[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 176 (Thursday, September 11, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47832-47833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-24044]



[[Page 47832]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[OR-050-1220-00; GP7-0284]


Notice of Supplemental Scoping for the John Day River Management 
Plan and Potential Related Amendments to the Two Rivers and John Day 
Resource Management Plans

AGENCY: Prineville District, Central Oregon Resource Area; Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Revised Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement and Management Plan for the Wild and Scenic John Day 
River and related Resource Management Plans; and notice of supplemental 
scoping period.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1610.2 
and 1610.3 and 43 CFR 8350, notice is given that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) in the State of Oregon, Prineville District, Central 
Oregon Resource Area, intends to analyze potential amendments to the 
relevant geographic and resource program sections of the Two Rivers and 
John Day Resource Management Plan (RMPs) in combination with completion 
of the Management Plan for the Wild and Scenic John Day River.

DATES: The pubic scoping period is ongoing and will continue until 
October 30, 1997. The draft river management plan and environmental 
impact statement (EIS) will be available for a 90 day public review 
period in the early summer of 1998. The proposed river plan, related 
RMP amendments and final EIS is expected to be available in the winter 
of 1998-1999 with decisions made and published following resolution of 
any protests or any intergovernmental natural resource plan 
inconsistencies. Future opportunities for public review and comment 
will be announced through the Federal Register, direct mailings to 
known interested parties, and announcements in Prineville's newspaper, 
the Central Oregonian. Supplemental public scoping meetings will be 
held in an Open House format. Persons wishing to attend these meetings 
may come at anytime between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm on the dates of the 
meetings to ask questions and submit scoping comments directly to John 
Day River Planning Team members. The Open House public meetings will be 
held in the following locations:

September 24, 1997

Wheeler County Fairgrounds, Fossil, Oregon

September 25, 1997

Senior Center, 142 NE Dayton, John Day, Oregon

September 30, 1997

Jefferson County Fairgrounds, 430 SW Fairgrounds, Madras, Oregon

October 8, 1997

Double Tree Hotel, 310 SW Lincoln, Portland, Oregon

    The need for additional meetings will be evaluated based on the 
level of public input as a result of public notification procedures. 
Any public meetings will be announced at least 15 days in advance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dan Wood, Project Manager, Prineville District BLM, PO Box 550, 
Prineville, Oregon 97754 (Telephone 541-416-6751, FAX 541-416-6798). 
Anyone interested in participating during the public review process of 
this planning effort may request to be added to the mailing list. 
Individuals should specify if they wish to have their names and 
addresses withheld from public access under the privacy provisions of 
the Freedom of Information Act.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Land Management intends to 
begin preparation of a Revised Draft Management Plan and Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS) for public lands along the John Day River system 
in Oregon. The planning and analysis process will comply with the 
procedural requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act, the 
Wild and Scenic River Act (as amended) and the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act. The resulting decisions are expected to satisfy the 
requirements of the 1989 Omnibus Oregon Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 
amend relevant portions of the Two Rivers and John Day Resource 
Management Plans (both within and outside the river corridors) and 
address relevant issues from ongoing litigation concerning the John Day 
River Plan. The John Day River watershed encompasses all or portions of 
eleven counties, six of which would be directly affected by the 
proposed plan. These are Gilliam, Grant, Jefferson, Sherman, Wasco and 
Wheeler Counties in north-central Oregon. The federally designated Wild 
and Scenic segments of the John Day River managed by the Bureau include 
147 miles of the John Day River mainstem from Service Creek to Tumwater 
Falls and 47 miles of the South Fork of the John Day River from the 
Malheur National Forest boundary to Smokey Creek. The 54 mile federally 
designated Wild and Scenic segment of the North Fork of the John Day 
River is managed by the Umatilla National Forest under a previously 
prepared and approved plan.
    In addition to mailed scoping notices to known interested parties, 
a series of public meetings will be held in September-October, 1997 to 
assist in this planning effort. These meetings will be conducted as 
workshops and open houses so that BLM and concerned publics may review 
past planning documents and current situations to identify issues to be 
addressed by the plan and to develop alternative ways of managing 
resources to be analyzed by the EIS. The public may submit comments at 
these meetings or directly to the Prineville BLM office at any time 
during the scoping period. The draft plan and EIS will analyze public 
lands managed by the Bureau along the John Day River segments which are 
federally designated as Wild and Scenic and segments which are not so 
designated, some of which may be potentially suitable for designation 
as additional components of the National Wild and Scenic River System. 
Special emphasis will be given to management strategies that protect 
and enhance the outstandingly remarkable values for which the Bureau 
managed segments were designated. These outstandingly remarkable values 
are scenic, recreational, geologic, fish, wildlife, historic and 
cultural. Other values identified as significant are botanical, 
ecological, paleontological, and archeological resources. Planning and 
analysis issues will include management, protection and enhancement of 
the identified river related values, plus any related Bureau authorized 
activities or resource uses such as, but not limited to, livestock 
grazing, irrigated agriculture, road and facility construction and 
maintenance, noxious weed control, streambank stability and 
stabilization, acquisition and management of additional lands within 
the river corridor and attainment of State of Oregon approved water 
quality standards.
    The BLM developed a draft plan and EIS for the John Day River 
system and released it for public review and comment in 1993. The draft 
plan focused primarily on recreation, and proposed that other resource 
uses be managed according to existing resource management plans and 
other guidance documents. Many of those who commented on the draft plan 
stated that the plan should address all resource uses, particularly 
livestock grazing.
    In order to meet a December 31, 1996 deadline set in the Northwest 
Power Planning Council's 1992 ``Strategy for Salmon,'' the BLM 
Prineville District

