[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 151 (Friday, August 6, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47952-47954]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-17851]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO-820-02-5440-DT -C028]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed San Juan/San Miguel 
Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for a Proposed Ski Area Near Silverton, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of the proposed San Juan/San Miguel 
Resource Management Plan Amendment and final environmental impact 
statement (PRMP Amendment /FEIS) for a proposed ski area near 
Silverton, Colorado.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) and section 102(2)(C) of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM) has prepared a PRMP Amendment and FEIS for the proposed ski area. 
The proposed area lies in San Juan County, Colorado. The PRMP 
Amendment/FEIS provides direction and guidance for the management of 
public lands and resources of the ski area, as well as monitoring and 
evaluation requirements. The PRMP Amendment/FEIS would also amend the 
San Juan/San Miguel RMP (1985) for the affected lands in the planning 
area. Once approved in a Record of Decision (ROD), the Amended RMP 
would supercede all existing management plans for the public lands 
within the ski area.

DATES: BLM Planning Regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any person 
who participated in the planning process, and has an interest that may 
be adversely affected, may protest. The protest must be filed within 30 
days of the date that the Environmental

[[Page 47953]]

Protection Agency publishes this notice in the Federal Register. 
Instructions for filing of protests are described in Chapter One of the 
PRMP Amendment/FEIS and are also included in the Supplementary 
Information section of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To have your name added to our mailing 
list, contact Richard Speegle, Project Manager, at 970-375-3310, (or e-
mail at [email protected]) Columbine Field Office, San Juan 
Public Lands Center, 15 Burnett Ct., Durango, CO 81301.
    Persons who are not able to inspect the PRMP Amendment/FEIS either 
on-line or at the information repository locations may request one of a 
limited number of printed or CD copies. Requests for copies of the PRMP 
Amendment/FEIS should be directed to Mr. Speegle, and should clearly 
state that the request is for a printed copy or CD of the Silverton 
Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center PRMP Amendment/FEIS, and include 
the name, mailing address and phone number of the requesting party.
    Copies of the PRMP Amendment/FEIS have been sent to affected 
Federal, State, and Local Government agencies and to interested 
parties. The planning documents and direct supporting record for the 
analysis for the PRMP Amendment/FEIS will be available for inspection 
at the following offices:

--The Bureau of Land Management, Columbine Field Office, 110 W. 11th, 
Durango, Colorado 81301
--The Bureau of Land Management, San Juan Public Lands Center, 15 
Burnett Ct., Durango Colorado (documents can be reviewed at the BLM 
office during normal working hours).
--Silverton Public Library, 1111 Reese Street, Silverton, Colorado
--The Durango Public Library, 1188 2nd Ave, Durango, Colorado
--The public may obtain a copy of the PRMP Amendment/FEIS from the 
following locations:
--The Bureau of Land Management Columbine Field Office & the San Juan 
Public Lands Center
--On the Internet at www.co.blm.gov/sjra.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Cirrus Ecological Solutions, L.C, an 
environmental consulting firm in Logan, Utah, is assisting the BLM in 
the preparation of these documents and in the planning process for the 
ski area. The EIS is being prepared to provide the public and Bureau 
decision makers with comprehensive environmental impact information 
related to the following Proposed Action: authorization of Silverton 
Outdoor Learning and Recreation Center's request for long-term use of 
1,300 acres of BLM-administered land for backcountry-type skiing, 
summer recreation, and educational activities. The Proposed Action 
would require an Amendment of the San Juan/San Miguel RMP to provide 
for a change in the scope of authorized resource uses. The planning 
area addressed in the PRMP Amendment/FEIS contains 1,300 acres of BLM-
administered lands, and 400 acres of private lands owned by the 
proponent. The PRMP Amendment/FEIS only applies to BLM-administered 
lands. Other private lands are included within the planning area 
boundary because these lands are interspersed with the BLM 
administered-lands.
    The Draft RMP(DRMP) Amendment/ Draft EIS(DEIS) published in June 
2003, addressed four alternatives: the Proposed Action (Unguided Skiing 
Only), (A) No Action, or continuation of current practices, (B) Guided 
Skiing Only, and (C) the Preferred Alternative, an Integrated Guided 
and Unguided Operation. The PRMP Amendment/FEIS still includes 
Alternative C as the Agency Preferred Alternative. However, the PRMP 
Amendment/FEIS reflects the public and internal comments received on 
DRMP Amendment/DEIS.
    The significant issues addressed in the analysis included the 
following: 1. Public safety (including avalanche mitigation); 2. Canada 
lynx impacts; 3. Impacts on the local winter economy; 4. Impacts to 
neighboring private lands; and 5. Public access to the area. Of these, 
public safety drove the development of alternatives. The Agency 
Preferred Alternative (C) Integrated Guided and Unguided Operation, 
would blend the unguided skiing under the Proposed Action with the 
Guided Only Operation of Alternative (B), incorporating the skier 
safety approaches appropriate to both. The Preferred Alternative (C) 
would include all elements of both the Proposed Action and the Guided 
Only Operation of Alternative (B), with the following exceptions:
    1. Skier access to the permit area terrain would be staged 
according to skier safety hazards. Areas where risks were adequately 
reduced, due to avalanche control efforts and/or naturally evolving 
snow conditions, would be open to unguided skiing. Areas where hazards 
existed but could be avoided would be open to guide skiing only, and 
areas where the hazard was too high to reliably avoid, would be closed.
    2. Limited tree thinning, limbing and clean-up on forested, north-
facing slopes within the permit area. The objective would be to 
increase skier rescue and safe tree-skiing opportunities, primarily for 
unguided skiers, during periods of high avalanche hazard above 
timberline.
    3. A 1.7 mile trail, less steep than the existing lift trail on 
private land, would be developed for emergency snowmobile access to the 
top lift terminal. It would also be available for hiker and mountain 
biker access in the summer months.
    This alternative would incorporate both approaches to skier safety, 
from resort-style risk reduction as envisioned under the Proposed 
Action to the risk-avoidance approach typical of guided operations 
(Alternative B). Determination of which areas were open for unguided 
skiing and for guided skiing--and which areas were closed to skiing of 
any type--would be made on the basis of snow-stability criteria 
detailed in the skier-safety operation plan.
    The planning process includes an opportunity for public, 
administrative review of proposed land use plan decisions during a 30-
day protest period of the PRMP Amendment/FEIS. Any person who 
participated in the planning process for the PRMP Amendment/FEIS, and 
has an interest which is or may be adversely affected, may protest 
approval of this PRMP Amendment/FEIS and land use plan decisions 
contained within it (See 43 CFR 1610.5-2) during this 30-day period. 
Only those persons or organizations who participated in the planning 
process leading to this PRMP Amendment/FEIS may protest. A protesting 
party may raise only those issues submitted for the record during the 
planning process leading up to the publication of this PRMP Amendment/
FEIS. These issues may have been raised by the protesting party or 
others. New issues may not be brought into the record at the protest 
stage. The 30-day period for filing a plan protest begins when the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes in the Federal Register its 
Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement 
containing the PRMP Amendment/FEIS. There is no provision for any 
extension of time. To be considered ``timely'', your protest, along 
with all attachments, must be postmarked no later than the last day of 
the protest period. A letter of protest must be filed in accordance 
with the planning regulations, 43 CFR 1610.5-2(a)(1). Protests must be 
in writing. E-mail and faxed protests will not be accepted as valid 
protests unless the protesting party also provides the original letter 
by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the close

