[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 146 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39332-39333]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-19047]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA-610-01-1610-DL]


Lower Chemehuevi Valley, San Bernadino County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed order for temporary closure of selected routes of 
travel in the Lower Chemehuevi Valley of San Bernardino County, 
California and notice of availability of environmental assessment and 
draft finding of no significant impact on the proposed closures.

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SUMMARY: Selected routes of travel located in the lower Chemehuevi 
Valley, California are proposed to be temporarily closed to vehicle use 
pursuant to 43 CFR 8364.1. The proposed closure is intended to protect 
public lands and resources by minimizing potential adverse impacts to 
sensitive resources, including the desert tortoise and its habitat from 
motorized vehicle use. This is an interim protection measure pending 
designation of routes as ``open'', ``closed'', or ``limited'' through 
an amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan of 
1980, as amended. By taking this interim action as allowed under 43 CFR 
8364.1, the Bureau of Land Management contributes to the conservation 
of the threatened and endangered desert tortoise in accordance with 
section 7(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(1). 
BLM also avoids making any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of 
resources which would foreclose any reasonable and prudent alternatives 
which might be required as a result of the consultation on the CDCA 
plan in accordance with section 7(d) of the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1536(d). We 
anticipate that this closure will remain in effect until September 1, 
2002, when a record of decision is signed for the amendment to the 
California Desert Conservation Area Plan for the Northern and Eastern 
Colorado Desert, the subject of the consultation.
    Exceptions to the vehicle closure include Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) operation and maintenance vehicles, law enforcement and fire 
vehicles, and other emergency vehicles. In addition, on certain 
specified routes in the lower Chemehuevi Valley, valid mining claim 
holders are exempt from the closure for purposes of gaining access to 
their claims.
    The Environmental Assessment concerning this closure is available 
for a 15 day review period. Interested parties should contact the Field 
Office Manager at the address below for a copy and review schedule. The 
documents are also available for review on the BLM Needles Field Office 
web site (www.ca.blm.gov/needles). Written comments may be sent to the 
address listed below in this notice.
    The Order for closure will be posted in the California BLM Needles 
Field Office and the Arizona BLM Lake Havasu Field Office, and at 
places near and/or within the area to which the closure applies.

DATES: No sooner than 30 days after publication of this notice, a final 
closure determination will be published.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to the Needles Field Office, 
Attn: Planning and Environmental Coordinator, at 101 W. Spikes Road, 
Needles, California 92363.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 16, 2000, the Center for Biological 
Diversity, and others (Center) filed for injunctive relief in U.S. 
District Court, Northern District of California (Court) against the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) alleging that the BLM was in violation 
of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1536(ESA) by 
failing to enter into formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service (FWS) on the effects of adoption of the California 
Desert Conservation Area Plan (CDCA Plan), as amended, upon threatened 
and endangered species. On August 25, 2000, the BLM acknowledged 
through a court stipulation that activities authorized, permitted, or 
allowed under the CDCA Plan may adversely affect threatened and 
endangered species, and that the BLM is required to consult with the 
FWS to insure that adoption and implementation of the CDCA Plan is not 
likely to jeopardize the continued existence of threatened and 
endangered species or to result in the destruction or adverse 
modification of critical habitat of listed species.
    Although BLM has received biological opinions on selected 
activities, consultation on the overall CDCA Plan is necessary to 
address the cumulative effects of all the activities authorized by the 
CDCA Plan. Consultation on the overall Plan is complex and the 
completion date is uncertain. Absent consultation on the entire Plan, 
the impacts of individual activities, when added together with the 
impacts of other activities in the desert, are not known. The BLM 
entered into negotiations with plaintiffs regarding interim actions to 
be taken to provide protection for endangered and threatened species 
pending completion of the consultation on the CDCA Plan. Agreement on 
these interim actions avoided litigation of plaintiffs' request for 
injunctive relief and the threat of an injunction prohibiting all 
activities authorized under the Plan. These interim agreements have 
allowed BLM to continue to authorize appropriate levels of activities 
throughout the planning area during the lengthy consultation process 
while providing appropriate protection to the desert tortoise and other 
listed species in the short term. By taking interim actions as allowed 
under 43 CFR Subpart 8364, BLM contributes to the conservation of 
endangered and threatened species in accordance with section 7(a)(1) of 
the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(1). BLM also avoids making any irreversible 
or irretrievable commitment of resources which would foreclose any 
reasonable and prudent alternative measures which might be required as 
a result of the consultation on the CDCA plan in accordance with 
section 7(d) of the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1536(d). In January 2001, the 
parties signed the Stipulation and Proposed Order Concerning All 
Further Injunctive Relief providing for closures described in this 
Notice.
    All existing routes in the subject areas are being or will be 
evaluated and proposed for designation as Open, Closed, or Limited 
through the land use planning process as amendments to the California 
Desert Conservation Area Plan. These designations will be based on 
criteria identified in 43 CFR 8342.1. Management of routes proposed for 
closure will minimize the potential for any adverse effects pending 
designation.
    The proposed closure in the lower Chemehuevi Valley is necessary to 
minimize potential adverse impacts to the desert tortoise and its 
habitat. The proposed project area lies adjacent to and partially 
within the desert tortoise Chemehuevi Critical Habitat Unit. The 
closure will reduce the extent of motorized vehicle use in desert 
tortoise habitat and help prevent mortality of desert tortoise and 
other species.
    The lower Chemehuevi Valley closure is described as follows: The 
closed routes are located south of Havasu Lake Road, one-mile west of 
the border of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe Reservation, north of the 
northern boundary of the Whipple Mountains Wilderness Area and the East 
Mojave Heritage Trail, and east of U.S. Highway 95, San Bernardino 
County, California. Specifically, this order closes dirt routes 
identified in the Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert Plan in the 
following areas:

Route #690517, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 6, 7, 8, 10

[[Page 39333]]

Route #690522, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 32; 
Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 5
Route #690523, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Sections 32; 
Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 4, 5; closed except to 
persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these otherwise 
closed routes.
Route #690524, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 32; 
Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 4, 5; closed except to 
persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these otherwise 
closed routes.
Route #690525, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 33; 
Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 3, 4
Route #690527, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 4, closed 
except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these 
otherwise closed routes.
Route #690528, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 4, closed 
except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these 
otherwise closed routes.
Route #690529, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 4, closed 
except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these 
otherwise closed routes.
Route #690530, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 3, 4, 9
Route #690531, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 2,3, 10
Route #690532, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 1, 2
Route #690533, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 1, 2
Route #690534, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2
Route #690536, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2, 3, 10, 11
Route #690537, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 10
Route #690538, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2
Route #690540, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 11
Route #690542, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 34, 35, 
36; Township 5 North, Range 24 East, Sections 34, 35
Route #690543, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 34, 35
Route #690544, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 35; 
Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2
Route #690546, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 14, 15
Route #690896, Township 4 North, Range 23 East, Section 1 and Township 
5 North, Range 23 East, Section 36.

    Less than one-quarter mile of route numbers 690532 and 690533 
extend onto public lands managed by the BLM's Arizona Lake Havasu Field 
Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George R. Meckfessel, Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator, Needles Field Office, 101 W. Spikes Rd., 
Needles, CA 92363, Tel: 760-326-7000.

    Dated: July 11, 2001.
Timothy Z. Smith,
Acting DSD, Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 01-19047 Filed 7-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P