[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 55 (Friday, March 21, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13948-13949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-5896]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service

[CA-668-03-1610-DP]


Notice of Availability of Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains 
National Monument Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior and 
Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains 
National Monument draft resource management plan and draft 
environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) planning 
regulations, title 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 1610.2(f)(3) 
and title 40 CFR 1502.9(a), the BLM and Forest Service (FS) hereby 
gives notice that the Draft Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains 
National Monument Management Plan, and Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) is available for public review and comment. The 272,000 
acre Monument encompasses 86,400 acres of Bureau of Land Management 
lands, 64,400 acres of Forest Service lands, 23,000 acres of Agua 
Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians lands, 8,500 acres of California 
Department of Parks and Recreation lands, 35,800 acres of other State 
of California agencies lands, and 53,900 acres of private land.

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 
at least 15 days in advance through local media.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be mailed to Danella George, Monument 
Manager, Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument 
Management Plan, Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office, P.O. Box 
581260, 690 W. Garnet Avenue, North Palm Springs, CA 92258. You may 
also comment via the Internet to [email protected]. Please submit 
Internet comments as an ASCII file, avoiding the use of special 
characters and any form of encryption. Please also include in the 
subject line: ``National Monument Management Plan and EIS'' and your 
name and return address in your Internet message. If you do not receive 
a confirmation from the system that we have received your Internet 
message, contact Connell Dunning at (760) 251-4817. Finally, you may 
hand-deliver comments to the address listed above. Oral comments will 
be accepted and recorded at any of three public meetings to be held 
during the month of March or April, 2003. Please contact Connell 
Dunning at (760) 251-4817 or [email protected] for further 
information as to exact dates, place and time. Our practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available 
for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents 
may request that we withhold their home address from the record, which 
we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be 
circumstances in which we would withhold from the record a respondent's 
identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name 
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will 
make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Connell Dunning at (760) 251-4817 or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of the Draft Santa Rosa and San 
Jacinto Mountains National Monument Management Plan, and Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement is available for review via the internet 
at http://www.ca.blm.gov/palmsprings. Electronic (on CD-ROM) and paper 
copies may also be obtained by contacting Connell Dunning at the 
aforementioned addresses and phone number. This draft Santa Rosa and 
San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Management Plan is being 
developed cooperatively between BLM and FS. The draft plan includes 
strategies for protecting and preserving the biological, cultural, 
recreational, geological, educational, scientific, and scenic values 
that the Monument was established to protect. The preferred alternative 
supports the protection and preservation of the above values and 
includes efforts to achieve consistency between Forest Service and BLM 
as well as with other land managing agencies within the boundary of the 
Monument. The range of alternatives in this draft plan does not 
reevaluate planning decisions recently brought forward through the BLM 
Coachella Valley California Desert Conservation Area Plan Amendment or 
items being addressed through the Forest Service San Bernardino 
National Forest Plan Revision. Records of Decision will be prepared by 
the BLM and FS for the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National 
Monument Management Plan in accordance with planning regulations at 43 
CFR 1610 and NEPA. The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National 
Monument was established by Pub. L. 106-351 and will be cooperatively 
managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest 
Service (USFS). The Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National 
Monument Act of 2000 affects only Federal lands and Federal interests 
located within the established boundaries. The BLM and the Forest 
Service will jointly manage Federal lands in the National Monument in 
coordination with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, other 
Federal agencies, State agencies and local governments.


[[Page 13949]]


    Dated: February 5, 2003.
Danella George,
Designated Federal Official, National Monument Manager.
Laurie Rosenthal,
District Ranger, San Jacinto Ranger District, San Bernardino National 
Forest.
[FR Doc. 03-5896 Filed 3-20-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P