[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 50 (Friday, March 14, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12363-12365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5889]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO-154-1610-DP-GGCA]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Resource Management Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Gunnison Gorge National 
Conservation Area

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Draft Resource Management Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement (DRMP/EIS) for the Gunnison Gorge 
National Conservation Area (NCA).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with section 202 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, and under authority of the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), a Draft RMP/EIS has been 
prepared for the

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Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area. The planning area lies in 
Montrose and Delta Counties, Colorado. The DRMP/EIS provides direction 
and guidance for the management of public lands and resources of the 
NCA, as well as monitoring and evaluation requirements. The RMP will 
also amend the Uncompahgre RMP (1989) for the affected lands in the 
planning area. Some decisions in the existing planning and management 
documents may be carried forward into the new NCA RMP. Once approved in 
a Record of Decision (ROD), the RMP for the NCA will supercede all 
existing management plans for the public lands within the NCA. The 
DRMP/EIS evaluates the Current Management Alternative, the Agency 
Preferred Alternative, and two other alternative management approaches. 
Tetra Tech, Inc., an environmental consulting firm in Boulder, 
Colorado, is assisting the BLM in the preparation of these documents 
and in the planning process for the NCA.

DATES: Written comments on the DRMP/EIS will be accepted for 90 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes 
this Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Future public 
meetings and any other public involvement activities will be announced 
at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media news 
releases, the project Web site at http://www.gunnison-gorge-eis.com, 
and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Angie Nelson, Tetra Tech, 
Inc., 3775 Iris Avenue, Suite 4, Boulder, Colorado, 80301. 
Comments also may be sent by e-mail to Angie Nelson at 
[email protected]. Written comments, including names and 
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at either 
the office of Tetra Tech in Boulder (address above) or at the offices 
of the Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, 2465 South Townsend 
Avenue, Montrose, Colorado, 81401 during normal working hours (7:45 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except holidays). Responses to the comments will be 
published as part of the Proposed Resource Management Plan/Final 
Environmental Impact Statement. Individuals may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or address from 
public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, 
you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. Such 
requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions 
from organizations or businesses will be made available for public 
inspection in their entirety.
    Copies of the DRMP/EIS are available at the Gunnison Gorge National 
Conservation Area office and at the office of Tetra Tech, Inc. in 
Boulder at the addresses above. Copies are also available at the 
following libraries:
    Montrose Public Library, 320 South 2nd Street, Montrose, CO 81401.
    Delta Public Library, 211 West 6th Street, Delta, CO 81416.
    Crawford Public Library, 425 Highway 92, Crawford, CO 81415.
    Hotchkiss Public Library, 1st and Main Street, Hotchkiss, CO 81419.
    The planning documents and direct supporting record for the 
analysis for the DRMP/EIS will be available for inspection at the 
offices of Tetra Tech, Inc. in Boulder or at the NCA offices during 
normal working hours. The DRMP/EIS and other associated documents or 
background information may be viewed and downloaded in PDF format at 
the project Web site at http://www.gunnison-gorge-eis.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact Bill Bottomly (970) 240-
5337, Planning and Environmental Coordinator ([email protected]), or Karen Tucker at (970) 240-5309 ([email protected]), Gunnison Gorge NCA Manager, Bureau of Land 
Management, Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Area, 2465 South 
Townsend Avenue, Montrose, CO 81401.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National 
Park and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation Act of 1999 designated 
the Gunnison Gorge NCA and Wilderness within the NCA. The BLM 
Uncompahgre Field Office (UFO) in Montrose, Colorado, manages these 
lands. The 1999 Act directs the BLM to develop ``a comprehensive plan 
for the long-range protection and management of the Conservation 
Area''.
    The planning area addressed in the RMP contains 55,745 acres of 
public surface estate within the NCA and Wilderness, 39,888 acres of 
other BLM managed lands, 666 acres at Sweitzer Lake State Park, and 
99,890 acres of private lands. The Gunnison Gorge Wilderness within the 
NCA contains 17,700 acres. While the RMP only applies to federal lands, 
state and private lands are included because these lands are 
interspersed with the BLM managed lands and could be impacted by BLM 
management actions. Lands managed by BLM immediately adjacent to the 
NCA and Wilderness are included within the planning area boundary.
    The DRMP/EIS contains four alternatives: Alternative A 
(Continuation of Current Management); Alternative B (Conservation), 
Alternative C (Mixed use), and Alternative D (Agency Preferred 
Alternative). The Planning Themes and associated issues addressed in 
the process of formulating alternatives include the following: 1. 
Preservation of natural and wilderness resources of the NCA and 
Wilderness, promoting conservation of fish and wildlife, including 
special status species; 2. Management of human activities and uses; 3. 
Integration of NCA management with other agency and community plans; 4. 
Determination of facilities and infrastructure needed to provide 
visitor services and administration of the NCA; 5. Management of 
transportation and access; and 6. Consideration of private property in 
the planning area. Some of the issues that have been identified in the 
scoping process phase of the NCA planning process include: motorized 
and non-motorized vehicle use, livestock grazing management, allocation 
of commercial and private river and upland recreation use, river-
related resource management, water quantity and quality, land health, 
riparian and aquatic habitat protection, threatened and endangered and 
special status species and critical habitat protection, wildlife 
habitat quality and fragmentation, declining biodiversity, 
reintroduction of native species, and noxious weed control. Other 
factors considered include recreation and resource use, protection of 
wilderness, riparian, and scenic values, the level and intensity of 
dispersed and developed recreation management, cultural resource 
protection and interpretation, management of the mineral estate on 
adjacent areas not withdrawn from mineral entry and location, public 
access, transportation and utility corridors, and woodland product 
harvest.
    The public collaboration program implemented for this effort 
included the distribution of a newsletter, three public open houses, 
and a public collaboration focus group. During this process, sixteen 
Planning Criteria were developed and reviewed by the public. The 
Planning Criteria provide the planning team guidance, help set the 
parameters and sideboards for analysis during the planning process, and 
help ensure important considerations of concern to the public are 
addressed. The Planning Criteria include laws, regulations, policy, and 
other guidance. The complete list of the Planning Criteria

