[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 138 (Monday, July 20, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 38842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-19252]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[AZ-050-08-1210-04; 1617]


Arizona: Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan Amendment 
(Wild Horse and Burro Herd Management Area) and Environmental 
Assessment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan 
Amendment/Environmental Assessment and Invitation to Participate in the 
Identification of Issues; Yuma Field Office, AZ.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Yuma Field Office, is 
preparing an Amendment/Environmental Assessment to the Yuma District 
Resource Management Plan to revise wild horse and burro management 
provisions. The proposed Amendment would update management provisions 
for the Cibola-Trigo Herd Management Area in conformance with the Wild 
Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, as amended, (16 U.S.C. 1331-1340) 
1994. Under the proposed Amendment, horses and burros would be managed 
to maintain an appropriate management level that will provide for a 
thriving natural ecological balance within the Cibola-Trigo Herd 
Management Area south of Interstate 10 and west of the impact area from 
the Yuma Proving Ground firing range located near Highway 95, at the 
southern portion of the military reservation.

DATES: Written comments related to the identification of issues for the 
proposed Amendment will be accepted on or before August 19, 1998. A 
public meeting will be held on August 19, 1998, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. 
at the BLM office, 2555 Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, Arizona, to provide 
additional opportunity for the identification of issues.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Ron Morfin, BLM Yuma Field Office, 2555 
Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, Arizona 85365.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ron Morfin, Planning Team Leader, Yuma 
Field Office, Yuma, Arizona. Telephone (520) 317-3226.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM Yuma Field Office is currently 
coordinating efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army 
Yuma Proving Ground, and Arizona Game and Fish Department to develop a 
cooperative management plan for lands and resources contained within 
the Cibola-Trigo Wild Horse and Burro Herd Management Area through an 
interdisciplinary planning team. Considering other land and resource 
values and multiple uses and to provide for a thriving natural 
ecological balance, management objectives and direction will be 
proposed for wild horse and burro herds through this effort to reach 
and maintain the appropriate management level as established by the 
Cibola-Trigo Herd Management Area Plan. National BLM Policies and 
guidance at 43 CFR 4700 require that management direction affecting 
wild horses and burros shall be established through the Land Use 
Planning Process pursuant to 43 CFR 1600.
    Issues to be addressed include: the presence of burros at impact 
areas from a munitions research and development firing range; 
management of animals outside of the herd area; management of the 
current horse and burro herd to reach and maintain an appropriate 
management level; provisions for refining forage utilization monitoring 
protocols; and the use of new technologies to monitor herd size.
    Documents relevant to the planning process will be available for 
public review at the BLM Yuma Field Office, 2555 Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, 
Arizona. This notice is published under the authority found in 43 CFR 
1610.2(c).

    Dated: July 8, 1998.
Maureen A. Merrell,
Assistant Field Manager, Business and Fiscal Services/Acting Field 
Manager.
[FR Doc. 98-19252 Filed 7-17-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P