[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 244 (Friday, December 19, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70833-70834]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-28963]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT-070-1610-DO-030E]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the 
Butte Field Office and Associated Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Butte Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
for the Butte Field Office and associated Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) intends to prepare an RMP with an associated EIS for 
the Butte Field Office. The planning area is located in Beaverhead, 
Broadwater, Deer Lodge, Gallatin, Jefferson, Lewis and Clark, Park, and 
Silver Bow Counties, Montana. The plan will fulfill the needs and 
obligations set forth by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM management 
policies. The BLM will work collaboratively with interested parties to 
identify the management decisions that are best suited to local, 
regional, and national needs and concerns. The public scoping process 
will identify planning issues and develop planning criteria, including 
an evaluation of the existing RMP in the context of the needs and 
interests of the public.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process. Formal scoping 
will end February 17, 2004; however, collaboration with the public will 
continue throughout the process. Comments on issues and planning 
criteria can be submitted in writing to the address listed below. All 
public meetings will be announced through the local news media, 
newsletters, and the BLM Web site (http://www.mt.blm.gov/bdo) at least 
15 days prior to the event. The minutes and list of attendees for each 
meeting will be available to the public and open for 30 days to any 
participant who wishes to clarify the views they expressed.
    Public Participation: Public meetings will be held throughout the 
plan scoping and preparation period. In order to ensure local community 
participation and input, public meeting locations will be rotated among 
the towns of Boulder, Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Townsend, and Wise River. 
Early participation is encouraged and will help determine the future 
management of the Butte Field Office public lands. In addition to the 
ongoing public participation process, formal opportunities for public 
participation will be provided upon publication of the BLM Draft RMP/
EIS.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to Bureau of Land 
Management, Ruth Miller, RMP Project Manager, Butte Field Office, 106 
North Parkmont, Butte, MT, 59701; Fax;--(406) 533-7660. Documents 
pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the Butte Field Office. 
Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will be 
available for public review at the Butte Field Office during regular 
business hours 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
holidays, and may be published as part of the EIS. 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 comments. Such requests 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ruth Miller, on (406) 533-7645, Bureau 
of Land Management, RMP Project Manager, Butte Field Office, 106 North 
Parkmont, Butte, MT, 59701.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The lands within the Butte Field Office are 
currently being managed according to the 1984 Headwaters RMP. In 1983, 
while the Headwaters RMP was being developed, the Butte and Lewistown 
Districts (now called Field Offices) adjusted their jurisdictional 
boundaries (as well as the Dillon Resource Area and Headwaters Resource 
Area within the Butte District). This resulted in lands covered by the 
Headwaters RMP being managed by both Districts.
    The BLM lands in the following areas are now being managed by the 
Lewistown Field Office and will not be covered in the Butte RMP 
process: Pondera, Teton, Cascade, Meagher, and the north half of Lewis 
and Clark County. Also, the BLM lands within Silver Bow and Deerlodge 
Counties (and a small portion of Beaverhead County along the Big Hole 
River) were included in the Dillon Resource Area Management Framework 
Plan (MFP) of 1979 and will now be covered in this Butte RMP revision.
    Because this RMP will follow the existing Butte Field Office 
boundary, the name of the RMP will be the Butte RMP. This will help 
separate the new document from the existing Headwaters RMP, and from 
the Lewistown portion that will still be managed under the Headwaters 
RMP until its revision.
    The RMP revision to be prepared for the public lands administered 
by the Butte Field Office will identify goals, objectives, standards 
and guidelines for management of a variety of resources and values. The 
plan will specify actions, constraints, and general management 
practices necessary to achieve desired conditions. The plan will also 
identify any areas requiring special management such as ACECs. The 
scope of the RMP will be comprehensive. Certain existing standards and 
guidelines and other BLM plans will be incorporated into the RMP.
    The changing needs and interests of the public necessitate a 
revision to the Butte Field Office RMP. Preliminary issues and 
management concerns have been identified by BLM personnel, other 
agencies, and in meetings with individuals and user groups. They 
represent the BLM's knowledge to date on the existing issues and 
concerns with current management. The major issue themes that will be 
addressed in the RMP effort include: (1) Management of vegetation; (2) 
conservation and recovery of special status species; (3) water quality, 
quantity, and aquatic species; (4) travel management and access to 
public lands; (5) management of areas with special values; (6) 
availability and management of public lands for commercial uses; and 
(7) land tenure adjustments.
    After gathering public comments on what issues the plan should 
address, the suggested issues will be placed in one of three 
categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
    2. Issues resolved through policy or administrative action; or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
    Rationale will be provided for each issue placed in categories two 
or three. In addition to these major issues, a number of management 
questions and concerns will be addressed in the plan.

