[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 93 (Thursday, May 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 26617]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10916]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR-930-6333 PH COMP, HAG 4-0161]


Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Resource 
Management Plan (RMP) Amendment/Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (SEIS) for Management of Port-Orford-Cedar in Southwest 
Oregon

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of Record of Decision (ROD).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM 
management policies, the BLM announces the availability of the ROD/RMP 
Amendment for Management of Port-Orford-Cedar in Southwest Oregon, 
affecting the Coos Bay, Medford, and Roseburg Districts. The Oregon 
State Director will sign the ROD/RMP Amendment, which becomes effective 
immediately.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Denton, SEIS Team Leader, P.O. Box 
2965, Portland, Oregon 97208, telephone (503) 326-2368, e-mail [email protected], or visit the SEIS Web site at http://www.or.blm.gov/planning/Port-Orford-Cedar_SEIS/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Port-Orford-cedar is killed by an exotic 
root disease (Phytophthora lateralis) that is linked, at least in part, 
to transport of spore-infested mud by humans and animals. Water-borne 
spores then readily spread the disease down slope and down stream.
    The Management of Port-Orford-Cedar in Southwest Oregon ROD/RMP 
Amendment was developed with public participation through a year-long 
planning process. This ROD/RMP Amendment, together with a similar one 
signed by the Forest Service in March, 2004, addresses management on 
approximately 270,000 acres of Port-Orford-cedar stands in the planning 
area. The ROD/RMP Amendment will help maintain Port-Orford-cedar as an 
ecologically and economically significant species on BLM lands. It 
includes a series of generally required actions, actions that can be 
applied to specific projects when there is a management risk to Port-
Orford-cedar, and an emphasis on keeping the disease out of uninfested 
watersheds.
    The Port-Orford-cedar RMP Amendment is essentially the same as 
Alternative 2 in the Proposed RMP Amendment/Final SEIS published on 
January 23, 2004 (see Notice of Availability, Federal Register, p. 
3340). The BLM received five protests to the Proposed Amendment/Final 
SEIS. As a result of the protests, minor modifications were made in 
preparing the ROD/RMP Amendment. These modifications adopted a 
mitigation measure described in the SEIS, adopted NOAA-Fisheries 
consultation recommendations for monitoring and examining stream 
temperatures, corrected errors that were noted during review of the 
Proposed Amendment/Final SEIS, and provide further clarification for 
the decision. No inconsistencies with state or local plans, policies, 
or programs were identified during the Governor's Consistency Review of 
the Proposed Amendment/Final SEIS.

Judy Ellen Nelson,
Acting Associate State Director, Oregon and Washington, Bureau of Land 
Management.
[FR Doc. 04-10916 Filed 5-11-04; 11:31 am]
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