat management, 
including the habitat of the threatened desert tortoise and other 
sensitive species; wilderness management; management of wild horses, 
burros, and alien/exotic plant and animal species; proposed expansion 
of Fort Irwin; visitor information facilities; recreational 
opportunities; mining activities and utility corridors.
    The project will be conducted by an interagency, multidisciplinary 
planning team with offices in Barstow, California. Federal and state 
government agencies, as well as county and city officials, will be 
invited to consult with the team throughout the project process. 
Interested individuals and organizations will be able to participate 
during the planning process through a series of public meetings and 
review periods. The expected three year planning effort will commence 
immediately.
    The public will be invited to workshops and open houses at three 
different stages of the project--scoping/issues identification, 
development of alternatives, and review of the draft and final 
documents. The first set of workshops, intended to listen to and record 
public input on the planning issues, will be held in late September, 
1995, in Las Vegas, Nevada and in Baker, Barstow, Furnace Creek, 
Independence, Lone Pine, Needles, Pasadena, Ridgecrest, and San 
Bernardino in California. The team will also welcome any written 
comments during this scoping phase.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Requests for a map of the Northern and 
Eastern Mojave planning area, as well as comments and inquires about 
this project, should be directed to: Mr. Dennis Schramm, Planning Team 
Leader, National Park Service, Mojave National Preserve, 222 East Main 
Street, Suite 202, Barstow, CA 92311 [(619)255-8840].

    Dated: August 22, 1995.
Stephen G. Crabtree,
Acting Field Director, Pacific West Field Area.
[FR Doc. 95-21965 Filed 9-1-95; 8:45 am]
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