[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 212 (Thursday, November 1, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55202-55204]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27424]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT 100-01-1610-DO-083]


Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for Public Lands and 
Resources in Garfield, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne Counties, UT

AGENCY: Richfield Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Richfield, 
Utah.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
for public lands and resources managed by the Richfield Field Office. 
This action will require preparation of an Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS). These lands are located in Garfield, Piute, Sanpete, 
Sevier and Wayne counties, Utah.

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SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) intends to prepare an RMP and associated EIS for the 
Richfield Field Office. This planning activity encompasses 
approximately 2.2 million acres of public land in the above named 
counties and the leaseable mineral estate on portions of the Dixie and 
Fishlake National Forests. The plan will fulfill the needs and 
obligations set forth by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM management 
policies. The BLM will work closely with interested parties to identify 
potential management decisions that are best suited to the needs of the 
public. This collaborative process will take into account local, 
regional, and national needs and concerns. This notice initiates the 
public scoping process to identify planning issues and to review 
preliminary planning criteria.

DATES: The scoping comment period will commence with the publication of 
this notice. Formal scoping will end 60 days after publication of this 
notice. Comments on issues and planning criteria will be most useful if 
received on or before the end of the scoping period at the address 
listed below.
    Public Participation: Public meetings will be held throughout the 
plan scoping and preparation period. In order to ensure local community 
participation and input, public meetings will be held, at a minimum, in 
the towns of Junction, Loa, Manti, and Richfield, Utah. Early 
participation by all interested parties is encouraged and will help 
determine the future management of the Richfield Field Office public 
lands. At least 15 days public notice will be given for activities 
where the public is invited to attend. The minutes and list of 
attendees for each meeting will be available to the public and open for 
30 days to any participant who wishes to clarify the views they 
expressed. Written comments will be accepted throughout the planning 
process at the address shown below. Meetings and comment deadlines will 
be announced through the local news media, newsletters and the BLM Web 
site (www.ut.blm.gov). In addition to the ongoing public participation 
process, formal opportunities for public participation will be provided 
through comment on the alternatives and upon publication of the draft 
RMP/EIS.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to RMP Comments, Bureau of 
Land Management, Richfield Field Office, 150 East 900 North, Richfield, 
Utah 84701; Fax 435-896-1550. Documents pertinent to this proposal may 
be examined at the BLM's Richfield Field Office. Comments, including 
names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public 
review at the Richfield Field Office during regular business hours, 8 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,

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except holidays, and may be published as part of the EIS. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your 
name or address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom 
of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent 
allowed by law. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and 
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials 
of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection 
in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact Frank Erickson, Assistant 
Field Manager for Planning, BLM Richfield Field Office, 150 East 900 
North, Richfield, UT 84701, phone: 435-896-1532, 
e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Preliminary issues and management concerns 
have been identified by BLM personnel, other agencies, and in meetings 
with individuals and user groups. They represent the BLM's knowledge to 
date of the existing issues and concerns with current management. The 
major issue themes that will be addressed in the plan effort are 
management and protection of public land resources; access to and 
transportation on the public lands; off-highway vehicle management; 
wilderness study area recommendations; and balancing multiple uses. 
Other specific issues may include; cultural resource management, fire 
management, forestry and woodland harvest management, lands and realty 
management, rangeland health and management, wild horse and burro 
management, potential establishment of wilderness study areas, areas of 
critical environmental concern, wild and scenic rivers, and special 
status species management.
    After gathering public comments on what issues the plan should 
address, the suggested issues will be placed in one of three 
categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
    2. Issues resolved through policy or administrative action; or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
    Rationale will be provided in the plan for each issue placed in 
category two or three. In addition to these major issues, a number of 
management questions and concerns will be addressed in the plan. The 
public is encouraged to help identify these questions and concerns 
during the scoping phase. An interdisciplinary approach will be used to 
develop the plan in order to consider the variety of resource issues 
and concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in the following 
disciplines will be involved in the planning process: Rangeland 
management, minerals and geology, outdoor recreation, archaeology, 
paleontology, wildlife and fisheries, lands and realty, hydrology, 
soils, sociology, and economics. Additional expertise will be included 
as appropriate.

