[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 54 (Thursday, March 20, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 13726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-6673]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR-958-1430-ET; GPO-03-0054; OR-55753]


Public Land Order No. 7556; Withdrawal of Public Lands for the 
North Fork Smith River, OR

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Public land order.

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SUMMARY: This order withdraws approximately 960 acres of National 
Forest System lands from location and entry under the United States 
mining laws for 20 years to protect the outstanding recreational, 
scenic, fisheries, and water quality values of the Scenic section of 
the North Fork Smith Wild and Scenic River. The lands have been and 
will remain open to such other forms of disposition as may by law be 
made of National Forest System lands and to mineral leasing.

EFFECTIVE DATE: March 20, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Charles R. Roy, BLM Oregon/Washington 
State Office, P.O. Box 2965, Portland, OR 97208-2965, 503-952-6189.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The withdrawal includes all lands open to 
mining on the Scenic section, including the river bed, extending \1/4\ 
mile from the centerline.

Order

    By virtue of the authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior 
by section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 
43 U.S.C. 1714 (1994), it is ordered as follows:
    1. Subject to valid existing rights, the following described 
National Forest System lands are hereby withdrawn from location and 
entry under the United States mining laws (30 U.S.C. Ch. 2 (1994)), but 
not from the mineral leasing laws, to protect the North Fork Smith 
River:

Willamette Meridian

Siskiyou National Forest

    All lands lying on the right (west) bank of the river corridor, 
including the river bed, and extending \1/4\ mile from the centerline 
of the North Fork Smith River, from confluence of Horse Creek (boundary 
of upstream wild segment of the North Fork Smith River) downstream 4.5 
miles to the confluence of Baldface Creek (boundary of the downstream 
wild segment of the North Fork Smith River). These lands are located 
approximately in but not limited to the following:

T. 40 S., R. 11 W., unsurveyed
    Sec. 9, S\1/2\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 15, NW\1/4\NW\1/4\ and SW\1/4\SW\1/4\;
    Sec. 16, E\1/2\;
    Sec. 21, E\1/2\;
    Sec. 22, W\1/2\W\1/2\;
    Sec. 27, W\1/2\ and W\1/2\E\1/2\;
    Sec. 28, NE\1/4\NE\1/4\;
    Protraction Block 41 (formerly sec. 34).
T. 41 S., R. 11 W.,
    Sec. 2, W\1/2\;
    Sec. 3, NE\1/4\ and NE\1/4\NW\1/4\;
    Sec. 11, N\1/2\NW\1/4\.

    All lands lying on the left (east) bank of the river corridor, 
including the river bed, and extending \1/4\ mile from the 
centerline of the North Fork Smith River starting at the Kalmiopsis 
Wilderness Area Boundary and extending south to the wild segment of 
the North Fork Smith River. These lands are located approximately in 
but not limited to the following:
T. 41 S., R. 11 W.,
    Sec. 2, those portions lying outside the boundaries of the 
Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area;
    Sec. 11, those portions lying outside the boundaries of the Wild 
segment of the North Fork Smith Wild and Scenic River.

The areas described aggregate approximately 960 acres in Curry 
County and include all lands not previously withdrawn from mining in 
the Scenic segment of the North Fork Smith Wild and Scenic River in 
Oregon.

    2. The withdrawal made by this order does not alter the 
applicability of those public land laws governing the use of the lands 
under lease, license, or permit, or governing the disposal of their 
mineral or vegetative resources other than under the mining laws.
    3. This withdrawal will expire 20 years from the effective date of 
this order unless, as a result of a review conducted before the 
expiration date pursuant to section 204(f) of the Federal Land Policy 
and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. 1714(f)(1994), the Secretary 
determines that the withdrawal shall be extended.

    Dated: March 5, 2003.
Rebecca W. Watson,
Assistant Secretary--Land and Minerals Management.
[FR Doc. 03-6673 Filed 3-19-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P