[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 79 (Wednesday, April 24, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20154-20155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-9794]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

National Park Service

[ID 070-02-1610-DO-051D]


Craters of the Moon National Monument; Land Use Plan and 
Associated Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Upper Snake River District, Bureau of Land Management, Idaho 
Falls, Idaho; National Park Service, Craters of the Moon National 
Monument.

ACTION: Issuance of a Notice of intent to prepare a Resource Management 
Plan (RMP)/General Management Plan (GMP), and Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Craters of the Moon National Monument. The 
Monument is located in Blaine, Butte, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Power 
Counties, Idaho.

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SUMMARY: This document announces that the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) and the National Park Service (NPS) intend to jointly prepare a 
land use plan and associated EIS for the Craters of the Moon National 
Monument. This planning activity encompasses approximately 739,682 
acres of federally managed land. The plan will fulfill the requirements 
of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act (FLPMA, the National Park Service Organic 
Act, other pertinent statutes, the Presidential Proclamations 
establishing and expanding the Monument, and the NPS and BLM management 
policies. The BLM and NPS will work closely with interested parties to 
identify the 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. Publication of this notice 
initiates the public scoping process to identify planning issues and to 
develop planning criteria. Formal scoping will last a minimum of 60 
days. The scoping process will include an evaluation of the existing 
land use plans in the context of the needs and interests of the public 
and protection of the values for which the Monument was established and 
expanded.
    Comments: Open-house public meetings will be held throughout the 
plan scoping and preparation period. In order to ensure local community 
participation and input, public meeting locations will be rotated among 
nearby towns, especially those within a one-hour drive of the Monument. 
The dates and locations of these meetings will be announced through 
mailings and local and regional media releases. The notices will also 
be posted on the National Park Service (www.nps.gov/crmo) and Bureau of 
Land Management (www.id.blm.gov/planning) web sites. At least 15 days 
public notice will be given for activities where the public is invited 
to attend. Early participation by all those interested is encouraged 
and will help determine the future management of the Craters of the 
Moon National Monument. The BLM and NPS are interested in public 
comment regarding issues to be addressed by this planning effort. 
Issues identified by the public will help define the alternative 
management strategies to be analyzed in this conservation planning/
environmental impact analysis process. To receive full consideration 
during alternative formulation, written comments identifying issues to 
be addressed must be postmarked or transmitted not later than 60 days 
after the publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
    Informal public participation is encouraged throughout this 
process. Open-house meetings will be held to explain the planning/
environmental impact analysis process and receive public input. Formal 
opportunity for public review and comment will be provided upon 
publication of the joint draft plan and EIS. Documents pertinent to 
this proposal may be examined at the Craters of Moon National Monument 
Headquarters, eighteen miles southwest of Arco on U.S. Highway 93, and 
at the

[[Page 20155]]

Shoshone Field Office of the BLM, 400 W F Street, Shoshone, Idaho.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the Shoshone Field Office of the BLM, 
in Shoshone, Idaho, during regular business hours, 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 
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.

ADDRESSES: For further information and/or to add your name to our 
mailing list, contact Rick VanderVoet, BLM Shoshone Field Office, PO 
Box 2-B, Shoshone, Idaho 83352, telephone (208) 732-7200, or James 
Morris, NPS, Craters of the Moon National Monument, PO Box 29, Arco, ID 
83213, telephone (208) 527-3257.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The expansion of the Craters of the Moon 
National Monument and the changing needs and interests of the public 
necessitates development of a new plan for the Monument. Preliminary 
issues and management concerns have been identified by BLM and NPS 
personnel, other agencies, and in meetings with individuals and user 
groups. They represent BLM's and NPS's knowledge to date on the 
existing issues and concerns with current management. The issue themes 
that will be addressed in the plan include, but are not limited to: 
protection of geologic features, cave management, fire and fuels 
management, cultural resource management, transportation management, 
recreation management, livestock grazing, land tenure adjustments, 
wilderness resource management, and designation of management zones. 
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.
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
    Rationale will be provided in the plan for each issue placed in 
category 2 or 3. 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 minerals and geology, 
archaeology, rangeland management, outdoor recreation, wildlife, 
wilderness, lands and realty, hydrology, soils, sociology, and 
economics. Where necessary, outside expertise may be used.
    Background Information: Presidential Proclamation 1694 established 
the Craters of the Moon National Monument on May 2, 1924 for the 
purpose of protecting the unusual landscape of the Craters of the Moon 
lava field. This ``lunar'' landscape was thought to resemble that of 
the moon and was described in the Proclamation as a ``weird and scenic 
landscape peculiar to itself.'' Since 1924, Monument has been expanded 
and boundary adjustments made through four Presidential Proclamations 
issued pursuant to the Antiquities Act (34 Stat. 225, 16 U.S.C. 431). 
Presidential Proclamation 1843 of July 23, 1928, expanded the monument 
to include certain springs for water supply and additional features of 
scientific interest. Presidential Proclamation 1916 of July 9, 1930, 
Presidential Proclamation 2499 of July 18, 1941, and Presidential 
Proclamation 3506 of November 19, 1962, made further adjustments to the 
boundaries. In 1996, a minor boundary adjustment was made by section 
205 of the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 (Pub. 
L. 104-333, 110 Stat. 4093, 4106). Presidential Proclamation (7373) of 
November 9, 2000 is the fifth proclamation affecting the Monument. This 
latest proclamation directed the National Park Service and Bureau of 
Land Management to manage the Monument cooperatively. The BLM and NPS 
propose to use a combined Resource Management Plan (RMP)/General 
Management Plan (GMP) process to replace portions of five existing BLM 
Land Use Plans and one NPS General Management Plan. This single, 
interagency RMP/GMP will establish management objectives for the entire 
Craters of the Moon National Monument. The proposed, new land use plan 
will be a stand-alone, comprehensive plan for the recently expanded 
Monument, and will serve as ``blueprint'' for joint management of these 
lands during the next 10-15 years.

    Dated: April 16, 2002.
Patricia L. Neubacher,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
    Dated: April 17, 2002.
Elaine Marquis-Brong,
Director, National Conservation Landscape System, Bureau of Land 
Management.
[FR Doc. 02-9794 Filed 4-23-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-M