[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 45 (Friday, March 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11127-11129]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5304]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
for the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National 
Conservation Area Resource Management Plan, Nevada

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) for the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant 
Trails National Conservation Area Resource Management Plan (RMP), 
Nevada.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 202 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, a Draft Resource Management Plan/Environmental 
Impact Statement has been prepared for the Black Rock Desert-High Rock 
Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area.
    The Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National 
Conservation Area Act of 2000 (the Act) gave special designation to 1.2 
million acres of public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) in northwestern Nevada, collectively known as ``Black Rock-High 
Rock.'' The Act designated 815,000 acres as a National Conservation 
Area (NCA) and 752,000 acres as 10 Wilderness Areas (378,000 of the 
Wilderness acres overlap the NCA). The NCA and associated Wilderness 
Areas were created specifically to protect one of the last nationally 
significant segments of the historic emigrant trails used by pioneers 
to travel from the eastern States to Oregon and California, and a 
landscape largely unchanged since the mid-1800s. Black Rock-High Rock 
contains an array of unique historic, cultural, educational, wildlife, 
riparian, and wilderness resources, threatened species, and 
recreational values. The Act also identified wilderness, grazing, and 
special recreation permit events as valuable existing land uses that 
are expected to continue.
    Designating Black Rock-High Rock as an NCA and Wilderness Areas 
placed new emphasis and requirements on resource uses in the area. The 
DEIS/RMP has been developed to address these changes. This DEIS/RMP 
does not evaluate the designation of the NCA and Wilderness Areas, but 
rather develops several resource management alternatives that fully 
comply with the NCA Act and the Wilderness Act and other applicable 
laws, regulations and

