[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 55 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14009-14010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-7024]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[UT-040-99-1150-00]


St. George Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan and 
Record of Decision

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (40 CFR 1550.2), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), 
St. George Field Office provides notice of the availability of the 
approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Record of Decision (ROD) 
for the St. George Field Office. The approved RMP/ROD was signed by the 
Utah State Director on March 15, 1999. This approved RMP/ROD supersedes 
the existing Virgin River Management Framework Plan and other related 
documents for managing BLM-administered lands, with exception to some 
off-highway vehicle, mountain bike, and other restrictions/closures 
carried forth from past Federal Register notices. The St. George Field 
Office is responsible for management of BLM-administered lands and 
minerals in all of Washington County, Utah. This county encompasses the 
southwestern corner of Utah. The St. George Field Office is 
administratively responsible for 671,545 acres of surface and 
subsurface lands.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the approved RMP/ROD will be available upon 
request at the end of April when they are delivered by the printing 
contractor to the St. George Field Office. You may contact Lauren 
Mermejo at the St. George Field Office if you would like a copy of this 
document at: 345 East Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah, 84790. The 
telephone number is (435) 688-3216.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Crisp, St. George Field Office 
Manager, at the above address. He can be reached by telephone at (435) 
688-3201.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The St. George Field Office approved RMP/ROD 
is essentially the same as the Dixie Proposed Resource Management Plan 
and Final Environmental Impact Statement (PRMP/FEIS) that was completed 
in September, 1995. (The name of the field office was changed from the 
Dixie Resource Area to the St. George Field Office in early 1999; 
however, the administrative boundaries remain the same.) The Federal 
Register notice for the PRMP/DEIS was dated September 17, 1998, Volume 
63, Number 180, Pages 49711-49712. No changes to the proposed decisions 
have been made. However, some clarifying language has been included as 
a result of the protest letters received on the PRMP/FEIS, as well as 
internal corrections. Two new decisions that were added to the approved 
RMP/ROD include (1) a decision to conduct activities within desert 
tortoise habitat in accordance with the terms and conditions described 
in the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Biological Opinion for the 
Mojave desert tortoise (ES/6-UT-98-F-005, August 12, 1998), and (2) a 
decision to continue to allow for low-impact motorcycle trials events 
in the Pahcoon Gulch area, with specific constraints. The Director's 
office has issued final decisions, dismissing or resolving, each of the 
nineteen protests received, thus allowing for immediate implementation 
of the approved RMP.

Wild and Scenic Rivers

    Through this planning effort parts or all of the following five 
river segments are recommended as suitable for congressional 
designation: Deep Creek/Crystal Creek, North Fork of the Virgin River 
above Zion National Park, Oak Creek/Kolob Creek, that portion of 
LaVerkin Creek/Smith Creek from above Zion National Park to the north 
boundary of the private parcel of Section 18, T. 40 S., R. 12 W., and 
that portion of the Virgin River contained

[[Page 14010]]

wholly within the Beaver Dam Mountains Wilderness Area.

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC)

    The plan designates the following ten areas as ACECs: Red Bluff 
(6,168 acres), Warner Ridge/Fort Pearce (4,281 acres), Santa Clara/
Gunlock (1,998 acres), Santa Clara/Land Hill (1,645 acres), Lower 
Virgin River (1,822 acres), Little Creek Mountain (19,302 acres), 
Canaan Mountain (31,355 acres), Red Mountain (4,854 acres), Beaver Dam 
Slope (48,519 acres), Upper Beaver Dam Wash (33,063 acres).

Off-Highway Vehicle Designations

    The plan designates 91,704 acres closed to off-highway vehicle 
(OHV) use; 448,066 acres as open for use by OHVs on existing or 
designated roads and trails; and 89,235 acres as open for use by OHVs.
Linda Colville,
Acting State Director, Utah.
[FR Doc. 99-7024 Filed 3-22-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P