[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2269-2270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-286]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice of Availability of Coeur d'Alene Field Office, Idaho, 
Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan/
Environmental Impact Statement (RMP/EIS) for the Coeur d'Alene Field 
Office.

DATES: To assure that they will be considered, BLM must receive written 
comments on the Draft RMP/EIS within 90 days following the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes the Notice of Availability in 
the Federal Register. The BLM will announce future meetings or hearings 
and any other public involvement activities through public notices, 
news media released, and/or mailings, and on the BLM Web site (http://www.blm.gov/rmp/id/cda/).

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Mail: BLM Coeur d'Alene Field Office, ATTN: RMP, 1808 
North Third Street, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83814-3407.
     Fax: (208) 769-5050.
    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: Scott Pavey at the Coeur d'Alene Field 
Office (see above address), telephone (208) 769-5059.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of the Draft RMP/EIS is available for 
review via the Internet Web site at http://www.blm.gov/rmp/id/cda/. You 
may also obtain a copy on CD-ROM, or paper copy at the BLM Coeur 
d'Alene Field Office at the address listed above, or by contacting 
Scott Pavey at (208) 769-5059.
    The planning area covers approximately 96,770 acres of public lands 
within the following Idaho Counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, 
Kootenai, and Shoshone. The RMP will provide future broad-scale 
management direction for use and protection of resources managed by the 
Coeur d'Alene Field Office. The Draft RMP/EIS was developed through a 
collaborative planning process and considers four alternatives. The 
primary issues addressed include: recreational travel management, 
management of forest products and protection of other resources, 
adjustments to Federal land ownership, invasive plants, protection of 
property from wildfire, and protection and restoration of watersheds 
and riparian areas.
    The preferred alternative proposes designation of five areas of 
critical environmental concern (ACECs), four of which would become 
Research Natural Areas (RNAs): Hideaway Islands RNA--76 acres 
(existing); Lund Creek RNA--3,206 acres (2,905 acres existing); Farnham 
Forest RNA--33 acres; Windy Bay RNA--16 acres; and Pulaski Tunnel 
ACEC--27 acres. The preferred alternative specifies a no surface 
occupancy stipulation on future mineral leases within all ACECs/RNAs. 
Additionally, BLM would recommend Pulaski Tunnel ACEC for withdrawal 
from the mining laws. All of the RNAs would be designated as right-of-
way exclusion areas and would have restrictions for vegetation 
treatments and timber harvests. The Farnham Forest RNA would be closed 
to motorized vehicles. Motorized use in all other areas would be 
limited to designated roads and trails.
    Sixteen other ACECs were considered under other alternatives, but 
were not included in the preferred alternative: Constitution Mine and 
Millsite ACEC--6 acres; Gamlin Lake ACEC--59 acres; Hecla-Star Tailings 
Piles ACEC--22 acres; Killarney Lake ACEC--69 acres; Kootenai River 
Front ACEC--533 acres; Liberal King Millsite ACEC--2 acres; Little 
North Fork Clearwater River ACEC--9,592 acres; Morton Slough ACEC--119 
acres; Mother Load Mine ACEC--0.8 acres; Nabob Millsite

[[Page 2270]]

ACEC--8 acres; Rex Millsite Tailings Pile ACEC--6 acres; Rochat Divide 
ACEC--11,653 acres; Sidney Mine and Millsite ACEC--6 acres; Wallace 
Landfill ACEC--0.3 acres; We-Like Mine ACEC--0.3 acres; Wolf Lodge Bay 
ACEC--1,094 acres. Restrictions on use of public lands within these 
areas would vary, depending on the alternative and the values 
identified for protection, but would include limitations on mining, 
off-highway vehicle use, and vegetation treatments.
    The preferred alternative also recommends four suitable segments of 
river for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River system: 
Little North Fork Clearwater River--2.5 miles wild classification and 
1.1 miles recreation classification; Lost Lake Creek--3.0 miles wild 
classification and 0.3 miles scenic classification; Little Lost Lake 
Creek--3.0 miles wild classification; and Lund Creek--3.9 miles wild 
classification. A segment of the Kootenai River (14 miles) was found 
eligible, but under the preferred alternative, suitability 
determination would be deferred until the Idaho Panhandle National 
Forest (the primary land owner along this segment) makes a suitability 
determination on adjacent segments.

    Dated: November 16, 2005.
Eric R. Thomson,
Coeur d'Alene Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. 06-286 Filed 1-12-06; 8:45 am]
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