[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 32 (Tuesday, February 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7800-7801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-2369]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-040-1610-DS]


Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Jack Morrow Hills Coordinated Activity Plan/
Draft Green River Resource Management Plan Amendment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Supplemental Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement (SDEIS) for the Jack Morrow Hills Coordinated Activity 
Plan (CAP)/Draft Green River Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment, 
Wyoming.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in cooperation with the 
State of Wyoming, county governments, and conservation districts 
located within the planning area, have prepared an SDEIS for the Jack 
Morrow Hills CAP/Draft RMP Amendment. This is an integrated activity 
planning effort for the BLM-administered public lands and resources in 
the Jack Morrow Hills area, located in Sweetwater, Fremont, and 
Sublette Counties, Wyoming. When completed, the EIS for the Jack Morrow 
Hills CAP/Green River RMP Amendment will provide more specific 
management direction to address potential conflicts among energy 
resources development, recreational activities and facilities, 
livestock

[[Page 7801]]

grazing, important wildlife habitat, cultural resources, and other 
important resource and land uses in the planning area. The planning 
area encompasses approximately 622,000 acres, of which 585,000 acres 
are public land surface and Federal mineral estate administered by the 
BLM through its Rock Springs Field Office in Rock Springs, Wyoming. The 
SDEIS documents the analysis of five alternatives, ranging from 
preservation to full development. Ultimately, the approved EIS for the 
Jack Morrow Hills CAP/RMP Amendment will include land and resource 
management decisions for fluid mineral leasing and mineral location in 
the core area, where these decisions were deferred in the Green River 
RMP prepared in 1997. These decisions will constitute an amendment to 
the Green River RMP. Other decisions made in the Green River RMP, in 
the balance of the planning area, may also be modified, resulting in 
further amendment to the RMP. Other actions resulting from this 
planning effort are expected to include the use of adaptive management 
approaches to decision making. Areas involved include: transportation 
planning, off-highway-vehicular use designations and designation of 
roads for use, livestock grazing practices, recreational activities and 
facilities, identification of rights-of-way windows and concentration 
and avoidance areas, and prescriptions for managing wildlife habitat.

DATES: Written comments on the SDEIS for the Jack Morrow Hills CAP/ 
Draft RMP Amendment will be accepted for 90 days following the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the notice of availability of 
the SDEIS for the Jack Morrow Hills CAP/ Draft RMP Amendment in the 
Federal Register, projected to be February 14, 2003. Future meetings or 
hearings and any other public involvement activities will be announced 
at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media news 
releases, or mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: Jack Morrow Hills CAP 
Team Leader, Bureau of Land Management, Rock Springs Field Office, 280 
Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901. Please visit Web site 
www.wy.blm.gov/jmhcap for a link to submit comments by electronic mail. 
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 comments. 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. 
Copies of the SDEIS for the Jack Morrow Hills CAP/Draft RMP Amendment 
are available in the Rock Springs Field Office at the above address; 
the Bureau of Land Management Lander Field Office, 1335 Main Street, 
Lander, Wyoming 82520; and the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State 
Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009. The 
supplemental draft EIS will also be available on the internet at the 
above Web site address. Anyone wishing to be placed on the mailing list 
for the Jack Morrow Hills CAP planning effort should contact the Rock 
Springs Field Office at the above address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ted Murphy, Acting Field Manager, or 
Renee Dana, Jack Morrow Hills CAP Team Leader, Rock Springs Field 
Office, Bureau of Land Management, at the above address; or phone 307-
352-0256.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Based upon concerns raised by the public 
during preparation of the Green River RMP, the BLM is now preparing the 
SDEIS for the Jack Morrow Hills CAP/Draft RMP Amendment. When 
completed, the EIS for the Jack Morrow Hills CAP/RMP Amendment will 
provide management direction for the protection of important resources 
(e.g., desert elk and other big game habitat, unique sand dune-mountain 
shrub habitat, unstabilized-stabilized sand dunes), while allowing for 
appropriate levels of leasing and development of energy resources, 
recreational activities, livestock grazing, and other activities. The 
planning area encompasses the Steamboat Mountain, Greater Sand Dunes, 
Oregon Buttes, and White Mountain Petroglyphs Areas of Critical 
Environmental Concern (ACEC). There are also seven Wilderness Study 
Areas (WSAs) and part of the South Pass Historic Landscape ACEC located 
in the planning area.
    The entire planning area contains about 622,330 acres of Federal, 
State, and private lands. The core area, where the Green River RMP 
fluid minerals leasing and mineral location decisions have been 
deferred, contains approximately 85,000 acres. This planning effort 
addresses the level and timing of mineral leasing and development, 
while sustaining other important land and resource uses such as big 
game habitat, recreation, and livestock grazing. Other actions 
considered in this planning effort include use of adaptive management 
approaches to decisionmaking. Based on monitoring of actual impacts and 
effectiveness of management, BLM proposes to adapt management practices 
for transportation planning, off-highway-vehicular use designations and 
designation of roads for use, livestock grazing practices, recreational 
activities and facilities, identification of rights-of-way corridors 
and avoidance areas, and prescriptions for managing wildlife habitat.
    Public participation has been sought through scoping, public 
meetings, and field trips to ensure that this planning effort addresses 
all issues and concerns from those interested in the management of the 
public lands within the planning area.
    The BLM's preferred alternative consists of management actions from 
the other alternatives and a few actions that are unique to the 
Preferred Alternative. The Preferred Alternative employs the technique 
of Adaptive Management (AM). AM is a process of studying and monitoring 
the effects of incremental implementation of management decisions. The 
AM process includes identification, selection, and monitoring of 
indicators and thresholds. These measures are chosen to clarify and 
enhance information about the effect of land management decisions. 
Existing decisions are modified based on the new information and 
another round of adaptive decisions is begun. Opportunities for public 
participation will be provided throughout the AM process. Development 
of the preferred alternative was based on public comment and the 
analysis of the other alternatives and was formulated to represent the 
best mix and balance for a multiple use land and resource management 
activity plan for the BLM-administered public lands and resources in 
the planning area. Comments regarding the AM process are important to 
assist in the final document as it relates to process, thresholds, and 
monitoring indicators.
    There are seven existing wilderness study areas (WSAs) within the 
planning area. Until Congress acts, the WSAs will be managed under the 
Interim Wilderness Management Policy.

Alan L. Kesterke,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 03-2369 Filed 2-12-03; 4:51 pm]
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