[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 141 (Monday, July 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 37922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17179]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CO-078-95-1610-00]


Glenwood Springs Resource Management Plan Amendment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to amend the Glenwood Springs Resource 
Management Plan as it relates to travel management decisions for the 
Castle Peak area, Eagle County, Colorado.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102 of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 and section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management 
Act of 1976, the Bureau of Land Management, Grand Junction District, 
Glenwood Springs Resource Area, will prepare a Travel Management Plan 
and Environmental Assessment on the proposed amendment to the Glenwood 
Springs Resource Management Plan as it relates to the Castle Peak 
Travel Management Planning Area. The decisions to be reviewed and 
analyzed for plan amendment include Transportation Management, 
Recreation Resource Management, and Off Highway Vehicle Management. The 
Castle Peak Travel Management Planning Area includes public lands east 
and south of the Colorado River, west of Highway 131, and north of the 
Eagle River in Eagle County, Colorado. The Planning Area boundary is 
the same as Colorado Division of Wildlife's Game Management Unit 35. A 
Travel Management Plan and Environmental Assessment on the proposed RMP 
amendment will be prepared to analyze proposed travel management 
actions, possible alternatives and impacts for the public lands within 
the Castle Peak Travel Management Planning Area.

DATES: Interested persons may submit comments on or before August 22, 
1996 regarding this proposal to amend certain decisions in the Resource 
Management Plan as they relate to travel management in the Castle Peak 
area.

ADDRESSES: Michael S. Mottice, Area Manager, Glenwood Springs Resource 
Area, P.O. Box 1009, 50629 Highway 6 & 24, Glenwood Springs, Colorado 
81602.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information concerning this 
proposal is available for review at the above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to increased recreational 
demands and problems related to public use and access in the Castle 
Peak Area, a Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment are needed to 
implement new decisions and measures specifically related to travel 
management. Since the existing Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) designations 
were put in place in 1984, reports from the public identifying travel 
impacts and their related effects on vegetation, wildlife habitat, 
hunting, wilderness suitability, soils, livestock grazing and law 
enforcement have been received. Three open house public meetings were 
held in mid-April, 1996 in Gypsum, Eagle and McCoy, Colorado to gather 
public input regarding the issues, concerns, and need for a Travel 
Management Plan in the Castle Peak area. Comments received during these 
scoping sessions revealed that changes in the existing travel 
management decisions are needed.
    A resource area-wide evaluation of existing OHV designations and 
travel management use, completed by the BLM in 1994, identified 
resource damage and use conflicts. With forecasts of reduced budgets, 
completing a resource area-wide RMP amendment for travel management is 
not feasible. Consequently, travel management problems will be resolved 
on a landscape basis, focusing on well-defined geographic areas with 
relatively high use, in areas that provide a variety of activities, and 
on sites with identified resource damage and use conflicts. Based on 
this public criteria and the public comments received in recent public 
meetings, the Castle Peak Planning Area is selected as the initial 
geographic area to resolve travel management issues. The goal of the 
Travel Management Plan and RMP amendment is to protect the land and 
resource values while continuing to provide a variety of motorized and 
non-motorized recreational opportunities.
    Proposed changes to travel management decisions in the Castle Peak 
Planning Area involve (1) developing an updated transportation plan for 
the area, which encompasses roads, motorized trails, non-motorized 
trails, maintenance schedules and access points, (2) updating OHV 
designations, and (3) updating recreation management objectives.
Mark T. Morse,
District Manager
[FR Doc. 96-17179 Filed 7-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P