[[Page 47954]]

of the protest period. Under these conditions, BLM will consider the e-
mail or faxed protest as an advance copy and it will receive full 
consideration. If you wish to provide BLM with such advance 
notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of the BLM 
protest coordinator at 202-452-5112, and e-mails to [email protected]. If sent by regular mail, send to: Director (210), 
Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 66538, Washington, DC 20035. For 
overnight (i.e., Federal Express) mailing, send protests to: Director 
(210) Attention: Brenda Williams, 1620 L Street, NW., Suite 1075, 
Washington, DC 20036. In order to be considered complete, your protest 
must contain at a minimum, the following information:
    1. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and interest of the 
person filing the protest.
    2. A statement of the issue or issues being protested.
    3. A statement of the part or parts of the PRMP Amendment/FEIS 
being protested. To the extent possible, this should be done by 
reference to specific pages, paragraphs, sections, tables, maps, etc. 
included in the document.
    4. A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues that you 
submitted during the planning process, or a reference to the date and 
issue or issues that were discussed by you for the record.
    5. A concise statement explaining why the Colorado BLM State 
Director's proposed decision is believed to be incorrect. This is the 
critical part of your protest. Take care to document relevant facts.
    As much as possible, reference or cite the planning documents, 
environmental analysis documents, or available planning records (i.e., 
meeting minutes or summaries, correspondence, etc.). A protest that 
merely expresses disagreement with the Colorado BLM State Director's 
proposed decision, without any data, will not provide us with the 
benefit of your information and insight. In this case, the Director's 
review will be based on the existing analysis and supporting data. At 
the end of the 30-day protest period and after the Governor's 
consistency review, the PRMP Amendment/FEIS, excluding any portions 
under protest, will become final. Approval will be withheld on any 
portion of the PRMP Amendment/FEIS under protest until final action has 
been completed on such protest.
    Freedom of Information Act Considerations/Confidentiality: Public 
comments submitted for this planning review, including names and street 
addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at the 
Columbine Field Office, in Durango, Colorado, during regular business 
hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays. 
Comments, including names and addresses of respondents, will be 
retained on file in the same office as part of the public record for 
this planning effort. Individual respondents may request 
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or address from 
public inspection 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. 
BLM will not accept anonymous comments. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

    Dated: March 9, 2004.
Mark W. Stiles,
Center Manager, San Juan Public Lands Center.
    Editorial Note: This document was received in the Office of the 
Federal Register on July 30, 2004.
[FR Doc. 04-17851 Filed 8-5-04; 8:45 am]
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