[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 130 (Tuesday, July 8, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36570-36571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-17690]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[UT-030-1020]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Management Plan and an 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a Management Plan and associated 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
National Monument, Kane and Garfield Counties, Utah.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) 
and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM), Cedar City, Utah, will prepare a Management Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Grand Staircase-Escalante 
National Monument (GSENM) in Kane and Garfield Counties, Utah.

DATES: To be of maximum use, all comments on the scope of the EIS and 
views pertaining to desired content of the GSENM Management Plan should 
be submitted not later than November 15, 1997, to the address below. 
Additional scoping opportunities, such as planning workshops, will be 
announced separately.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent to Pete Wilkins, Planning 
Coordinator, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Planning 
Office, Bureau of Land Management, 337 South Main, Cedar City, Utah 
84270. Comments may be faxed to Pete Wilkins at 801-865-5170, or sent 
to him through E-Mail ([email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pete Wilkins, Planning Coordinator, at 
the above address, or by phone at (801) 856-5100, or by E-Mail at 
[email protected]. The proclamation establishing the Grand Staircase-
Escalante National Monument and other information about the Monument 
are available on the Internet BLM National Home Page (http://
www.blm.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 18, 1996, the President signed 
Proclamation 6920, creating the Grand Staircase-Escalante National 
Monument under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The 
Monument encompasses approximately 1.7 million acres of public lands in 
Kane County and Garfield County, Utah. It was designated to preserve 
the extraordinary scientific resources and landscapes, as well as to 
protect objects of historic or scientific interest, including 
geological, paleontological, archaeological, biological and historical 
features.
    The proclamation states that the Secretary of the Interior shall 
manage the monument through the BLM pursuant to applicable legal 
authorities and that the Secretary shall prepare a management plan for 
the monument within 3 years of the proclamation date. The BLM will 
complete the mandate using existing planning authorities, primarily 
FLPMA and NEPA.
    The Secretary of the Interior, with support from the Governor of 
Utah, has established a planning team composed of Federal, State, and 
local government professionals representing geology, paleontology, 
archeology, botany, wildlife biology, range and riparian ecology, 
wilderness, recreation, history, community planning and economics, 
realty, and geographic information systems.
    This team will devote full attention to assembling information, 
preparing and analyzing management alternatives, and carrying out 
public involvement for the preparation of the Monument Management Plan 
and EIS.
    The plan will be responsive to all of the provisions and directions 
set forth in the proclamation, including the protection of the listed 
values and the consideration of all valid existing rights now existing 
in the Monument.
    The BLM is seeking the views and comments of all individuals, 
groups, organizations, agencies, and American Indian Tribal governments 
with an interest in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. 
Participation in the planning process is encouraged from those at 
local, State, regional, national, and international locations. A policy 
of ``inclusion'' (meaning all views are welcome and considered) will be 
followed in accepting input and in obtaining comments from public 
reviews. Public participation can occur in a variety of forms, 
including informal notes, formal letters, responses to periodic update 
letters issued by the planning team, communications with the planning 
team by fax or E-mail or Internet home page soon to be established, use 
of a ``vision kit'' to be issued by the planning team during the summer 
of 1997, and appearance at public meetings. Early participation by all 
those interested is encouraged and will help determine the future 
management of the Monument.
    BLM intends to gather public scoping comments and other information 
by November 1997 sufficient to formulate alternative management 
strategies. During the spring and summer of 1998, the team will host 
field discussions and

[[Page 36571]]

public meetings to foster understanding of each management alternative.
    A draft EIS and proposed plan will be issued for public comment in 
the fall of 1998. A final EIS will be completed and the management plan 
required by the proclamation will be ready for approval by the 
Secretary of the Interior on or before September 1999.
    It is intended that the management plan be ``adaptive'' in order to 
be responsive to resource and use monitoring, new information, and/or 
changing conditions.

    Dated: June 27, 1997.
G. William Lamb,
Utah State Director.
[FR Doc. 97-17690 Filed 7-7-97; 8:45 am]
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