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can be found on the project Web site at http://www.gunnison-gorge-eis.com. In addition to the 16 Planning Criteria, The Black Canyon of 
the Gunnison National Park and Gunnison Gorge National Conservation 
Area Act of 1999 (Pub. L. 106-76, October 21, 1999), the Wilderness 
Act, public land health standards, as well as other requirements to 
maintain scenic values, recreational values and meet public recreation 
demands are additional criteria applied during the process.
    The DRMP/EIS recommends the retention of an existing Area of 
Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and the designation of new ACECs 
in the various alternatives. Under all alternatives, the effects of 
retaining and/or recommending designations of ACECs regarding 
restrictions in surface disturbing activities will occur only to the 
degree necessary to prevent damage and disturbance to the features and 
resources for which the area was designated. ACEC recommendations are 
as follows:
    In Alternative A (Continuation of Current Management): The existing 
designation of the 161-acre Fairview Research Natural Area/Area of 
Critical Environmental Concern (RNA/ACEC) is retained.
    In Alternative B (Conservation): (1) The existing designation of 
the 161-acres Fairview Research Natural Area/Area of Critical 
Environmental Concern (RNA/ACEC) is retained; (2) The Gunnison Sage 
Grouse Important Bird Area/ACEC (IBA/ACEC-16,531 acres outside the NCA 
boundary) is recommended for designation. The nomination was made by 
the public collaboration group. The lands are currently being managed 
according to the existing Gunnison Sage Grouse Conservation Plan, 
Crawford Area, Colorado; (3) Mancos Shale ACEC/Research Natural Area 
(19,797 acres inside NCA) is recommended for designation by USGS and 
BLM; (4) Relic Tree ACEC/Outstanding Natural Area (387 acres inside the 
NCA) is nominated for designation by a public collaboration group and 
former Management Framework Plan; (5) Native Plant Community ACEC/
Outstanding Natural Area (4,577 acres inside NCA) is nominated for 
designation by The Nature Conservancy, and (6) Gunnison and North Fork 
Rivers ACEC, 2,702 acres outside the NCA, nominated by the focus group 
and BLM.
    In Alternative C (Mixed Use): The existing designation of the 161-
acre Fairview Research Natural Area/Area of Critical Environmental 
Concern (RNA/ACEC) is retained.
    In Alternative D (Agency Preferred Alternative): (1) The existing 
designation of the 161-acre Fairview Research Natural Area/Area of 
Critical Environmental Concern (RNA/ACEC) is retained; (2) The Gunnison 
Sage Grouse Important Bird Area/ACEC (IBA/ACEC--16,531 acres outside 
the NCA boundary and 5,669 acres inside the NCA boundary for 22,200 
acres total) would be recommended for designation. The same values and 
features as described in Alternative B are contained in the area; and, 
(3) Native Plant Community ACEC/ACEC/Outstanding Natural Area (3,785 
acres inside NCA) is nominated for designation by The Nature 
Conservancy.

    Dated: December 19, 2002.
Allan J. Belt,
Manager, Uncompahgre Field Office.
[FR Doc. 03-5889 Filed 3-13-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P