[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 79 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20149-20151]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9591]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA-939-1610-DO]


California Coastal National Monument

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management; California State Office.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
for the California Coastal National Monument, designated January 11, 
2000. This action will require a single Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS). The planning area includes all counties which border the 
California Coast.

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SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) intends to prepare an RMP with an associated EIS for 
the California Coastal National Monument Area. The monument includes 
all unappropriated and unreserved islands,

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rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles owned by the United States along 
the Pacific coastline of California located above high mean tide. This 
area overlaps the Arcata, Ukiah, Hollister, Bakersfield, and the Palm 
Springs--South Coast Field Offices. This planning activity encompasses 
approximately 883 acres of public land or approximately 11,500 islands. 
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), the monument proclamation, and BLM management 
policies. The BLM will work collaboratively with interested parties to 
identify the management decisions that are best suited to local, 
regional, and national needs and concerns. Partners in the plan will 
include all major coastal management agencies and local governments. 
The public scoping process will identify planning issues and develop 
planning criteria, including an evaluation of the existing RMPs and 
Management Framework Plans (MFPs) in the context of the needs and 
interests of the public and protection of the objects of historic and 
scientific interest specified in the proclamation.

DATES: The publication of this notice initiates the public scoping 
process. Formal scoping will last a minimum of 60 days. The Draft 
California Coastal National Monument Plan is scheduled for completion 
in September 2003. Comments on issues and planning criteria can be 
submitted in writing to the addresses listed below. All public meetings 
will be announced through the local news media, newsletters, and the 
BLM Web site (www.ca.blm.gov) at least 15 days prior to the event. 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.
    Public Participation: Public meetings will be held throughout the 
plan scoping and preparation period. In order to ensure local community 
participation and input, open houses will be held in locations most 
closely affiliated with the monument. Probable locations include the 
towns of Eureka, Mendicino, Guala, San Francisco, Monterey, San Luis 
Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, and Los Angeles. Early participation 
is encouraged and will help determine the future management of the 
California Coastal National Monument. 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 BLM draft RMP/EIS. In addition, written comments 
will be accepted throughout the entire planning process.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to California State Office, 
Bureau of Land Management, Division of Resources, 2800 Cottage Way, 
Sacramento, California 95825; Fax 916-978-4657. Documents pertinent to 
this proposal may be examined at that office, the Arcata Field Office 
in Arcata California, the Ukiah Field Office in Ukiah, California, the 
Hollister Field Office in Hollister, California, the Bakersfield Field 
Office in Bakersfield, California, and the Palm Springs/South Coast 
Field Office in Palm Springs, California. Comments, including names and 
street addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at 
those above listed offices during regular business hours 7:45 a.m. to 4 
p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays, and may be published as 
part of the EIS. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If 
you wish to withhold your name or street 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: For further information and/or to have your 
name added to our mailing list, contact Tony Danna, telephone 916 978-
4630, or Paul Brink, telephone 916 978-4641.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The creation of the California Coastal 
National Monument necessitates a maintenance action to the Arcata RMP, 
the Clear Lake MFP, the Hollister RMP, the Caliente RMP, and the South 
Coast RMP in order to revise the boundaries of these plans to exclude 
the new Monument.
    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 on the existing 
issues and concerns with current management. The major issue themes 
that will be addressed in the planning effort include, but are not 
limited to: management and protection of shore birds and pinnepeds; 
management and protection of the area's cultural, historic, and 
prehistoric values; management integration with other agencies along 
the coastal zone; management of recreation/visitor use and safety; 
facilities and infrastructures needed to provide visitor 
interpretation/appreciation and administration of the monument; and 
integrating monument management with community, tribal, and other 
agency needs. 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. Disciplines involved in the planning process 
will include specialists with expertise in wildlife/fisheries/marine 
sciences management, minerals and geology, outdoor recreation, 
archaeology, paleontology, lands and realty, botany, soils, information 
technology, sociology, and economics. Where necessary, outside 
expertise may be sought to advise BLM staff.

Background Information

    On January 11, 2000, the President signed the Proclamation creating 
the California Coastal National Monument. The monument encompasses 
approximately 883 acres or approximately 11,500 islands along the 
entire coast of California. This monument does not include submerged 
lands or territorial waters that are owned by the State of California. 
The Proclamation recognizes the biological, geological, and cultural 
significance that warrant protection as a national monument. In 
particular, gulls, the endangered California least tern, the endangered 
brown pelican, and the snowy plover reside in and establish their nests 
on the islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles that comprise the 
national monument. Studies as early as 1970 have noted that the 
rookeries on which these birds breed are unprotected and threatened. 
The number of breeding pairs for some of the species continues to 
decline. The monument also provides forage and breeding habitat for 
several mammal

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species, including a number of threatened pinnepeds. Recognizing their 
ecological importance, the Secretary of the Interior designated these 
islands, rocks, exposed reefs, and pinnacles as the ``California 
Islands Wildlife Sanctuary'' on April 11, 1983 (Public Land Order 
6369). On February 5, 1990, the BLM designated these islands, rocks, 
exposed reefs, and pinnacles an Area of Critical Environmental Concern 
pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 
43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). While the BLM retains legal responsibility for 
the Sanctuary, the State of California's Department of Fish and Game 
currently handles day-to-day management under a 2000 Memorandum of 
Understanding (MOU).

Elaine Marquis-Brong,
Director, National Landscape Conservation System, Bureau of Land 
Management.
[FR Doc. 02-9591 Filed 4-23-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P