[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 214 (Monday, November 5, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55946-55947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-27456]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR-030-01-1610-DQ:GP1-0136]


Notice of Availability of Proposed Southeastern Oregon Resource 
Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement; and Proposed 
Area of Critical Environmental Concern Designations

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Malheur and Jordan Resource Areas, 
Vale District.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act and section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Proposed 
Southeastern Oregon Resource Management Plan (PSEORMP) and associated 
final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Malheur and Jordan 
Resource Areas, Vale District, Oregon. The Final SEORMP will only 
provide management direction for a portion of the original planning 
area. The Draft SEORMP/EIS (October, 1998) addressed approximately 6.3 
million acres of public land; however, due to congressional action 
(House Resolution 4828, Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and 
Protection Act of 2000), the Andrews Resource Area was withdrawn from 
the land use planning process and will be addressed in a separate land 
use planning process scheduled to begin in 2001 by the Burns BLM 
District. Final decisions of this SEORMP planning process will 
supercede the Northern and Southern Malheur Management Framework Plans, 
as amended, and the Ironside and Southern Malheur Rangeland Program 
Summaries. The Final SEORMP will provide direction for management of 
these public lands for approximately 20 years. The PSEORMP/FEIS 
addresses seven alternatives for management, including the Proposed 
Resource Management Plan (Proposed RMP), on approximately 4.6 million 
acres of BLM administered public lands in southeast Oregon. The 
Proposed RMP would result in designation of all public lands for the 
management of motorized vehicles (2,615,116 acres Open, 2,004,369 acres 
Limited, and 15,826 acres Closed), and would recommend 42.5 miles of 
streams and river segments determined to be eligible and 
administratively suitable for congressional designation under the Wild 
and Scenic Rivers Act. This notice is also issued pursuant to 43 CFR 
Part 1610.7-2(b) of the BLM Planning Regulations, with the Proposed RMP 
proposing 26 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) 
(approximately 206,257 acres) be designated.

DATES: The public has the opportunity to protest the proposed resource 
management plan in the Final EIS. The BLM Planning Regulations, 43 CFR 
1610.5-2, state that any person who participated in the planning 
process and has an interest which may be adversely affected may 
protest. A protest may raise only those issues which were submitted for 
the record during the planning process. The BLM will make a decision on 
the SEORMP after review of protests (if any) that must be filed by 
December 5, 2001. Written protests may be submitted at any time during 
the protest period at the following address: Director, Bureau of Land 
Management, Attention: Ms. Brenda Williams, Protests Coordinator, WO-
210/LS-1075, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240. To be 
considered timely, your protest must be postmarked no later than the 
last day of the protest period. Also, although not a requirement, we 
suggest that you send your protest by certified mail, return receipt 
requested.
    To be considered complete, your protest must contain, at a minimum, 
the following information:
     Name, mailing address, telephone number and the affected 
interest of the person filing the protest(s).
     A statement of the issue or issues being protested.
     A statement of the part or the parts of the proposed plan 
being protested. To the extent possible, reference specific pages, 
paragraphs and sections of the document.
     A copy of all your documents addressing the issue or 
issues which were discussed with BLM for the record.
     A concise statement explaining why the proposed decision 
is believed to be incorrect. This is a critical part of your protest. 
Document all relevant facts, as much as possible, referencing or citing 
the planning and environmental analysis documents. A protest that 
merely expresses disagreement with the State Director's proposed 
decision without any data will not provide us with the benefit of your 
information and insight. In this case, the Director's review will be 
based on the existing analysis and supporting data.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Taylor, Jordan Resource Area 
Field Manager; or Roy Masinton, Malheur Resource Area Field Manager, 
BLM, 100 Oregon Street, Vale, Oregon 97918. Telephone (541) 473-3144. 
Single copies of the PSEORMP/FEIS are available at the BLM Vale 
District Office. Copies will also be available for inspection during 
normal business hours at the BLM Baker Field Office, 3165 10th Street, 
Baker City, Oregon, the BLM Burns District Office, HC 74-12533, Highway 
20 West, Hines, Oregon, and the BLM Oregon State Office, 1515 SW 5th 
Street, Portland, Oregon. Comments on the PSEORMP/FEIS, including names 
and addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at 
the Vale District Office during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m. (mountain time), Monday through Friday, except holidays. 
Individuals may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your 
name or address from public review or from disclosure under

[[Page 55947]]

the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this promptly at the 
beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the 
extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be 
made available for public inspection in their entirety. Interested 
persons not already on the mailing list may review the PSEORMP/FEIS via 
the internet at http://www.or.blm.gov/Vale. A hard copy or a CD ROM of 
the document may be requested from the Vale District Office by calling 
(541) 473-3144.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Malheur and Jordan Resource Areas 
include 4,600,648 acres of BLM administered public lands in Malheur, 
Harney, and Grant Counties, Oregon, and encompass approximately 
1,851,708 acres of other Federal, State and private lands. The land use 
planning effort addresses a broad spectrum of land uses and 
allocations. The Proposed RMP Alternative also provides for the 
following: the use of wild and prescribed fire to meet resource 
objectives; provisions for possible disposal of several parcels of 
potentially suitable public land totaling approximately 62,100 acres; 
livestock grazing on public lands except for approximately 58,900 acres 
not allocated; varied recreation uses and establishment of five special 
recreation management areas; management of special status plant and 
animal species and habitat; improvement of water quality and riparian 
habitats; management of wild horses in seven herd management areas; and 
mineral exploration and development, with retention of currently 
withdrawn public lands from locatable minerals and recommendation for 
withdrawal of several parcels from locatable minerals totaling 
approximately 116,351 acres for provisions such as ACEC's and 
administrative and recreation facilities. Other management actions 
under the Proposed RMP Alternative are as described in the PSEORMP/
FEIS. The PSEORMP/FEIS is based on adaptive management, which is a 
continuing process of planning, implementation, monitoring, and 
evaluation to adjust management strategies to meet goals and objectives 
of ecosystem management. The concept of adaptive management uses the 
latest scientific information, site-specific information/data, and 
professional judgement to select the management strategy most likely to 
meet goals and objectives of the plan.

Sandra L. Guches,
Acting Vale District Manager.
[FR Doc. 01-27456 Filed 11-2-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P