[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 107 (Wednesday, June 4, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Page 33525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-14201]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice of Availability of Proposed Amendment; West Mojave 
Planning Area; California Desert Conservation Area Plan; Off-Road 
Vehicle Designations

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of proposed amendment; West Mojave 
Planning Area; California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan; off-
road vehicle designations.

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SUMMARY: The California Desert District of the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) is considering off-road vehicle designations for the 
West Mojave Desert Planning Area in accordance with the criteria and 
procedures of 43 Code of Federal Regulations subpart 8342. These 
designations, when approved by BLM, will amend the existing 
designations established under the CDCA plan in the West Mojave Area. 
This planning area encompasses approximately 3.3 million acres of 
public land managed by the BLM's California Desert District, located in 
Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties in southern 
California.

DATES: BLM Planning Regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any person 
who participated in the planning process, and has an interest that may 
be adversely affected, may protest. The protest must be received no 
later than the last day of the 30-day protest period established by the 
BLM California Desert District. More specific instructions and 
requirements for protests are contained in the SUPPLEMENTARY 
INFORMATION section of this notice.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Instructions for filing a protest with the 
Director of the BLM may be found at 43 CFR 1610.5. Any person who 
participated in the planning process and has an interest, which is or 
may be affected by the approval of the proposed Resource Management 
Plan, may protest such approval. A protest may raise only those issues 
that were submitted for the record during the planning process. New 
issues raised in the protest period should be directed to the West 
Mojave Project Office for consideration in plan implementation, as 
potential plan amendments, or as otherwise appropriate. Protests must 
be in writing and to be considered ``timely,'' the protest must be 
received no later than the last day of the 30-day protest period. Also, 
although not a requirement, it is recommended that the protest be sent 
by certified mail, return receipt requested. E-mail protests will not 
be accepted. Faxed protests will be considered as potential valid 
protests provided (1) that the signed faxed letter is received by the 
Washington Office protest coordinator by the closing date of the 
protest period and (2) that the protesting party also provides the 
original letter by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the 
close of the protest period. Please direct faxed protests to ``BLM 
Protest Coordinator'' at 202-452-5112. Please direct the follow-up 
letter to the appropriate address provided below. The protest must 
contain:
    i. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and interest of the 
person filing the protest;
    ii. A statement of the issue or issues being protested;
    iii. A statement of the part or parts of the plan or amendment 
being protested. To the extent possible, this should be done by 
reference to specific pages, paragraphs, sections, tables, maps, etc., 
included in the proposed amendment;
    iv. A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues that 
were submitted during the planning process by the protesting party or 
an indication of the date the issue or issues were discussed for the 
record; and
    v. A concise statement explaining why the State Director's decision 
is believed to be wrong. This is a critical part of the protest. Take 
care to document all relevant facts. As much as possible, reference or 
cite the planning documents, environmental analysis documents, 
available planning records (i.e., meeting minutes or summaries, 
correspondence, etc.).
    A protest which merely expresses disagreement with proposed 
decision without supporting data will not provide additional basis for 
the Director's review of the decision. Please note that comments, 
including names and street addresses of respondents, are available for 
public review and/or release under the Freedom of Information Act 
(FOIA). Individual respondents may request confidentiality.
    Respondents who wish to withhold name and/or street address from 
public review or from disclosure under FOIA, must state this 
prominently at the beginning of the 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 or organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety. The Director will promptly render a decision on the protest. 
The decision will be in writing and will be sent to the protesting 
party by certified mail, return receipt requested. The decision of the 
Director shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior. 
File written protest by Surface mail: U.S. Department of the Interior, 
Bureau of Land Management, Director (210), Attn: Brenda Williams, P.O. 
Box 66538, Washington, DC 20035 or Overnight mail: U.S. Department of 
the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Director (210), Attn: Brenda 
Williams, 1620 L Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20036.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact William Haigh, Project 
Manager, at (760) 252-6080 (Phone), e-mail at [email protected].

Howard Stark,
Acting Deputy State Director for Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 03-14201 Filed 6-3-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P