[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 28 (Wednesday, February 11, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6952-6954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-3361]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[NV-065-1610-00]


Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) Plan Amendment to 
the Tonopah Resource Management Plan and Record of Decision

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Tonopah Field Station announces its intent to prepare an 
amendment to the Tonopah Resource Management Plan (RMP) to address 
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

[[Page 6953]]

(ACECs). Preparation of this amendment was made necessary by a protest 
resolution to the Proposed Tonopah RMP of October 1994. The Tonopah 
RMP, as approved and signed on October 2, 1997, contains no provision 
for the designation of ACECs. Development of the ACEC Plan Amendment is 
expected to extend into mid-year 1999.
    The Tonopah Field Station also solicits additional nominations for 
areas to be considered as potential ACECs. Forty-three sites are on the 
current nomination list. Site names and guidelines for nominating 
additional sites are given in the section on Supplementary Information 
below.

DATES: All written comments on the ACEC process and new nominations for 
ACEC consideration must be postmarked on or before April 13, 1998, or 
hand-delivered to the Tonopah Field Station within the same time 
period.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and ACEC nominations should be addressed 
to: Earl R. Verbeek, Bureau of Land Management, P.O. Box 911, Tonopah, 
NV 89049.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Earl R. Verbeek (Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator) or Ron Huntsinger (Field Station Manager) at 
the above address, or telephone (702) 482-7800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Those areas already nominated as ACECs, 
their approximate acreages, and a brief statement of the reason(s) for 
nomination are listed below in alphabetical order.
    (1) Amargosa-Oasis: Thirteen separate areas totaling approximately 
490 acres near Beatty, Nevada. Rare animals and plants.
    (2) Big Moly: 9,600 acres. Scenic overlook.
    (3) Big Springs Valley Lava Field: 14,700 acres. Included in Lunar 
Crater area.
    (4) Brickyard Canyon: 320 acres. Cultural and geological features.
    (5) Cane Man Hill Petroglyph District: 680 acres. Petroglyph sites.
    (6) Crescent Sand Dunes: 3,000 acres. Uncommon invertebrates.
    (7) Crystal Spring: 10 acres. Included in Amargosa-Oasis area.
    (8) Emigrant Canyon: 9,300 acres. Scenic and geological values.
    (9) Fish Lake: 20 acres. Uncommon fish species.
    (10) Gilbert Historical Site: 100 acres. Historical values.
    (11) Goldfield Joshua Tree Forest: 9,900 acres. Northernmost 
extremity of joshua trees in Nevada.
    (12) Gold Point Historical Site: 150 acres. Historical values.
    (13) Hot Creek Valley: 5,000 acres. Threatened fish species; 
uncommon plant.
    (14) Jumbled Rock Petroglyphs: 10 acres. Great Basin petroglyphs.
    (15) Kawich Range: 40,000 acres. Uncommon plant species.
    (16) Little Fish Lake Valley: 40 acres. Uncommon fish species.
    (17) Lockes Pond: 400 acres. Included in Railroad Valley Wildlife 
Management Area.
    (18) Lone Mountain: 14,400 acres. Rare and endemic plant species.
    (19) Lunar Crater: 39,680 acres northeast of Warm Springs. Includes 
Black Rock lava flow. Recent volcanic flows and cinder cones.
    (20) Monocline Crater: 4,800 acres. Tilted cinder cone on 
monocline.
    (21) Moores Station Petroglyphs: 40 acres. Great Basin petroglyphs.
    (22) Mount Jackson: 900 acres. Great Basin plant communities in 
excellent condition.
    (23) Oasis Valley: 40 acres. Included in Amargosa-Oasis area.
    (24) Oatmeal Spring: 20 acres. Eroded badlands.
    (25) Pinyon-Joshua Transition Natural Area: 550 acres. Area showing 
transition from joshua tree forest to pinyon forest.
    (26) Railroad Valley Wildlife Management Area: 15,470 acres. 
Threatened and endangered species.
    (27) Rhyolite: 425 acres. Historical ghost town.
    (28) Rhyolite Ridge: 160 acres. Uncommon plant.
    (29) Sarcobatus Flats: 30,000 acres. Large playa.
    (30) Sheep Mountain Wash: 600 acres. Scenic values.
    (31) Silver Bow Historical Site: 40 acres. Historical values.
    (32) Soberup Gulch Petroglyphs: 20 acres. Great Basin petroglyphs.
    (33) Stone Cabin Valley: 400,000 acres. Wild horses.
    (34) Stonewall Mountain: 960 acres. Uncommon plants; riparian plant 
communities.
    (35) Stormy-Abel Prehistoric District: 12,320 acres. Prehistoric 
sites.
    (36) The Sump: 1,600 acres. Badlands area with scenic, 
paleontological, and geological values.
    (37) Timber Mountain Caldera: 7,040 acres. Large volcanic feature.
    (38) Tonopah Gem Fields: 80 acres. Geological values.
    (39) Trap Springs-Gravel Bar Prehistoric District: 8,480 acres. 
Prehistoric sites.
    (40) Tybo-McIntyre Charcoal Kilns: Four sites totaling 80 acres. 
Historic charcoal kilns.
    (41) Weepah Historical Site: 100 acres. Historical values.
    (42) White Rock Canyon: 40 acres. Scenic values.
    (43) Yellow Hills: 4,000 acres. Scenic values.
    ACEC designations highlight areas where special management 
attention is needed to protect, and prevent irreparable damage to, 
important historic, cultural, or scenic values; fish or wildlife 
resources; or other natural systems or processes. ACECs may also be 
designated to protect human life and safety from natural hazards. The 
ACEC designation indicates to the public that the BLM recognizes that 
an area has significant values and has established special management 
measures to protect those values.
    To be considered a potential ACEC an area must meet criteria of 
both relevance and importance. These criteria are described in BLM 
Manual 1613, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, section 
1613.1.11, and are summarized below.
    Relevance. An area meets the relevance criteria if it contains one 
or more of the following:
    1. A significant historic, cultural, or scenic value.
    2. A fish or wildlife resource.
    3. A natural process or system (including but not limited to areas 
supporting rare, endemic, relic, or endangered plant species, or rare 
geological features)
    4. Natural hazards (areas of avalanche, unstable soils, rockfall, 
etc.)
    Importance. An area meets the importance criteria if it is 
characterized by one or more of the following:
    1. Has more than locally significant qualities.
    2. Has qualities or circumstances that make it fragile, sensitive, 
irreplaceable, rare, unique, etc.
    3. Has been recognized as warranting protection to satisfy national 
priority concerns or to carry out the mandates of the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act.
    4. Has qualities which warrant concern about safety and public 
welfare.
    5. Poses a significant threat to human life and safety, or to 
property.
    Nominations for additional ACECs submitted by the public should be 
accompanied by descriptive materials, maps showing the location and 
outline of the nominated area, and a discussion of evidence supporting 
the relevance and importance of the resources or hazards in the area. 
For those areas already nominated as ACECs, the public is encouraged to 
comment on the relevance and importance of those areas and to recommend 
appropriate management strategies for protecting their values. 
Additional information on

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areas previously nominated is available from the Tonopah Field Station 
through the contacts listed above.
    All ACEC nominations and comments on the ACEC Plan Amendment 
process, including names and street addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the above address during regular 
business hours (7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except 
holidays, and may be published as part of the environmental assessment 
document that will address the impacts of designating selected ACECs. 
Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to 
withhold your name or street address from public review or from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests 
will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

    Dated: January 30, 1998.
Ron Huntsinger,
Tonopah Field Station Manager.
[FR Doc. 98-3361 Filed 2-10-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-HC-P