[[Page 47833]]

suspended further development of the river plan in order to focus its 
limited resources on allotment-specific evaluation and improvement of 
grazing management in the John Day basin. This effort has continued 
under the joint BLM/U.S. Forest Service's 1995 ``Interim Strategies for 
Managing Anadromous Fish-producing Watersheds in Eastern Oregon and 
Washington, Idaho, and portions of California'' (known as PACFISH), and 
has resulted in a number of changes in grazing management and 
reductions in authorized grazing use on public lands along the John Day 
River.
    The BLM is now re-initiating development of the John Day River 
management plan. In light of comments on the 1993 draft plan, the BLM 
intends to address all significant resouce uses in the revised draft 
plan, including grazing and agricultural leasing.
    Preliminary future management strategies (alternatives) to be 
addressed are (1) Baseline/Current Use, Development and Management (No 
Action), (2) Maximum Enhancement of Natural Values With Minimal 
Development, (3) Required Protection and System Restoration with 
Moderate Use and Development, (4) Increased Use and Development to 
Enhance Local Economic Activity and Developed Recreation Consistent 
with River Resource Protection and (5) a Preferred Alternative (to be 
developed from elements of the other alternatives with public input). 
Any decisions which are inconsistent with the current Two Rivers or 
John Day RMPs would result in amendments to the applicable plans as a 
result of the Oregon State Director approval of the Record of Decision. 
A team of interdisciplinary specialists, whose backgrounds are in the 
resources to be affected, will be involved in the review and 
development of the description of the affected environment, development 
of alternatives and impact analysis. Disciplines to be represented on 
the team preparing the plan amendment and EIS include, but are not 
limited to: Archeology, anthropology, economics, lands and minerals, 
recreation, forestry, fisheries, hydrology, botanical, soils, wildlife, 
geology and hazardous materials.
    The Prineville District's Two Rivers (1986) and John Day (1985, 
1995) Resource Management Plans (RMPs) currently provide general 
management for the river corridors and known river related values as 
well as overall land resource use allocations and resource protection 
or enhancement. Although it is anticipated that the final decisions for 
river management considered through this analysis could be in full 
conformance with the applicable RMPs, it is possible that portions of 
some actions under some alternatives may not be in full conformance 
with the approved RMPS, as required by 43 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR), Subpart 1610.5-3, ``Conformity and Implementation''. The 
environmental analysis and public and interagency review process 
anticipated for this analysis are expected to fully comply with the 
Bureau's regulations for land use planning, including land use plan 
amendments, public involvement and coordination with other Federal 
agencies, State and local governments and Indian tribes (43 CFR 1610.2, 
1610.3 and 1610.5-5). This will allow the analysis to consider river 
corridor and value strategies which are inconsistent with the current 
direction or substantially affect other resource uses and allocations 
in one or more of the subject approved RMPs. Any approved decisions 
which amend the applicable plans will be incorporated into the plans 
and become part of the permanent planning record. Any refinements or 
clarifications or management direction, priority of river resource 
allocations and use of final river corridor boundaries will be 
incorporated into the applicable plans and documented through published 
plan maintenance reports, as provided under 43 CFR 1610.5-4. Copies of 
the two existing approved plans (as amended) will be available in the 
same locations as the other elements of the supporting record, as noted 
elsewhere in this notice.
    The decisions made through this analysis are expected to be 
implemented in a series of actions over a period of several years. 
While the BLM intends to implement most of the final river plan within 
approximately two years of the approval of the decision(s), some 
actions that are in conformance with the analysis and decisions and 
associated approved RMPs may occur over a period of ten or more years. 
This analysis will serve to facilitate the immediate need for a 
comprehensive river plan and some immediate changes in resource use, 
resource allocations, vegetation remediation or recreational facility 
projects. it will also provide for future long-term actions that fall 
under the programmatic nature of this analysis dealing with ``desired 
future conditions''. Future site developments, land use allocation 
changes and projects would be subject to appropriate environmental 
analyses, public and interagency reviews and will be reported in the 
applicable District periodic planning update reports which are 
distributed to known interested parties.

    Dated: September 4, 1997.
James G. Kenna,
Acting District Manager.
[FR Doc. 97-24044 Filed 9-10-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-M