[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 180 (Thursday, September 17, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49711-49712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24898]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[UT-934-08-1610-00]


Proposed Resource Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact 
Statement; Dixie Resource Area, Utah

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 102 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976, and 43 CFR Part 1610, the Proposed Resource 
Management Plan (RMP)/Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), 
hereafter referred to as the ``Proposed Plan'', has been prepared for 
the Dixie Resource Area, Cedar City District, Utah, and is available 
for a thirty day public review and protest period. The Proposed Plan 
provides decisions for management of approximately 629,000 acres of 
public lands and 675,750 acres of Federal mineral estate in Washington 
County, in southwestern Utah. The Proposed Plan is presented in a 
condensed final environmental impact statement format that (a) draws 
upon elements of each of the four alternatives analyzed in the Draft 
RMP/EIS to formulate the new Proposed Plan, (b) reflects consideration 
given to public comments on, and corrections to, the Draft RMP/EIS, as 
well as rewording for clarification, and (c) incorporates an expanded 
environmental impact analysis section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Mermejo, RMP Planning 
Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, Dixie Resource Area Office, 345 
E. Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah 84790, telephone 435-688-3216.

ADDRESSES: Protests must be addressed to the Director (WO-210), Bureau 
of Land Management, Attn: Brenda Williams, Resource Planning Team, 1849 
C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240, within 30 days after the date of 
publication of this notice for the Proposed Plan.

DATES: The Proposed Plan may be protested. The protest period will 
commence with the date of publication of a Notice of Filing by the 
Environmental Protection Agency, which is expected to be on September 
18, 1998. Protests must be submitted on or before October 17, 1998.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed Plan presents decisions for 
managing public lands for the following resource categories or uses: 
Lands (including acquisition, transfer, easement acquisition, and 
rights-of-way), Energy and Minerals (including fluid minerals, 
locatable minerals, and mineral materials), Transportation, Air 
Quality, Soil and Water, Riparian, Vegetation (including composition 
and special status species), Fish and Wildlife Habitat (including 
special status species), Livestock Grazing, Forestry, Recreation, Off-
Highway Vehicles, Visual, Wilderness, Cultural and Paleontological, 
Hazardous Wastes, Fire, and Special Emphasis Areas (including Wild and 
Scenic Rivers, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern [ACECs], Native 
American Coordination, and Zion National Park Coordination).
    The Proposed Plan brings forth ten ACECs for designation that BLM 
has determined to require special management to prevent irreparable 
damage to important historic, cultural, or scenic values, fish and 
wildlife resources, or other natural systems. In addition, there are 
portions of five river segments that BLM has concluded it would 
recommend as suitable for Congressional designation under the Wild and 
Scenic Rivers Act. This Proposed Plan promotes opportunities for 
community based partnerships and collaborative processes for successful 
and effective management of public lands into the future.
    The Dixie Resource Area Draft RMP/EIS was released for public 
review and comment in October of 1995 and was followed by a seven month 
comment period. The Draft RMP/EIS analyzed

[[Page 49712]]

four alternatives to managing public lands in Washington County, Utah. 
The Dixie Resource Area Office received over 800 comment letters on the 
Draft RMP/EIS from local, state and federal governments, interest 
groups, and the public at large. Major concerns brought forth from 
proposed decisions of the Draft RMP/EIS included wild and scenic river 
issues, off-highway vehicle management designations, visual resource 
protection zones, rights-of-way restrictions, threatened and endangered 
species protection, the Virgin River and its associated resources, as 
well as, potential reservoir development, among others. Since the 
release of the Draft RMP/EIS, public meetings, workshops, mailings, and 
briefings have been conducted to solicit comments, new information, and 
ideas for the Proposed Plan.
    The Proposed Plan responds to public comments received on the Draft 
RMP/EIS. The Proposed Plan also corrects errors in the Draft RMP/EIS 
identified through the public comment process and internal BLM review. 
The Proposed Plan and associated analysis presents a refined and 
modified version of the Preferred Alternative and the accompanying 
impact analysis contained in the Draft RMP/EIS. The Proposed Plan can 
be used in conjunction with the Draft RMP/EIS to facilitate review of 
the initial four alternatives. The description of the affected 
environment and detailed descriptions of the alternatives contained in 
the Draft RMP/EIS, as well as some of the appendices, are referenced 
but not reproduced in the Proposed Plan.
    Copies of the Proposed Plan are available from the Dixie Resource 
Area Office, 345 E. Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah, 84790, 435-688-
3216. Public reading copies will be available for review at all 
government-document depository libraries, and at the following BLM 
locations: Office of Public Affairs, Main Interior Building, 18th and C 
Streets N.W., Washington, DC 20240; Information Access Center (4th 
Floor), Utah BLM State Office, 324 S. State Street, Salt Lake City, 
Utah, 84111; Cedar City District Office, 176 East DL Sargent Drive, 
Cedar City, Utah 84720; and Dixie Resource Area Office, 345 East 
Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah 84790. Background information and 
reference materials used in developing the Proposed Plan are available 
for review in St. George at the Dixie Resource Area Office.
    Written protests on the Proposed Plan will be accepted for 30 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency published the 
Notice of Filing of this document in the Federal Register. It is 
anticipated that the filing date will be on September 18, 1998, thus 
ending the public review/protest period on October 17, 1998, and the 
Governor's 60-day consistency review on November 16, 1998. Any part of 
this Proposed Plan may be protested only by parties who participated in 
the planning process. Protests must pertain to issues that were 
identified in the Draft RMP/EIS or through the public comment process. 
Protests must be addressed to the BLM Director at the address listed 
under ADDRESSES. The protest must be specific and contain the following 
information:
--The name, mailing address, telephone number and interest of the 
person filing the protest;
--A statement of the issue(s) being protested;
--A statement of the part(s) of the proposed amendment being protested, 
and a citing of pages, paragraphs, maps, etc., of the Proposed Plan, 
where practical.;
--A copy of all documents addressing the issue(s) that were submitted 
by the protestor during the planning process; and
--A concise statement explaining why the BLM State Director's proposed 
decision is believed to be in error.

    At the end of the 30-day protest period, the Proposed Plan, 
excluding any portion under protest will become final.
    Approval will be withheld on any portion of the plan under protest 
until final action has been completed on such protest.

    Dated: September 9, 1998.
G. William Lamb,
State Director, Utah.
[FR Doc. 98-24898 Filed 9-16-98; 8:45 am]
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