[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 102 (Friday, May 26, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30446-30447]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-8087]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM-220-1610-DO-026G]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan Revision 
(RMPR) for the Taos Field Office, New Mexico, and Associated 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Office, Taos, New 
Mexico, intends to prepare a Resource Management Plan Revision with an 
associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Taos Field 
Office and by this notice is announcing public scoping meetings. The 
RMPR will revise the existing Taos Resource Management Plan.

DATES: The BLM will announce public scoping meetings to identify 
relevant issues through local news media, newsletters and the BLM Web 
site http://www.nm.blm.gov/tafo/taos_rmpa/taos_rmpa.htm at least 15 
days prior to the first meeting. We will provide formal opportunities 
for public participation upon publication of the Draft RMPR/EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.nm.blm.gov/tafo/taos_rmpr/taos_rmpr.htm.
     Fax: (505) 758-1620.
     Mail: Attn: RMPR Comments, BLM-Taos, 226 Cruz Alta Rd., 
Taos, NM 87571.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the Taos 
Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, contact Ms. Sharon ``Sher'' 
Churchill, telephone (505) 751-4725; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Field Office, Taos, New Mexico, intends to prepare a RMPR with 
associated EIS for the Taos Field Office and announces public scoping 
meetings.
    The planning area is located in Taos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Colfax, 
Harding, Los Alamos, Mora, San Miguel and Union counties in the state 
of New Mexico. This planning activity encompasses approximately 593,659 
surface acres of public land and 4,331,946 acres of Federal mineral 
estate. The plan revision will fulfill the obligations set forth by the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM management policies. The BLM will work 
collaboratively with interested parties to identify the management 
decisions that are best suited to local, regional, and national needs 
and concerns.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine relevant 
issues that will influence the scope of the environmental analysis and 
EIS alternatives. These issues also guide the planning process. You may 
submit comments on issues and planning criteria in writing to the BLM 
at any public scoping meeting or you may submit them to the BLM using 
one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section above. To be most 
helpful, you should submit formal scoping comments within 30 days after 
the last public meeting. The minutes and list of attendees for each 
scoping meeting will be available to the public and open for 30 days 
after the meeting to any participant who wishes to clarify the views he 
or she expressed. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. 
If you wish to withhold your name and/or address from public review or 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your written comment. The BLM will 
honor such requests to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, are available for public inspection in their entirety.
    Preliminary issues and management concerns have been identified by 
BLM personnel, other agencies, and in meetings with individuals and 
user groups. They represent the BLM's knowledge to date regarding the 
existing issues and concerns with current land management. The major 
issues that will be addressed in this planning effort include land 
tenure adjustment, land uses, special area designations, visual 
resource management, off-highway vehicle use, and minerals materials. 
After public comments as to what issues the plan revision should 
address are gathered, they will be placed in one of three categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan revision;
    2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action; 
or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan revision.
    The BLM will provide an explanation in the plan revision as to why 
we placed an issue in category two or three. In addition to these major 
issues, a number of management questions and concerns will be addressed 
in the plan revision. The public is encouraged to help identify these 
questions and concerns during the scoping phase.
    Preliminary planning criteria are:
    1. Actions must comply with laws, regulations, executive orders, 
and BLM Manual (i.e., supplemental program guidance).
    2. Actions must be reasonable, achievable, allow for flexibility 
where appropriate, and support adaptive management principles.
    3. The Taos RMP Revision will change Field Office management 
guidance in a number of program areas by either modifying existing 
direction or adding new direction. As appropriate, RMPR guidance will 
be developed within an adaptive management framework, providing context 
and identifying processes and tools for implementing adaptive 
management.
    4. The planning process will include an environmental impact 
statement that complies with National Environmental Policy Act 
standards.
    5. The planning process will follow guidance provided in the BLM 
Land Use Planning Handbook H-1610-1.
    6. The planning process will be conducted using an 
interdisciplinary approach.
    7. While ensuring conformance with BLM policies and Federal laws, 
the planning team and Taos Field Office manager will strive to make RMP 
Revision decisions consistent with

[[Page 30447]]

existing plans and policies of adjacent local, state, and Federal 
agencies, to the extent possible.
    8. A collaborative approach to public and agency participation will 
be used throughout the planning process. The Taos RMP Revision planning 
team will work collaboratively with county, municipal and Tribal 
governments; other Federal, state and local agencies; interested 
individuals and groups; and other BLM staff groups.
    9. The Economic Profile System (EPS) will be used as one source of 
demographic and economic data for the planning process. EPS data will 
provide important baseline data and contribute to estimates of existing 
and future (projected) social and economic conditions. Socio-cultural 
and economic analysis will subsequently be performed to identify 
impacts of the potential management alternatives on the diverse 
populations within the planning area.
    10. As required in the Land Use Planning Handbook H-1610-1, EPS 
workshops will be conducted with community participants from Santa Fe 
and Rio Arriba Counties. These workshops will be held to foster strong 
working relationships with county residents and to share information 
and perspectives about local economic conditions.
    11. The RMP Revision process will foster participation of Native 
American tribal governments and will provide strategies for protection 
of cultural resources and traditional cultural practices on public 
lands.
    12. The RMP Revision process will emphasize focused, collaborative 
work with communities to identify public lands and resources upon which 
they currently rely and/or will rely in the future. This work will 
center on identifying current and future land use and land ownership 
patterns that support communities while meeting BLM's overarching 
mission and goals, and identifying areas with potential for a modified 
or new special designation status and associated benefits to local 
communities, the general public and BLM.
    13. The RMP Revision will recognize valid existing rights related 
to the use of public lands.
    The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan 
revision in order to consider the variety of resource issues and 
concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in the following 
disciplines will be involved in the planning process: sociology and 
economics; archaeology; paleontology; lands and realty; outdoor 
recreation; visual resource management; transportation management; 
minerals and geology; vegetation management (including forest and fire 
ecology); hydrology; soils; wildlife and Threatened and Endangered 
species management; and fisheries.

    Dated: April 20, 2006.
Linda S.C. Rundell,
New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. E6-8087 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-FB-P