[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 121 (Tuesday, June 24, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Page 34076]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-16478]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[CA-340-1110-00]


Hunting Closure on Identified Public Lands, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Hunting Closure on Identified Public Lands, California.

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SUMMARY: In cooperation with the California Department of Fish and 
Game, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the Regents of the University of 
California, the Quail Ridge Wilderness Conservancy, and the Quail Ridge 
Association, and under authority of 43 CFR 8364.1, the Clear Lake 
Resource Area of the Bureau of Land Management is designating as closed 
to hunting approximately 558.38 acres of BLM lands. These public lands 
are located within the Quail Ridge Reserve at Lake Berryessa in Napa 
County, California and are cooperatively managed by the above agencies 
and organizations as the Quail Ridge Reserve. The 558.38 acres of BLM 
lands closed to hunting are legally described as:

Township 7 North, Range 3 West, MDM,
    Sec. 1, W\1/2\ Lot 2 in the NE\1/4\, 38.38 acres;
    Sec. 1, W\1/2\ Lot 1 in the NE\1/4\, 40 acres;
    Sec. 2, SE\1/4\ NE\1/4\, 40 acres.
Township 8 North, Range 3 West, MDM,
    Sec. 25, SE\1/4\ NE\1/4\, S\1/2\NW\1/4\, SW\1/4\, W\1/2\SE\1/4\, 
360 acres;
    Sec. 26, SE\1/4\ NE\1/4\, 40 acres;
    Sec. 35, NE\1/4\ NE\1/4\, 40 acres.

    This is a permanent year-round hunting closure until and unless the 
Management Team for the Quail Ridge Reserve agrees to rescind or modify 
the closure. An exception to this closure are special hunts agreed upon 
by the Management Team as necessary to control the proliferation of 
nonnative game species i.e. feral pigs. Any special hunts will be 
coordinated by the California Department of Fish and Game.
    A map depicting BLM lands to be closed to hunting is available upon 
request from the Clear Lake Resource Area office of the BLM in Ukiah, 
California.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This closure will become effective upon publication in 
the Federal Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Phil Damon, Acting Clear Lake Resource Area Manager at 707-468-4000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This closure applies to BLM lands located 
within the Quail Ridge Reserve (QRR) at Lake Berryessa in Napa County, 
California. In a Cooperative Agreement approved in 1992 between the 
Regents of the University of California and the Bureau of Land 
Management, the BLM agreed to provide to the University of California 
the use of the above-described public lands for teaching, research, and 
other educational purposes. In this agreement the BLM also agreed to 
support a hunting closure on these lands primarily to avoid potential 
conflicts with animal population studies, but also to decrease the 
safety hazards to researchers and visitors during hunting seasons.
    QRR includes lands owned and managed by the agencies and 
organizations listed in the above Summary of this Notice. With the 
exception of the BLM, all lands owned and managed by these agencies and 
organizations have already been closed to all hunting. The Department 
of Fish and Game has not enforced the hunting closure on DFG-
administered lands because it is very difficult to determine common 
boundaries between the BLM lands and DFG lands on the ground. In the 
absence of a hunting closure on BLM lands, the integrity of the 
cooperative management of QRR by agencies and organizations which 
already have hunting closures in place will be compromised. 
Implementing the hunting closure on BLM lands is necessary to complete 
the final link in the cooperative goal of closing lands within QRR to 
hunting. As stated, the BLM has signed cooperative agreement to support 
a hunting closure.
Phil Damon,
Acting Clear Lake Resource Area Manager.
[FR Doc. 97-16478 Filed 6-23-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-M