[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 171 (Friday, September 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53941-53942]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-19916]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[ID-086-1610-DO-006D]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan and 
Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Coeur d'Alene Field 
Office

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) intends to prepare an RMP with an associated EIS for 
the Coeur d'Alene Field Office. The planning area for the RMP, which 
includes 96,745 acres of BLM-administered public land, is located in 
Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone Counties, Idaho. 
Preparation of this RMP and EIS will conform with the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the National Environmental Policy 
Act (NEPA), Federal Regulations, and BLM management policies.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process. Comments on 
the scope of the plan, including issues or concerns that should be 
considered, should be submitted in writing to the address listed below 
by November 15, 2004. However, collaboration with the public will 
continue throughout the planning process. Dates and locations for 
public meetings will be announced through local news media, 
newsletters, and the BLM Web site (http://www.id.blm.gov/planning/cdarmp/index.htm), at least 15 days prior to the event.

ADDRESSES: Please mail written comments to the BLM, Coeur d'Alene Field 
Office, Attn: RMP, 1808 North Third Street, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814-
3407, or fax to (208) 769-5050. All public comments, including names 
and mailing addresses of respondents, will be available for public 
review at the Coeur d'Alene Field Office during regular business hours 
(7:45 a.m. to 4:30

[[Page 53942]]

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, please state this 
prominently at the beginning of your written correspondence. The BLM 
will honor such requests 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: For further information or to have 
your name added to the Coeur d'Alene RMP Mailing List, contact Scott 
Pavey at the Coeur d'Alene Field Office (see address above), telephone 
(208) 769-5059.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Coeur d'Alene RMP planning area is 
located entirely in the northern part of the Idaho panhandle. The area 
is bordered to the west by the Washington state line, to the north by 
the Canadian border, to the east by the Montana state line, and to the 
south by Latah and Clearwater Counties, Idaho. The Coeur d'Alene Field 
Office planning area also lies partially within the ceded territory of 
the Coeur d'Alene Tribe. The Coeur d'Alene Reservation lies entirely 
within the planning area, and there are about 180 acres of BLM-
administered land within the reservation boundary. Management of BLM-
administered lands within the ceded area and the reservation boundaries 
will involve trust and treaty resources. Other Federally recognized 
tribes with aboriginal or historic ties to the planning area include 
the Kootenai Tribe in Idaho, the Kalispell Tribe in Washington, and the 
Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Montana.
    The BLM-administered public lands within the Coeur d'Alene Field 
Office planning area are currently managed in accordance with the 
decisions in the 1981 Emerald Empire Management Framework Plan (MFP) as 
amended. BLM will continue to manage these lands in accordance with the 
MFP and amendments until the RMP is completed and a Record of Decision 
is signed.
    Preparation of an RMP for the Coeur d'Alene Field Office is 
necessary to respond to changing resource conditions; respond to new 
issues; and prepare a comprehensive framework for managing public lands 
administered by the field office. The RMP will establish new land use 
planning decisions to address issues identified through public scoping 
and, where appropriate, will incorporate decisions from the existing 
Emerald Empire MFP.
    Public Participation: The BLM will work collaboratively with 
interested parties to identify the management decisions that are best 
suited to local, regional, and national interests. The public scoping 
process will help identify planning issues and provide for public 
comment on the proposed planning criteria.
    BLM has identified the following preliminary issue themes:
    1. Vegetation management (including noxious weeds, riparian areas 
and wetlands, and fuels and forest management).
    2. Fire management.
    3. Management of habitat for wildlife and special status species.
    4. Management of transportation, public access, and recreational 
opportunities.
    5. Land tenure adjustments.
    6. Availability and management of public lands for commercial uses 
(minerals, forest products and livestock grazing).
    7. Management of areas with special values.
    8. Tribal treaty rights and trust responsibilities.
    These preliminary issue themes are not final and may be refined or 
added to through future public participation.
    BLM has also identified some preliminary planning criteria to guide 
development of the plan, to avoid unnecessary data collection and 
analysis, and to ensure the plan is tailored to the issues.
    These criteria may be modified or other criteria identified during 
the public scoping process. The public is invited to comment on the 
following preliminary planning criteria:
    1. The plan will comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and 
current policies. This includes local, State, tribal, and Federal air 
quality standards; as well as water quality standards from the Idaho 
Non-Point Source Management Program Plans.
    2. The RMP planning effort will be collaborative and multi-
jurisdictional in nature. The BLM will strive to ensure that its 
management decisions are complementary to other planning jurisdictions 
and adjoining properties, within the boundaries described by law and 
Federal Regulations.
    3. All previously established Wilderness Study Areas will continue 
to be managed for wilderness values and character until Congress 
designates them as wilderness areas, or releases them for multiple use 
management.
    4. The RMP will recognize all valid existing rights.
    5. As part of this RMP process, BLM will analyze areas for 
potential designation as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) 
in accordance with 43 CFR 1610.7-2, and river corridors for suitability 
for designation under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.

    Dated: July 6, 2004.
K. Lynn Bennett,
Idaho State Director, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 04-19916 Filed 9-2-04; 8:45 am]
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