[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 182 (Friday, September 19, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54914-54915]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21072]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR-027-1610-DP; G-03-0234]


Notice of Availability of a Draft Resource Management Plan and 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Andrews Management Unit/
Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Resource Management Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement (Draft RMP/Draft EIS) for the Andrews 
Management Unit and the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and 
Protection Area (CMPA).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 202 of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, and under authority of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976, a Draft RMP/Draft EIS has been prepared for the 
Andrews Management Unit and the CMPA. The planning area, which consists 
of the Andrews Management Unit (public land in the Andrews Resource 
Area outside of the CMPA totaling 1,221,314 acres) and public land in 
the CMPA (totaling 428,156 acres), lies in Harney and Malheur Counties, 
Oregon. The Draft RMP/Draft EIS provides direction and guidance for the 
management of public lands and resources within the Planning Area as 
well as monitoring and evaluation requirements. Once approved, the 
Andrews Management Unit and CMPA RMPs will supercede all existing 
management plans for the public land within the Planning Area, 
including amending a portion of the Three Rivers Resource Area RMP 
(1991) for those lands included within the CMPA boundary. The Draft 
RMP/Draft EIS evaluates five alternative management approaches, 
including a No Action (current management) Alternative.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft RMP/Draft EIS will be accepted for 
90 days following publication of the Environmental Protection Agency's 
Notice of Availability for this Draft RMP/Draft EIS 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.or.blm.gov/Burns/, and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Rhonda Karges, Bureau of 
Land Management, Burns District Office, 28910 Hwy 20 West, Hines, 
Oregon 97738; Fax (541) 573-4411 or e-mail ([email protected]). 
Comments, including names, street addresses, and other contact 
information of respondents, will be available for public review. 
Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to 
request that BLM consider withholding your name, street address, and 
other contact information such as Internet address, Fax or phone 
number, from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of 
Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. BLM will honor requests for confidentiality on a case-by-
case basis to the extent allowed by law. BLM will make available for 
public inspection in their entirety all submissions from organizations 
or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses.
    Copies of the Draft RMP/Draft EIS have been sent to affected 
Federal, Tribal, State and local Government agencies, and to interested 
publics and are available at the Burns District Office. The planning 
documents and direct supporting record for the analysis for the Draft 
RMP/Draft EIS will be available for inspection at the Burns District 
Office during normal business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday 
through Friday, except holidays). The Draft RMP/Draft EIS and other 
associated documents may be viewed and downloaded in PDF format at the 
project Web site at http://www.or.blm.gov/Burns/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact

[[Page 54915]]

Rhonda Karges (541) 573-4433 or Gary Foulkes (541) 573-4541 at the 
Burns District Office.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Steens Mountain Cooperative Management 
and Protection Act (Steens Act) of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-399) established 
the 496,136-acre CMPA primarily within the Andrews Resource Area (a 
small portion is within the Three Rivers Resource Area). The Andrews 
Resource Area and the CMPA portion of the Three Rivers Resource Area 
comprise the Planning Area. The remaining portion of the Andrews 
Resource Area outside of the CMPA is identified as the Andrews 
Management Unit. Other special designated areas were created by the 
Steens Act and include the Wildland Juniper Management Area, the Steens 
Mountain Wilderness (170,084 acres), new Wild and Scenic River 
designations, a no livestock grazing area (97,229 acres), and the 
Donner und Blitzen Redband Trout Reserve. In addition, the Steens Act 
authorized five specific land exchanges, created a citizen's advisory 
council (Steens Mountain Advisory Council), established a Mineral 
Withdrawal Area, and created new Wilderness Study Area (WSA) 
boundaries. Congress recognized that the CMPA provides for exceptional 
cooperative management opportunities and offers outstanding natural, 
cultural, scenic, wilderness, and recreational resources. To ensure 
that these resources are appropriately managed, the Steens Act requires 
that a management plan be completed within four years of passage of the 
Steens Act. At the end of the planning/analysis process, the CMPA and 
Andrews Management Unit RMPs will be finalized in two separate Records 
of Decision.
    The Draft RMP/Draft EIS contains five alternatives. Alternative A 
is a no action/continuation of current management alternative. 
Alternative B excludes commodity production and limits other uses to 
maximize natural processes. Alternative C emphasizes protection and 
active restoration of natural values. Alternative D balances cultural, 
economic, ecological, and social health in a manner that encourages 
cooperative management practices. Alternative D is the preferred 
alternative. Alternative E emphasizes commodity production and public 
uses.
    Public input during scoping and review of the Summary of the 
Analysis of Management Situation identified 17 issues for analysis in 
the RMP/EIS. These issues are outlined in Chapter 1 of the Draft RMP/
Draft EIS. In addition, the Planning Criteria, which are the 
constraints or ground rules directing development of the RMP, are 
outlined in Appendix D (Legal Authorities, Planning Criteria and 
Management Direction and Consistency with Other Plans).
    There have been numerous opportunities for public involvement in 
the process to date, including four separate public scoping meetings 
held in Burns, Frenchglen, Portland, and Bend, Oregon. A newsletter was 
also mailed to all interested parties requesting input on the 
alternatives, planning criteria, and the goals and objectives for 
resource management. In addition, the Steens Mountain Advisory Council 
and the Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council have closely 
participated in the process.
    Numerous meetings have been held and coordination has been 
conducted with the Burns Paiute Tribal Council, Oregon Department of 
Fish and Wildlife, the Governor's Office, Oregon Department of 
Environmental Quality, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service--Ecological 
Services and Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the City of Burns, the 
City of Hines, Oregon Department of Water Resources, the Harney County 
Court, Harney County Chamber of Commerce, and adjacent BLM offices.

    Dated: July 16, 2003.
Elaine M. Brong,
State Director, Oregon/Washington.
[FR Doc. 03-21072 Filed 9-18-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P