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policies, and analyzes the environmental consequences associated with 
implementation of each alternative. Additionally, approximately 15,000 
acres in the south playa, 16,000 acres in the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout 
(LCT) Area, and 3,000 acres included in wilderness access and boundary 
roads and road corridors located outside the NCA that are not included 
in the designation are evaluated in the DEIS/RMP due to their being 
contiguous lands with similar planning issues. These designated and 
adjacent areas, totaling approximately 1,221,000 acres of public lands, 
are referred to as the planning area.
    In addition to other existing laws, regulations and policies, the 
NCA Act and the Wilderness Act govern land and resource use decisions 
in 97.4% of the planning area. As a result, the range of alternatives 
presented in this planning document and the impacts anticipated from 
their implementation are more constrained than is typical of BLM 
management plans.
    Current management is guided by four Management Framework Plans 
(MFPs): The Sonoma-Gerlach, Paradise-Denio, Tuledad-Homecamp, and 
Cowhead-Massacre MFPs. The No Action Alternative in the DEIS/RMP would 
continue management under these MFPs consistent with the requirements 
of the NCA Act of 2000 as amended and the Wilderness Act of 1964.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft RMP/EIS will be accepted for 90 
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes 
the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Future meetings or 
hearings and any other public involvement activities will be announced 
in 15 days in advance through public notices, media news releases, and/
or mailings.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any one of several methods. 
Comments can be mailed to the Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca 
Field Office, Attention: NCA Plan, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., 
Winnemucca, NV 89445-2921. Comments can be posted through the Internet 
at http://www.BlackRockHighRock.org/ by clicking on ``Submit Your 
Input'' and completing the online form. Comments will be accepted at 
public meetings in March 2003. Finally, comments can be hand-delivered 
to the Bureau of Land Management, Winnemucca Field Office, at the above 
address. 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 or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public review in their entirety. 
Copies of the Draft RMP/EIS are available for review online at the Web 
site http://www.BlackRockHighRock.org/, at the BLM NV Winnemucca Field 
Office at the above address, and at the following repositories: U of 
Nevada-Reno Getchell Library, Humboldt County Library, BLM NV Carson 
City Field Office, BLM NV State Office, Gerlach NV Library, Reno NV 
Public Library, Pershing County NV Public Library, Lyon County NV 
Library--Dayton NV, BLM CA Surprise Field Office, Modoc County CA 
Library--Cedarville CA, Modoc County Library--Alturas CA, BLM CA State 
Office, and BLM CA Eagle Lake Field Office. Persons who are not able to 
review the DEIS in either of these ways may request one of a limited 
number of printed copies or compact discs (CDs) by contacting the NCA 
Planning Staff at the Winnemucca Field Office. In addition, you can e-
mail a request for a copy of the DEIS to [email protected], call in a 
request to (775) 623-1500, or fax a request to (775) 623-1503. Please 
be sure to direct the request to the NCA Planning Staff, clearly state 
that it is a request for a printed copy or CD of the Black Rock-High 
Rock DEIS, and include your name, mailing address and phone number.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David C. Cooper, NCA Manager, BLM 
Winnemucca Field Office, 5100 East Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 
89445-2921, (775) 623-1500.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DEIS/RMP have been developed through a 
collaborative planning process involving two BLM State Offices and two 
BLM Field Offices, other federal agencies, the State of Nevada Black 
Rock Planning Team, area Tribal Government representatives, 
representatives of the local communities of Cedarville, California and 
Empire-Gerlach, Nevada, Modoc County, California, Humboldt County, 
Nevada, Pershing County, Nevada, and many diverse interests represented 
on a Resource Advisory Council Subgroup formed specifically to 
participate with BLM in the planning process. In addition, a planning 
Web site was created at http://www.BlackRockHighRock.org/ to keep 
interested members of the public informed and involved during the 
planning process. A total of 49 meetings involving participation of 
other federal agencies, State and Tribal representatives, and 
interested publics have been conducted in northern California and 
northern Nevada.
    Alternative Descriptions and Impacts Expected from Each:
    No Action--Continuation of Current Management: This alternative 
entails continuation of those management activities that already occur 
in the planning area that are consistent with the requirements of the 
NCA Act and the Wilderness Act. Changes to these management practices 
would be made for the sole purpose of compliance with the NCA Act and 
other applicable laws and regulations. Natural resources and visitation 
would be managed in accordance with existing law, regulation and 
policy.
    Impacts--The only impacts expected are those that would occur as a 
result of continuing current management practices in or adjacent to the 
planning area. The No Action Alternative is the baseline that the other 
alternatives are compared to, to determine impacts.
    Alternative A--Emphasis on Natural Processes: This alternative 
emphasizes providing visitors with a self-directed opportunity to 
experience what the emigrants and other early visitors to the area 
experienced in the mid 1800s. Visitors would experience the area as an 
unspoiled, cross-section of the northwestern Great Basin where natural 
processes have been allowed to continue with specific restrictions on 
visitor activities to protect both visitors and resources. The focus of 
resource management would minimize intervention into natural processes 
to allow for their continued progression, provided degradation was not 
occurring. Specific management would be developed if degradation were 
to occur.
    Impacts--The impacts from this alternative are similar to the no 
action alternative with few visitor services provided, but more 
opportunities for self-discovery. Minor impacts to natural resources 
are anticipated from increased, primarily self-directed visitation. 
This alternative could reduce the anticipated rate of increase in 
visitation due to difficulty in accessing the area.
    Alternative B--Emphasis on Response to Change (Preferred 
Alternative): This alternative also emphasizes providing visitors with 
a self-directed opportunity to experience what the emigrants and other 
early visitors to the area experienced in the mid 1800s. It is 
distinguished from Alternative A in that

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it employs a management approach that would more readily identify and 
accommodate changing conditions over time by allowing the application 
of management decisions responsive to these changing conditions. This 
alternative has the flexibility to respond to increasing visitation and 
resource deterioration that could occur over the long term. A visitor 
center would be developed outside the NCA.
    Impacts--The impacts from this alternative are less spontaneity for 
visitor use, but more visitor services than alternative A. These 
visitor services will have minimal impacts on visual quality and 
feeling of remoteness. Alternative B is preferred because it provides 
for a management approach that is balanced between No Action (little 
regulation of use) and Alternative C (emphasis on visitation and 
interpretation including possible construction of a visitor center 
inside the NCA), while offering the best means of responding to 
changing conditions and public needs over the life of the RMP.
    Alternative C--Emphasis on Visitation and Interpretation: Emphasis 
focuses on more active visitor support in this alternative. Resource 
management activities allow for necessary intervention at varying 
levels in geographic areas to enable both the natural and historic 
context to be experienced while ensuring that resource protection is 
not compromised. A visitor center would be developed in or near the 
NCA.
    Impacts--This alternative has a slightly higher impact on visual 
quality and the feeling of remoteness than alternative B. This 
alternative could also result in increases in visitation due to the 
increased visitor services and easier access to the area.

    Dated: December 11, 2002.
Terry A. Reed,
Field Manager, Winnemucca Field Office, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 03-5304 Filed 3-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-AG-P