[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 201 (Friday, October 17, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59813-59814]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-24809]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[1610 DP 001H]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Upper Deschutes Resource 
Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
and the National Environmental Policy Act, a Draft Resource

[[Page 59814]]

Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (DRMP/EIS) has been 
prepared for the Upper Deschutes planning area of the Prineville 
District.

DATES: Written comments on the DRMP/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 public notices, media new releases, 
and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to: Prineville District 
Office, ATTN: Teal Purrington. Comments submitted by electronic mail 
should be sent to: [email protected]. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality.
    If you wish to withhold your name or street address from public 
review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you 
must state this prominently at the beginning of your written comment. 
Such request will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All 
submissions from organizations and businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, will be available for public inspection in their 
entirety.
    Copies of the DRMP/EIS (or an executive summary) have been sent to 
approximately 1,000 affected federal, state and local agencies, tribal 
governments and interested members of the public. Copies of the Upper 
Deschutes Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact 
Statement are available in the Prineville District Office at the above 
address during normal working hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) Copies may 
also be obtained at public libraries located in Bend, Redmond, 
Prineville, Sisters, and Madras. Copies of the Draft Resource 
Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement and associated maps 
are also available on-line at: www.or.blm.gov/Prineville/Deschutes_RMP/Home.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mollie Chaudet, Project Manager, 
Prineville District, Prineville, Oregon (541) 416-6872.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The area covered by the DRMP/EIS includes 
approximately 400,000 acres of public domain lands in portions of 
Deschutes, Crook, Jefferson, and Klamath Counties in central Oregon. 
The planning boundary extends roughly north between the communities of 
La Pine, Sisters, and Madras, east to Ochoco and Prineville Reservoirs, 
and south to the Deschutes National Forest boundary. The planning 
effort was first initiated in 1995 as the Urban Interface EIS and was 
reinitiated in October 2001 with the publication of the Upper Deschutes 
Resource Management Plan Analysis of the Management Situation (AMS).
    The Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan will supersede and 
revise portions of the Brothers-La Pine Resource Management Plan (1989) 
and the Two Rivers Resource Management Plan (1986). Some management 
direction would clarify or improve management direction within the 
Middle Deschutes and Lower Crooked River Wild and Scenic River Plans. 
The Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan will also incorporate 
strategies and direction identified in the National and Central Oregon 
Fire Management Plan.
    The following local, state, or Federal Governments are Cooperative 
Agencies for the DRMP/EIS: Deschutes County, City of Redmond, Oregon 
Military Department, Oregon Department of Transportation, and the 
Federal Highway Department.
    A no action alternative and six ``action'' alternatives were 
developed using a community-based collaboration strategy. The Resource 
Management Plan provides future broad-scale management direction for 
land use allocations and allowable uses on public lands within the 
planning area. The DEIS examines seven alternatives that respond to the 
significant issues identified during scoping. These issues include: 
Ecosystem Health, Land Uses, Recreation, Land Ownership, Transportation 
and Utility Corridors, and Public Health and Safety. Alternative 7 has 
been identified as the Preferred Alternative.

    Dated: August 12, 2003.
Elaine M. Brong,
State Director, Oregon-Washington USDI-Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 03-24809 Filed 10-16-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P