Background Information

    Public lands managed by the Richfield Field Office are situated in 
south-central Utah in the canyons, plateaus and deserts of the Great 
Basin and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces. The field office 
borders the Colorado River, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, 
Capitol Reef National Park, and portions of the Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-
LaSal, and Uinta National Forests. Major waterways include the Sevier, 
San Pitch, Fremont, Muddy, and Dirty Devil rivers and the Piute, Otter 
Creek, and Sevier Bridge (Yuba) reservoirs. Elevations in the area 
range from 3,800 feet in the Cane Spring Desert to over 11,500 feet 
atop Mt. Ellen in the Henry Mountains.
    The Richfield Field Office is presently managed under five existing 
land use plans:
     Mountain Valley Management Framework Plan (MFP), approved 
in 1982
     Henry Mountain MFP, approved in 1982
     Parker Mountain MFP, approved in 1982
     Cedar-Beaver-Garfield-Antimony (CBGA) RMP, approved in 
1984
     San Rafael RMP, Approved in 1991
    The existing plans are out-of-date with respect to current resource 
conditions, public values, laws, regulations and policies.
    As part of the land use planning process, the FLPMA mandates that 
the BLM give priority to the designation and protection of Areas of 
Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in developing and revising land 
use plans. As part of the Richfield Field Office RMP planning effort, 
the BLM will determine what areas, if any, should be designated as 
ACECs. As such, BLM is requesting nominations for areas that the public 
may see as being appropriately managed as ACECs.
    Additional public nominations are also being sought for those 
rivers which may be eligible for inclusion into the National Wild and 
Scenic River System. In order to be considered, the body of water must 
be free flowing and contain at least one outstandingly remarkable 
value. The river can be any size and must be existing or flowing in a 
natural condition without major modification. All nominations should be 
accompanied by detailed maps, descriptions of the river segment, and 
river related values. Rivers will also be tentatively classified as 
wild, scenic or recreational. An interdisciplinary team in coordination 
with planning partners will make preliminary determinations as to 
eligibility and classification of river segments. These preliminary 
determinations will be made available for public review prior to 
issuance of the Draft RMP/Draft EIS.
    Preliminary Planning Criteria have been identified to help guide 
the planning effort. The Richfield Field Office Resource Management 
Plan and the process used for developing it will: (1) Recognize valid 
existing rights; (2) comply with laws, regulations, executive orders 
and BLM supplemental program guidance; (3) include management direction 
for public lands, including split estate lands managed by BLM; (4) 
determine the desired future condition of public lands using, where 
possible, a collaborative and multi-jurisdictional approach; (5) 
ensure, within applicable laws and policies, that management 
prescriptions and planning actions complement those of neighboring 
Federal, tribal, state, county and municipal planning jurisdictions; 
(6) focus management prescriptions on the harmonious and coordinated 
management of the various resources without permanent impairment of the 
productivity of the land and the quality of the environment, giving 
consideration to the relative values of the resources and not 
necessarily the combination of uses that provide the greatest economic 
return or greatest unit output; (7) address the social and economic 
impacts of the alternatives; (8) utilize current scientific 
information, research, new technologies and the results of inventory, 
monitoring and coordination to determine appropriate local and regional 
management strategies to enhance or restore impaired ecosystems; (9) 
apply comprehensive Land Health Standards to all activities and uses; 
(10) develop and portray baseline Reasonable Foreseeable Management/
Development (RFD) scenarios based on historical, existing, and 
projected development levels for appropriate programs; (11) coordinate 
with Indian Tribes to identify sites, areas and objects important to 
their culture and religious heritage; (12) evaluate paleontological and 
cultural

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resources for use allocations, if appropriate, including provisions for 
interpretation, preservation, conservation and enhancement; (13) comply 
with the Endangered Species Act and follow interagency agreements with 
the USFWS regarding consultation; (14) develop vegetation management 
objectives for all areas; (15) develop management actions that are 
responsive to the issues, concerns and opportunities identified for 
resolution in this plan; and (16) develop direction for managing off-
highway vehicles consistent with BLM's national OHV strategy.
    This notice announces the beginning of the formal public 
involvement period. The Richfield Field Office is seeking public 
involvement at the earliest possible stages of this planning endeavor 
to enhance collaboration. If you have information, or concerns you 
would like to share, including ideas or opportunities that could 
enhance data collection, resource inventories, formulation of issues or 
alternatives, or development of planning criteria, please submit them 
to the above address.
    Alternatives will be developed and analyzed to resolve those issues 
identified during the scoping process and a Draft RMP/Draft EIS will be 
published and made available for public review.

    Dated: September 6, 2001.
Robert A. Bennett,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 01-27424 Filed 10-31-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P