[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 84 (Friday, April 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23809-23811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-9364]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

National Park Service

[ID 079 1610 DP 051D]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Management Plan and Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Craters of the Moon 
National Monument and Preserve

AGENCIES: Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service.

ACTION: Issuance of a Notice of Availability of a Draft EIS for a Draft 
Resource Management Plan/General Management Plan (hereinafter, Draft 
Plan/EIS), for the Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. 
The Monument is located in Blaine, Butte, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Power 
Counties, in Idaho.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service 
have jointly prepared a Draft Plan/EIS for the Craters of the Moon 
National Monument and Preserve. The Draft Plan/EIS describes and 
analyzes four alternative management strategies, each presenting a 
different approach to resolving issues identified through public 
scoping. The Draft Plan/EIS is now available for public review and 
comment.

DATES: Written comments on the Draft Plan/EIS will be accepted for 90 
days

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following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes a 
notice of availability in the Federal Register. (As soon as possible 
after the Environmental Protection Agency's notice is published, the 
confirmed end date of the comment period will be posted on the two web 
sites listed below.) Future meetings or hearings and any other public 
involvement activities will be announced at least 15 days in advance 
through public notices, media news releases, and/or mailings. In 
addition, information regarding public meetings on the Draft Plan/EIS 
will be posted on the Internet at http://www.id.blm.gov/planning/craters/index.htm or http://www.nps.gov/crmo and sent to people who 
commented during scoping or asked to be on the mailing list. To receive 
full consideration, comments must be postmarked no later than the last 
day of the comment period.

ADDRESSES: The Draft Plan/EIS is posted on the web sites identified 
above and has been mailed to those who have indicated that they wanted 
to receive it in hard copy or on a compact disk. Additional copies in 
both paper and digital format are available in limited numbers. To 
receive a copy, write or call one of the individuals identified in the 
next paragraph. You may submit comments on the Draft Plan/EIS by any of 
the following methods:
     Mail: Craters of the Moon Planning Team, BLM 
Shoshone Field Office, 400 West F Street, Shoshone, ID 83352-1522
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Web site: http://www.id.blm.gov/planning/craters/index.htm or http://www.nps.gov/crmo.
     Fax: (208) 732-7317
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the BLM Shoshone Field Office, in 
Shoshone, Idaho, 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 final 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 comment. 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: Richard VanderVoet, Monument Manager, 
Bureau of Land Management, Shoshone Field Office, 400 West F Street, 
Shoshone, ID 83352-1522, phone (208) 732-7200 or Jim Morris, 
Superintendent, National Park Service, P.O. Box 29, Arco, ID 83213, 
phone (208) 527-3257.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Established in 1924, the Craters of the Moon 
National Monument was expanded by Presidential Proclamation 7373 on 
November 9, 2000, for the purpose of protecting the entire Great Rift 
volcanic zone and associated lava features, all objects of scientific 
interest. On August 21, 2002, Public Law 107-213 re-designated the 
National Park Service portion of the expanded Monument as a National 
Preserve. The Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service are 
managing the National Monument and Preserve cooperatively and are 
preparing one management plan to be implemented by both agencies.
    Issues identified through public scoping to be addressed in the 
planning process are as follows:
    (1) Development: What kinds of Monument facilities and services 
will be provided apart from the existing facilities?
    (2) Transportation and Access: What type of road and trail system 
will be needed for travel to, and access within, the Monument?
    (3) Public/Visitor Use and Safety: What will be the extent and 
location of public uses within the Monument?
    (4) Authorized Uses: How will the different uses in the Monument be 
managed?
    (5) Natural and Cultural Resources: How will natural and cultural 
resources be protected?
    Four alternative strategies are described and analyzed, as follows: 
Alternative A (No-Action Alternative): Proposes no major changes in 
resource management, visitor programs, or facilities. It depicts 
current management under the Agencies' five existing management plans, 
as modified by Proclamation 7373, Public Law 107-213, and the Agencies' 
Interim Management Guidelines. Alternative A also serves as a baseline 
for comparison with the other three alternatives. Alternative B: 
Emphasizes a broad array of visitor experiences within the Monument. 
Alternative B provides the largest amount of multiple-use trail 
opportunities, improved access both inside and outside the Monument, 
and extensive educational/informational/directional signs and 
interpretive support facilities throughout the Monument. This 
alternative allocates areas to allow for potential new developments 
like designated rustic campsites, high standard motorized and non-
motorized trail networks and a relatively high standard road system 
that provides easier access to many areas of the Monument. Alternative 
B also includes suggested management direction for access roads outside 
of the Monument. Alternative C: Emphasizes the Monument's primitive 
character. This alternative contains the least development of new 
visitor facilities. Management actions that influence resource 
conditions are as ``light handed'' and non-intrusive as possible 
including weed control and sagebrush steppe restoration. Alternative C 
has the fewest miles of maintained roads. Under this alternative, any 
new interpretive facilities would be located primarily outside the 
Monument. This alternative includes an 11,000 acre Area of Critical 
Environmental Concern (ACEC) designation in northern Laidlaw Park to 
provide special protective management for native plants. Management 
constraints associated with this ACEC would include prohibition of any 
new transportation routes and of any new livestock watering facilities 
within the designated ACEC. Alternative D (The agencies' Preferred 
Alternative. It is also identified as the Environmentally Preferred 
Alternative): Emphasizes restoration of physical and biological 
resources and processes. Alternative D contains the largest weed 
treatment and prevention program using all available tools. It 
prescribes the most aggressive fire management and sagebrush steppe 
restoration program. Alternative D places a greater emphasis than the 
other alternatives on promoting partnerships for visitor education and 
interpretation at existing facilities such as visitor centers, state 
parks, and gateway communities. This alternative also emphasizes the 
use of outfitters to meet recreation experience demands inside the 
expanded portion of the Monument.
    Decision Process: Depending upon the degree of public interest and 
response from individuals, other agencies, and organizations, the 
Proposed Management Plan and final EIS for the Craters of the Moon 
National Monument and Preserve is expected to be published early in 
2005. Availability of the document will be published in the Federal 
Register and through local news media. Subsequently, notice of an 
approved Record of Decision will be published in the Federal Register 
following the resolution of any protests regarding the Proposed 
Management Plan and final EIS. The officials responsible for the joint 
decision are the

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Regional Director of the Pacific West Region of the National Park 
Service and the State Director of the Bureau of Land Management for 
Idaho.

    (Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6.)

    Dated: December 2, 2003.
K Lynn Bennett,
Bureau of Land Management, Idaho State Director.
    Dated: December 4, 2003.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
National Park Service, Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 04-9364 Filed 4-29-04; 8:45 am]
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