[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 190 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52742-52744]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25220]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[MT-020-1610-00]


Availability of Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource 
Management Plan Amendment for Areas of Critical Environmental Concern; 
Montana, South Dakota

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 and Section 1501 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, an environmental assessment and proposed resource 
management plan amendment has been prepared for the Powder River, 
Billings, and South Dakota planning areas. The Areas of Critical 
Environmental Concern Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource 
Management Plan Amendment describes and analyzes future options for 
management of proposed areas of critical environmental concern on 
39,145 federal surface acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management 
within the following counties: Carbon, Carter, Musselshell, Powder 
River, Rosebud, Treasure, Yellowstone, Montana; Big Horn County, 
Wyoming, and Fall River County, South Dakota. The Resource Management 
Plan Amendment provides a comprehensive plan for managing the federal 
surface and mineral resources in these areas.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: The Areas of Critical Environmental Concern 
Environmental Assessment and Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment 
was available for public review from December 29, 1997 to March 9, 
1998. Written comments were received from agencies, individuals and 
organizations. All comments were considered in the preparation of the 
Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendment.
    The resource management planning process includes an opportunity 
for review through a plan protest to the BLM's Director. Any person or 
organization who participated in the planning process and has an 
interest which is or may be adversely affected by the approval of this 
resource management plan amendment may protest the plan. Careful 
adherence to the following guidelines will assist in preparing a 
protest that will assure the greatest consideration for your point of 
view.
    Only those persons or organizations who participated in the 
planning process may protest the plan.
    A protesting party may raise only those issues which were commented 
on during the planning process.
    Additional issues may be raised at any time and should be directed 
to the Miles City Field Office for consideration in plan 
implementation, as potential plan amendments, or as otherwise 
appropriate.

DATES: The protest period lasts 30 days and begins the day the Notice 
of Availability for this document is published in the Federal Register. 
There is no provision for an extension of time. Protests filed late, or 
filed with the State Director or Field Manager shall be rejected by the 
Director. To be

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considered ``timely'' your protest must be sent to the Director of BLM 
and must be postmarked no later than November 2, 1998. Although not a 
requirement, sending your protest by certified mail, return receipt 
requested, is recommended.

ADDRESSES: Reading copies of the environmental assessment and proposed 
resource management plan amendment will be available at the following 
Bureau of Land Management locations:

Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, Montana 59301
Billings Field Office, 810 East Main, Billings, Montana 59105
South Dakota Field Office, 310 Roundup Street, Belle Fourche, South 
Dakota 57717

    All protests must be filed in writing to: Director, Bureau of Land 
Management, Attention: Ms. Brenda Williams, Protests Coordinator, WO-
210/LS-1075, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.
    The Overnight Mail address is: Director, Bureau of Land Management, 
Attention: Ms. Brenda Williams, Protests Coordinator, 1620 L Street, 
N.W. Room 1075, Washington, D.C. 20036.
    To expedite consideration, in addition to the original sent by mail 
or overnight mail, a copy of the protest may be sent by: FAX to (202) 
452-5112; or Email to [email protected]
    In order to be considered complete, your protest must contain, at a 
minimum, the following information:
    The name, mailing address, telephone number, and interest of the 
person filing the protest.
    A statement of the issue being protested.
    A statement of the portion of the plan being protested. To the 
extent possible, this should be done by reference to specific pages, 
paragraphs, sections, tables, and maps in the proposed resource 
management plan amendment.
    A copy of all documents addressing the issue submitted during the 
planning process or a reference to the date the issue was discussed for 
the record.
    A concise statement explaining why the BLM State Director's 
decision is believed to be incorrect is a critical part of the protest. 
Take care to document all relevant facts and to reference or cite the 
planning documents, environmental analysis documents, and available 
planning records (meeting minutes, summaries, correspondence). A 
protest without data will not provide us with the benefit of your 
information and insight, and the Director's review will be based on the 
existing analysis and supporting data.
    At the end of the 30-day protest period, the BLM may issue a 
Decision Record, approving implementation of any portion of the 
proposed plan not under protest. Approval will be withheld on any 
portion of the plan under protest, until the protest is resolved.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aden Seidlitz, (406) 233-2816.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Environmental Assessment and Proposed 
Resource Management Plan Amendment analyzes three alternatives for the 
management and designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. 
Each alternative represents a complete management plan. The 
alternatives can be summarized by (1) current management or no action, 
(2) resource protection and (3) the preferred alternative, which may be 
a combination of the previous two.
    The Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendment recommends designating 12 Areas of Critical Environmental 
Concern: Bridger Fossil, Castle Butte, Meeteetse Spires, Petroglyph 
Canyon, East Pryor Mountains, Stark Site, Weatherman Draw, Battle 
Butte, Finger Buttes, Howrey Island, Reynolds Battlefield, and Fossil 
Cycad.
    The Bridger Fossil area (575 public surface acres) in Carbon 
County, Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental 
Concern and managed to protect paleontological resources. Management 
actions affecting this area are: rights-of-way, mineral material sales 
and permits, and oil and gas leasing would not be allowed; off-road 
vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and trails; and 
noncommercial collection of common invertebrate and plant fossils would 
be allowed.
    Castle Butte (185 public surface acres) in Yellowstone County, 
Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
and managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management 
actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional 
fire suppression, wood product sales would not be allowed. Rights-of-
way that avoid the significant cultural resource sites in the area 
would be allowed, and geophysical exploration for oil and gas (surface 
methods and vibroseis) that avoids the significant cultural resource 
sites would be allowed.
    East Pryor Mountains (29,500 public surface acres) in Carbon 
County, Montana and Big Horn County, Wyoming would be designated an 
Area of Critical Environmental Concern and managed to protect and 
enhance the wild horse, wildlife habitat and paleontology values. 
Management actions affecting this area are: oil and gas leasing would 
not be allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from entry, and 
noncommercial collection of common invertebrate and plant fossils would 
be allowed.
    Meeteetse Spires (960 public surface acres) in Carbon County would 
be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and managed to 
provide recreation for the public while protecting the area's unique 
vegetation. Management actions affecting this area are: fire would be 
managed with conditional fire suppression, selected timber harvests 
would be allowed, wood product sales would not be allowed, rights-of-
way would not be allowed, livestock grazing, except for sheep, would be 
allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from entry, geophysical 
exploration for oil and gas would not be allowed in the sensitive plant 
area, and in the remaining area geophysical exploration for oil and gas 
would be accessed by air only (vibroseis would not be allowed,) and 
off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and trails.
    Petroglyph Canyon (240 public surface acres) in Carbon County, 
Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
and managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management 
actions affecting this area are: wood product sales, oil and gas 
leasing and geophysical exploration for oil and gas would not be 
allowed, and the area would be closed to off-road vehicle use.
    Stark Site (800 public surface acres) in Musselshell County, 
Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
and managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management 
actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional 
fire suppression, wood product sales, rights-of-away, mineral material 
sales and permits, and oil and gas leasing would not be allowed. 
Geophysical exploration for oil and gas would not be allowed on the 
significant cultural resource sites, and off-road vehicle use would be 
limited to designated roads and trails.
    Weatherman Draw (4,268 public surface acres) in Carbon County, 
Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
and managed to enhance significant cultural resources. Management 
actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional 
fire suppression, wood product sales would not be allowed, rights-of-
way associated with valid

