[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 14, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74533-74534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27299]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO 800-04-1610-DO-241A]


Notice of Intent to Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) and Associated Resource Management Plan (RMP) Land and 
Resource Management Plan (LRMP) for the San Juan Public Lands Center

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior and Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) and the USDA Forest Service (USFS) intend to prepare a 
joint EIS with associated RMP and LRMP for the federal lands under the 
jurisdiction of the San Juan Public Lands Center. This notice initiates 
the public scoping process for BLM, the USPS will issue a NOI at a 
later date. The plan will fulfill the needs and obligations set forth 
by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), National Forest 
Management Act (NFMA), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and 
BLM/USFS management policies. The BLM/USFS will work collaboratively 
with interested parties to identify the management decisions that are 
best suited to local, regional, and national needs and concerns. This 
public process will identify planning issues and develop planning 
criteria, including an evaluation of the existing management plans in 
the context of the needs and interests of the public.

DATES: The formal scoping comment period will commence with the 
publication of this notice and end when the Forest Service scoping 
ends, but not less than 30 days from the publication of this notice. 
Comments on issues, alternatives and preliminary planning criteria 
should be received on or before the end of the scoping period and can 
be submitted through the planning Web site or in writing to the address 
listed below. During this scoping period, open houses will be held in 
Cortez, Durango and Pagosa Springs, Colorado, where BLM and FS 
personnel will be available to respond to questions and provide other 
information pertaining to the preparation of the documents. There will 
be subsequent public review periods and open houses where additional 
public comment will be requested, including a formal comment period on 
the Draft management plan/EIS. Formal public meetings, if needed, will 
be announced through the local news media, newsletters, and the BLM/
USFS Web site http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/sanjuan 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.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to the Plan Revision Team, 
San Juan Public Lands Center, 15 Burnett Ct., Durango, CO 81301; (970) 
247-1847 Fax (970) 375-2331. Documents pertinent to this proposal may 
be examined at the San Juan Public Lands Center. Comments, including 
names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public 
review at the San Juan Public Lands Center during regular business 
hours 8 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. We will not however, consider anonymous comments. Such 
requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All comments 
submitted from organizations and businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of

[[Page 74534]]

organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection in 
their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact David 
Baker, telephone (970) 385-1240; e-mail [email protected]. or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact Laura Stansky, telephone 
(970) 385-1216; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The San Juan Field Office and San Juan 
National Forest are pioneering a concept known as Service First. 
Service First is a partnership strategy to provide better customer 
service and be more cost effective in the delivery of those services to 
users of the public lands in sothwest Colorado. Local units have the 
opportunity to streamline multiple processes and regulations, combine 
management of adjacent BLM and National Forest public lands, and offer 
one-stop shopping and a single point of contact for all customer--
commercial users, partners and visitors. The project has merged the San 
Juan National Forest, the BLM San Juan Field Office, the Anasazi 
Heritage Center, and the newly created Canyons of the Ancients National 
Monument under the management of the San Juan Public Lands Center in 
Durango with Field Office/Ranger Districts in Pagosa Springs, Durango, 
Bayfield and Dolores Colorado.
    Land and resource management plans for this area are currently in 
need of revision to address changing situations. The proposal is to 
jointly revise these management plans while still recognizing the need 
for separate decision documents covering Bureau of Land Management and 
National Forest System Lands. A separate, stand alone Resource 
Management Plan is currently being developed for the Canyons of the 
Ancients National Monument and that area will not be considered in this 
joint planning effort. Trust management of mineral resources for the 
Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Tribes will also be excluded.
    Management of this area is currently guided by plans located in the 
San Juan Public Land Center. This Planning effort will revise the 
existing Resource Management Plan Land and Resource Management Plan. 
One EIS will be prepared but separate Records of Decision will be done 
because the two agencies have different approving officials and appeal 
processes.
     The BLM plan is called the San Juan/San Miguel Resource 
Management Plan (RMP) and was completed in 1985 and has been amended 
four times. This Plan will only revise the San Juan portion of the RMP 
at this time. The Uncompahgre Field Office will revise the San Miguel 
portion of the RMP later. Several activity level management plans have 
been written under this plan.
     The USFS plan is called the Land and Resource Management 
Plan for the San Juan National Forest and was completed in 1983 and has 
been amended twenty times.
    Planning criteria are the standards, rules, and other factors used 
in formulating judgment about data collection, analysis and decision 
making associated with preparation of the San Juan Plan Revision. These 
criteria establish parameters and help focus preparation of the effort. 
Public comments are also welcome on the following preliminary planning 
criteria, which will be utilized in preparation of the San Juan Plan 
Revision.
    A. The San Juan Plan Revision will be completed in compliance with 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, Multiple Use and Sustained 
Yield Act of 1960, the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 
Planning Act of 1974 as amended by the National Forest Management Act 
of 1976 and all other applicable laws.
    B. The project team will work cooperatively with the State of 
Colorado, tribal governments, county and municipal governments, other 
Federal agencies, and individuals. Public participation will be 
encouraged throughout the process.
    C. Completion of the San Juan Plan Revision will include 
preparation of an EIS that will comply with the national Environmental 
Policy Act.
    D. The lifestyles and concerns of area residents, including the 
activities of grazing, protection of traditional uses, recreational 
use, off-highway vehicle use, and wilderness characteristics will be 
addressed in the San Juan Plan Revision.
    E. Decisions in the San Juan Plan Revision will strive to be 
compatible with existing plans and policies of adjacent local, State 
and Federal agencies.
    Preliminary issues and management concerns have been identified by 
BLM and Forest Service personnel, other agencies, and in meetings with 
individuals and user groups. They represent the agencies knowledge to 
date on the existing issues and concerns with current management. 
Preliminary issues identified by the BLM and FS for the plan effort 
include: Management and protection of public land resources; fuel 
reduction and fire management; implementation of the National Energy 
Policy; designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern; 
recreation/visitor use and safety; access and transportation on the 
public lands; integrating management with community, tribal, and other 
agency needs; and balancing multiple uses. Public involvement gained 
through the initial scoping period will be utilized to refine these 
topics and identify additional issues to be evaluated.
    The planning area is located in Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, 
Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezuma, Ouray, Rio Grande, San Juan, 
and San Miguel Counties; Colorado. This planning activity encompasses 
approximately 500,000 acres of public land under the jurisdiction of 
the Secretary of Interior and 1,870,000 acres under the jurisdiction of 
the Secretary of Agriculture.
    Community based study groups will be formed to gather information 
on specific resource issues; these study groups will be open to the 
public, as will the meeting notes. 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 Bayfield, Cortez, Dolores, Durango Pagosa 
Springs, Silverton, and Telluride. Early participation is encouraged 
and will help determine the future management of the San Juan Public 
Lands. In addition to the ongoing public participation process, formal 
opportunities for public participation will be provided through comment 
on the alternatives and upon publication of the draft RMP/EIS.
    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: rangeland management, minerals and 
geology, forestry, outdoor recreation, engineering, ecology, 
archaeology, paleontology, wildlife and fisheries, lands and realty, 
hydrology, soils, sociology, economics, fuels and fire.

Mark W. Stiles,
Forest Supervisor/Center Manager, San Juan Public Land Center.
[FR Doc. 04-27299 Filed 12-13-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-M