[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 79 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20153-20154]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9598]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR113-6310-AA; HAG02-0018]


Cascade-Siskiyou National Resource Management; Notice of 
Availability of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Draft Resource 
Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, 
Medford District.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument 
Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement 
(DRMP/DEIS).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management of 1976 and section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 and 40 CFR 1506.6(2), the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan (DRMP) and 
associated Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Cascade-
Siskiyou National Monument located in Jackson County, Oregon. The DRMP 
will provide a range of alternatives, including identification of a 
preferred alternative, for management direction for the Cascade-
Siskiyou National Monument. The DRMP addressed management on 
approximately 52,947 acres of public land. Final decisions through this 
planning process will supercede planning guidance presented in the 
Medford District Resource Management Plan. The Plan will provide 
direction for management of these public lands for a period of 
approximately 10 years. The DRMP/DEIS considers all issues raised 
during plan scoping that are within the decision space allowed by the 
Presidential Proclamation 7318 which designated the Monument and other 
non-discretionary programs and policies. Issues addressed in the DRMP/
DEIS include vegetation management, access, prescribed fire, 
recreation, visitor use, and facilities/rights-of-way. The DRMP/DEIS 
describes four alternatives for management of the CSNM, including a 
``No Action'' Alternative A. Each ``action'' alternative has a 
different emphasis, primarily defined in terms of the amount of 
management intervention necessary to meet the primary goal of 
protecting, maintaining, restoring or enhancing relevant and important 
ecological, biological, geological, and archaeological objects. 
Alternative B promotes natural ecosystem processes in the management of 
plant communities. Alternative C incorporates active management for 
protection and maintenance of the conifer communities while limiting 
some ground disturbing management tools that may be used in maintaining 
and restoring the other plant communities. Alternative D promotes 
aggressive management for protection, maintenance and restoration of 
Monument resources through the use of all management tools available. 
The alternatives defer proposing land use allocations or management 
directions that are precluded by the need for the livestock grazing 
study required by the Proclamation. The action alternatives were 
prepared in accordance with applicable planning procedures and are 
designed to protect, maintain, restore or enhance Monument objects, 
resources and ecological processes.

DATES: The public has the opportunity to review and comment on the CSNM 
DRMP/DEIS. It is anticipated that this document will be available for 
review around May 2002. Per BLM Planning Regulations, 43 CFR 1610.2(e), 
ninety (90) days shall be provided for review of the draft plan and 
draft environmental impact statement. The 90-day period shall formally 
begin when the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a notice of 
the filing of the draft environmental impact statement in the Federal 
Register. During this time period, written comments on the contents of 
the DRMP/DEIS will be solicited, particularly comments that address one 
or more of the following: (1) New information that would affect the 
analysis; (2) possible improvements in the analysis; and (3) 
suggestions for improving or clarifying the proposed management 
direction. Specific comments are most useful. BLM will respond to 
comments addressing the adequacy of the DRMP/DEIS in the Proposed 
Resource Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement. Comments 
on the DEIS, including names and addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the Medford District Office during 
regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 
except holidays). Individuals may request confidentiality. If you wish 
to withhold your name or address from public

[[Page 20154]]

review or from disclosure under 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 or organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.
    BLM will discuss the various management alternatives and answer 
questions pertaining to the Monument at an open-house type public 
meeting to be held at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon 
during the comment period. If there is sufficient public interest, the 
BLM may have additional public meetings. All public meetings will be 
announced in the Medford and Ashland newspapers and on the BLM Medford 
District's web site, http://www.or.blm.gov/Medford/ under ``Planning 
Documents'' at least 15 days prior to the event.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Richard J. Drehobl, 
Monument Manager, Medford District Bureau of Land Management, 3040 
Biddle Road, Medford, Oregon 97504.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ted Hass, Planning and Environmental 
Coordinator at 3040 Biddle Road, Medford, Oregon, 97504, telephone 541-
618-2253. Single copies of the DRMP/DEIS will be available at the BLM 
Medford District Office around May 2002. Interested persons not already 
on the mailing list may review the DRMP/DEIS via the internet at http://www.or.blm.gov/Medford/ under ``Planning Documents.'' A hard copy or a 
CD-ROM of the DRMP/DEIS may be requested from the Medford District 
Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument 
(CSNM) consists of 52,947 acres of federal land located in southern 
Jackson County, Oregon. These federal lands are managed by the Bureau 
of Land Management's Medford District Office. Although there are 
approximately 32,222 acres of non-federal lands interspersed among the 
federal land within the Presidential Proclamation boundary, the CSNM is 
comprised of only federal land.
    The CSNM is located in the Klamath and Rogue River basins and four 
watersheds that have a combined total of approximately 780 miles of 
streams. There are three ecoregions identified in the CSNM having 
particular biological significance in terms of species richness, 
endemism, and unique evolutionary/ecological phenomenon.
    Archaeological evidence indicates that people have lived in the 
region for at least 10,000 years. Various native peoples inhabited or 
used the CSNM area including the Shasta, the Klamath and Modoc tribes. 
Euro-American settlement in the Rogue and Shasta valleys from the 1850s 
on spurred the development of a new way of life in the region.
    The BLM controls approximately 251 miles of road that access the 
52,947 acres of public land designated as the Monument. These roads 
provide access for recreation, private property and management 
activities such as wildfire suppression.

    Dated: January 3, 2002.
Ron Wenker,
District Manager.
[FR Doc. 02-9598 Filed 4-23-02; 8:45 am]
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