[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 87 (Monday, May 6, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30396-30397]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-11083]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CA-650-01-1220-JG-064B]


Notice of a Firearm Shooting Restriction on Public Lands Within 
the Red Mountain Polygon, San Bernardino County, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Firearm shooting restriction on public lands within the Red 
Mountain Polygon, San Bernardino County, California.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a firearm shooting restriction in 
the Red Mountain Polygon, located in the northwestern portion of San 
Bernardino County, California, is in effect as of January 16, 2002. The 
Red Mountain Polygon is comprised of approximately 98,043 acres of 
public lands in the California Desert Conservation Area, and is located 
within the western Mojave Desert area of northwestern San Bernardino 
County, California. Specifically, the firearm shooting restriction 
requires that all target shooting conducted on public lands within the 
Red Mountain Polygon be directed at paper targets created specifically 
for such purpose. The use of firearms for hunting administered by the 
California Fish and Game Commission is not affected by this firearm 
shooting restriction. This restriction will remain in effect until 
amendments to the California Desert Conservation Area Plan are 
finalized which is expected to occur in 2003.

EFFECTIVE DATE: January 16, 2002.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Field Office Manager, Bureau of Land 
Management, Ridgecrest Field Office, 300 South Richmond Road, 
Ridgecrest CA 93555, (760) 384-5405.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Land Management, Ridgecrest 
Field Office, has analyzed the effects of the firearm shooting 
restriction in an environmental assessment entitled ``Environmental 
Assessment for Interim Closure of Selected Vehicle Routes and a Firearm 
Shooting restriction in the Red Mountain Polygon, California Desert 
Conservation Area, dated October 18, 2001, and a supplement to this 
assessment dated January 14, 2002.
    On March 16, 2000, the Center for Biological Diversity, et al 
(Center) filed for injunctive relief in U.S. District Court, Northern 
District of California (Court) against the Bureau of Land Management. 
The Center alleged the Bureau of Land Management was in violation of 
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act by failing to enter into formal 
consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service on the effects of 
adoption of the California Desert Conservation Area Plan, as amended, 
upon threatened and endangered species. Instead of litigating the case, 
and facing a possible injunction of all authorized desert activities, 
the Bureau of Land Management entered into five stipulated agreements, 
including the stipulation which includes the firearm shooting 
restriction.
    The authority for proposing a firearm shooting restriction is 
derived from 43 CFR 8364 (Closures and Restrictions). This regulation 
allows the authorized officer to issue an order to close or restrict 
use of designated public lands in order to protect persons, property, 
and public lands and resources. In this case, the shooting restriction 
will aid in protecting the desert tortoise from indiscriminate firearm 
use, and stop the practice of shooting at objects that result in the 
accumulation of trash, broken glass, cans, electronic parts, propane 
gas cylinders, metal, etc. in critical habitat for the desert tortoise. 
Furthermore, the restriction will aid in reducing the incidence of 
wildfire that could result from bullets striking rocks and generating 
sparks in combustible materials.
    Although the desert tortoise has been fully protected in California 
since 1961 through regulation of the California Fish and Game 
Commission, remains of tortoises containing gunshot holes have been 
observed in numerous areas of the California Desert. From 1972 to 1982, 
a study of tortoise gunshot mortality was conducted on 11 sites in the 
California Desert. The highest incidence of gunshot holes in carcasses 
of desert tortoises occurred in the western Mojave Desert at the 
Fremont Valley site, the Desert Tortoise Natural Area, and the Fremont 
Peak site (located at the southern boundary of the Red Mountain 
Polygon). The percent of tortoises dying on the study sites due to 
gunshots were 28.9 % at Fremont Valley, 19.6% at the Desert Tortoise 
Natural Area, and 16.7% at the Fremont Peak. In contrast, the incidence 
of such deaths in the eastern Mojave Desert sites ranged from 1.8 to 
3.1 %. California Department of Fish and Game wardens reported that 
they occasionally found tortoises dead from gunshots near roads in 
eastern Kern and northwestern San Bernardino Counties during the 1960s 
and 1970s. Between 1981 and 1984, Bureau of Land Management and other 
observers found the remains of 10 tortoises shot and killed in the 
western Mojave Desert in the vicinity of the Desert Tortoise Natural 
Area, El Paso Mountains, Fremont Peak and Stoddard Valley. Higher 
incidence of gunshot deaths of tortoises in the western Mojave was 
attributed to the higher numbers of human visitors, greater vehicular 
access and closer proximity to urban centers. Target practice in the 
California Desert, especially in portions of the western Mojave Desert, 
is associated with human-caused wildfire from bullets striking rocks, 
and people shooting at tortoises for target practice. In the Recovery 
Plan for the Mojave Population of the Desert Tortoise, the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service reported that shooting and vandalism play a major 
role in losses of desert tortoises in many areas, particularly where 
human visitation is high. They also reported that approximately 15 to 
29 percent of carcasses of desert tortoises studied on Bureau of Land 
Management study plots in the western Mojave Desert had evidence of 
gunshot.
    This firearm shooting restriction will enable the Bureau of Land 
Management to comply with Section 7(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act 
using its full authorities to conserve endangered species and 
threatened species.
    This interim firearm shooting restriction will allow BLM to 
properly evaluate and arrive at a final decision on environmentally 
acceptable firearm use throughout the West Mojave Planning Area, which 
will result in amendments to the California Desert Conservation Area 
Plan, expected to be completed in 2003. This planning process now 
underway is a formal plan amendment process that involves the public 
and will conform to the requirements of the National Environmental 
Policy Act. Maps showing the affected area are available by contacting 
the Ridgecrest Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management at the 
address shown above.

Appeal Rights

    The decision that instituted this firearm shooting restriction may 
be appealed to the Interior Board of Land Appeals, Office of the 
Secretary, in accordance with the regulations contained in 43 CFR part 
4 and the enclosed Form 1842-1. If an appeal is taken, a notice of 
appeal must be filed in this office (at the above address) within 30 
days from receipt of this decision. The appellant has the burden

[[Page 30397]]

of showing that the decision appealed from is in error.
    Those wishing to file a petition pursuant to regulation 43 CFR 4.21 
(58 FR 4939, January 19, 1993) or 43 CFR 2804.1 for a stay of the 
effect of this decision during the time that an appeal is being 
reviewed by the Board must request a stay in the notice of appeal. A 
petition for a stay is required to show sufficient justification based 
on the standards listed below. Copies of the notice of appeal and 
petition for a stay must also be submitted to each identified party, to 
the Interior Board of Land Appeals, and to the appropriate Office of 
the Solicitor (see 43 CFR 4.413) at the same time the original 
documents are filed with this office. If you request a stay, you have 
the burden of proof to demonstrate that a stay should be granted.

Standards for Obtaining a Stay

    Except as otherwise provided by law or other pertinent regulation, 
a petition for a stay of a decision pending appeal shall show 
sufficient justification based on the following standards:

    (1) The relative harm to the parties if the stay is granted or 
denied,
    (2) The likelihood of the appellant's success on the merits,
    (3) The likelihood of immediate and irreparable harm if the stay 
is not granted, and
    (4) Whether the public interest favors granting the stay.

    Dated: January 18, 2002.
Hector A. Villalobos,
Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. 02-11083 Filed 5-3-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P