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existing oil and gas lease rights would be allowed, other rights-of-way 
would not be allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from entry, 
oil and gas leasing would be allowed with a No Surface Occupancy 
stipulation, the area would be closed to geophysical exploration for 
oil and gas, and off-road vehicle use would be limited to authorized 
use.
    Battle Butte (120 public surface acres) in Rosebud County, Montana 
would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and 
managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management actions 
affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional fire 
suppression, rights-of-way would not be allowed, mineral material sales 
and permits would not be allowed, oil and gas leasing would be allowed 
with a No Surface Occupancy stipulation, geophysical exploration for 
oil and gas would be allowed on designated roads and trails with 
restrictions, and off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated 
roads and trails.
    Finger Buttes (1,520 public surface acres) in Carter County, 
Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
and managed for its scenic values. Management actions affecting this 
area are: fire would be managed with conditional fire suppression, 
rights-of-way would avoid the area, livestock grazing and range 
improvements would be allowed, mineral material sales and permits and 
nonenergy mineral leasing would not be allowed, oil and gas leasing 
would be allowed with a No Surface Occupancy stipulation, geophysical 
exploration for oil and gas would be allowed on designated roads and 
trails with restrictions, and off-road vehicle use would be allowed 
with restrictions.
    Howrey Island (321 public surface acres) in Treasure County, 
Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
and managed to protect and enhance its special wildlife habitat. 
Management actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with 
conditional fire suppression, wood product sales would be allowed with 
restrictions, rights-of-way would not be allowed, livestock grazing 
would be allowed, range improvements would be allowed when they do not 
degrade the values of the Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Off-
road vehicle use would be limited to the BLM road except from February 
15 to June 1. During that time, no vehicles would be allowed, including 
on the BLM road.
    Reynolds Battlefield (336 public surface acres) in Powder River 
County, Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental 
Concern and managed to protect its significant cultural resources. 
Management actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with 
conditional fire suppression, timber and wood product sales would be 
allowed with restrictions, rights-of-way would avoid the area, 
livestock grazing and range improvements would be allowed, coal leasing 
would not be allowed, mineral material sales and permits and oil and 
gas leasing would not be allowed, geophysical exploration for oil and 
gas would be allowed on designated roads and trails with restrictions, 
and off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and 
trails.
    Fossil Cycad (320 public surface acres) in Fall River County, South 
Dakota would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
and managed to protect its significant paleontological values. 
Management actions affecting this area are: the surface and minerals 
would be retained in public ownership, fire would be managed with 
conditional fire suppression, timber sales and wood products sales 
would not be allowed, rights-of-way would not be allowed, livestock 
grazing would be allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from 
entry, geophysical exploration for oil and gas would not be allowed, 
off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and trails, 
and noncommercial collection of common invertebrate and plant fossils 
would be allowed.
    Management prescriptions for these proposed areas of critical 
environmental concern vary by alternative and are described in the 
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern Environmental Assessment and 
Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment.
    Public participation has occurred throughout the resource 
management planning process. A Notice of Intent was filed in the 
Federal Register in April 1995. All comments presented throughout the 
process have been considered.
    This notice meets the requirements of 43 CFR 1610.7-2 for 
designation of areas of critical environmental concern.

    Dated: September 14, 1998.
Aden Seidlitz,
Associate Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 98-25220 Filed 9-30-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DN-P