[[Page 70834]]

The public is encouraged to help identify these questions and concerns 
during the scoping phase.
    An interdisciplinary approach will be used to develop the plan in 
order to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns 
identified. Disciplines involved in the planning process will include 
specialists with expertise in minerals and geology, forestry, range, 
fire and fuels, outdoor recreation, archaeology, paleontology, wildlife 
and fisheries, lands and realty, hydrology, soils, sociology and 
economics.
    The following planning criteria have been proposed to guide 
development of the plan, avoid unnecessary data collection and 
analyses, and to ensure the plan is tailored to the issues. Other 
criteria may be identified during the public scoping process. After 
gathering comments on planning criteria, the BLM will finalize the 
criteria and provide feedback to the public on the criteria to be used 
throughout the planning process.
    [sbull] The plan will be completed in compliance with FLPMA and all 
other applicable laws.
    [sbull] The planning process will include an EIS that will comply 
with NEPA standards.
    [sbull] The plan will establish new guidance and identify existing 
guidance upon which the BLM will rely in managing public lands within 
the Butte Field Office.
    [sbull] The RMP/EIS will incorporate by reference the Standards for 
Rangeland Health and Guidelines for Livestock Grazing Management, the 
Off-Highway Vehicle EIS and Plan Amendment for Montana, North Dakota, 
and Portions of South Dakota; and, when signed, the Montana/Dakotas 
Statewide Fire Management Plan.
    [sbull] The RMP/EIS will incorporate by reference all prior 
Wilderness designations and Wilderness Study Area findings that affect 
public lands in the planning area.
    [sbull] The plan will result in determinations as required by 
special program and resource specific guidance detailed in Appendix C 
of the BLM's Planning Handbook.
    [sbull] The plan will recognize the State's responsibility to 
manage wildlife populations, including uses such as hunting and 
fishing, within the planning area.
    [sbull] Decisions in the plan will strive to be compatible with the 
existing plans and policies of adjacent local, State, tribal, and 
Federal agencies as long as the decisions are in conformance with legal 
mandates on management of public lands.
    [sbull] The scope of analysis will be consistent with the level of 
analysis in approved plans and in accordance with Bureau-wide standards 
and program guidance.
    [sbull] Resource allocations must be reasonable and achievable 
within available technological and budgetary constraints.
    [sbull] The lifestyles and concerns of area residents will be 
recognized in the plan.
    The BLM is also requesting public input for nominations considered 
worthy of ACEC designation. To be considered as a potential ACEC, an 
area must meet the criteria of relevance and importance as established 
and defined in 43 CFR 1610.7-2. Nominations must include descriptive 
materials, detailed maps, and evidence supporting the ``relevance'' and 
``importance'' of the resource or area. There is currently one ACEC 
within the Butte FO boundary; the Sleeping Giant ACEC in Lewis and 
Clark County was designated by the Headwaters RMP in 1984. All ACEC 
nominations within the planning area will be evaluated during 
development of the RMP.

    Dated: September 12, 2003.
Richard M. Hotaling,
Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. 03-28963 Filed 12-18-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-$$-P