[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 205 (Wednesday, October 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65140-65141]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-26934]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice of availability of the Draft Lookout Mountain Forest and 
Rangeland Health Project Plan, Associated Amendments to the Baker 
Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Baker Resource Area, Vale District, Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Lookout Mountain Forest and 
Rangeland Health Project Plan, Associated Amendments to the Baker 
Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS).

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SUMMARY: The Baker Resource Area is providing the Lookout Mountain 
Forest and Rangeland Health Project DEIS for public review and comment. 
The planning area encompasses approximately 25,160 acres of public land 
managed by the Baker Resource Area, Vale District and located in Baker 
county in northeastern Oregon. Some of the alternatives include 
amendments to portions of the Baker RMP, which was originally approved 
in 1989. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has and will continue to 
work closely with all interested parties to identify the management 
decisions that are best suited to the needs of the public. For comments 
to be most helpful, they should relate to specific concerns or 
conflicts that are within the legal responsibilities of the BLM and 
they should be able to be resolved in this planning process. Specific 
comments are the most useful in helping us improve the analysis and in 
the development of the preferred alternative. In addition to public 
comments, the BLM is particularly interested in state, local and Tribal 
government comments regarding plan consistency. Documents referenced in 
this DEIS may be examined at the Baker Resource Area Office during 
normal working hours. The Baker RMP to

[[Page 65141]]

which the DEIS is tiered also is available for review at the Vale 
District and Oregon State Offices during normal working hours, and on 
the internet at http://www.or.blm.gov/Vale/Planning-EnvirnAnalyses.htm.

DATES: The comment period will end 90 days after the publication of the 
Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of Availability of the DEIS in 
the Federal Register. Supplemental notices indicating the precise dates 
of DEIS availability and the comment period will be printed in local 
newspapers and sent to mailing list addressees. Comments must be 
received on or before the end of the comment period at the address 
listed below. No public meetings, open houses, or field tours of the 
project area have been scheduled at this time. If there is sufficient 
public interest, public meetings will be arranged to discuss the 
management alternatives and answer questions. At least 15 days public 
notice will be given for activities where the public is invited to 
attend. All meetings will be published on the Vale District Web site 
http://www.or.blm.gov/Vale/Planning-EnvirnAnalyses.htm and in the Baker 
City Herald and Argus-Observer (Ontario) newspapers. Comments, 
including names and addresses of commentors, will be available for 
public review. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If 
you wish to withhold your name and/or 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 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.

ADDRESSES: The responsible field official is Penelope Dunn Woods, Baker 
Resource Area Manager. Written comments should be sent to Ted Davis, 
Supervisory Natural Resource Specialist, Baker Resource Area, Bureau of 
Land Management, 3165 10th St., Baker City, Oregon 97814. Planning 
records are available at this address for inspection during normal 
working hours. Requests for copies of the draft plan can also be made 
by telephone to Ted Davis at (541) 523-1431.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS contains descriptions and analyses 
of five action alternatives, and a no-action alternative, each 
developed with differing emphasis. The range of management direction 
includes commercial and precommercial timber harvest, riparian 
restoration activities, road relocation and decommissionings, fuel 
hazard reduction treatments including prescribed burning, and other 
land management direction. The portions of the Baker Resource 
Management Plan that would be most affected and amended by the action 
alternatives involve visual resource management and alternative road 
access. The action alternatives would support the National Fire Policy. 
There are no identified substantive adverse effects on energy resources 
or transmission. Public comments were considered in developing and 
analyzing issues and alternatives, along with input from local and 
Tribal governments, known interest groups, and data developed by BLM 
staff. The alternatives were designed to address, in different ways, 
the land and resource management issues identified in the early stages 
of the planning process. There were no requests for formal cooperator 
status by other federal, state, local or Tribal governments.

    Authority: Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).


    Dated: May 29, 2002.
Penelope Dunn Woods,
Field Manager, Baker Resource Area.
[FR Doc. 02-26934 Filed 10-22-02; 8:45 am]
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