[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 170 (Friday, September 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52144-52145]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-14553]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[WY-920-1430-ET; WYW 163447]


Notice of Proposed Withdrawal and Opportunity for Public Meeting; 
Wyoming

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management has received a petition/
application from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to 
withdraw approximately 427 acres of public land from surface entry and 
mining to protect and manage migratory bird and other wildlife values. 
Day-to-day management functions as to the land would be transferred 
from the Bureau of Land Management to the Fish and Wildlife Service for 
inclusion in the Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. This 
notice segregates the land from the public land disposal laws, 
including mining, for up to two years while various studies and 
analyses are made to support a final decision on the withdrawal 
application. The land will remain open to mineral leasing.

DATES: Comments and requests for a public meeting must be received by 
November 30, 2006.

ADDRESSES: Comments and meeting requests should be sent to the State 
Director, BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, P.O. Box 
1828, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003-1828.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Janet Booth, BLM Wyoming State Office, 
307-775-6124. The relevant case file is available at the above stated 
address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
has filed a petition/application to withdraw the following described 
public land from settlement, sale, location, or entry under the general 
land laws, including the mining laws, but not the mineral leasing laws, 
subject to valid existing rights:

Sixth Principal Meridian

T. 23 N., R. 119 W.,
    Sec. 6, lots 22 to 24, inclusive, NE\1/4\SW\1/4\, and that 
portion of lots 13, 18, and 19 lying east of Wyoming State Highway 
16; sec. 18, lot 13.
T. 23 N., R. 120 W.,
    Sec. 12, that portion of E\1/2\NE\1/4\ and SE\1/4\ lying east of 
Wyoming State Highway 16;
    Sec. 13, that portion of NE\1/4\ lying east of Wyoming State 
Highway 16;
    Sec. 24, lot 7, that portion of lots 5, 13, and 17, and NE\1/
4\NW\1/4\ lying east of Wyoming State Highway 16;
    Sec. 25, that portion of lot 28 lying east of Wyoming State 
Highway 16;
    Sec. 26, that portion of lot 13 lying east of Wyoming State 
Highway 16;
    Sec. 36, lots 23 to 26, inclusive.
    The area described contains 427 acres, more or less, in Lincoln 
County.

    The petition/application has been approved as a withdrawal 
proposal.
    43 CFR 2310.1-3 (e).
    The land proposed for withdrawal consists of isolated tracts of 
public land within the boundary of the Cokeville Meadows National 
Wildlife (Refuge). The land would be withdrawn from settlement, sale, 
location, or entry under the general land laws, including the mining 
laws, but not the mineral leasing laws, to preserve, protect and manage 
the above described public lands for use as an inviolate sanctuary; for 
its migratory waterfowl habitat and other migratory bird values; 
resident big game, small game, fur bearers, and upland game birds; 
public educational values; public recreational values; and, for any 
other management purposes, for migratory birds. Day-to-day management 
functions relative to the land would be transferred by the proposed 
withdrawal from the Bureau of Land Management to the Fish and Wildlife 
Service for inclusion in the Refuge. Administrative jurisdiction over 
the land would remain in the Secretary of the Interior.
    For a period of 90 days from the date of publication of this 
notice, all persons who wish to submit comments, suggestions, or 
objections in connection with the proposed withdrawal may present their 
views in writing to the Wyoming State Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management.
    Notice is hereby given that an opportunity for a public meeting is 
afforded in connection with the proposed withdrawal. All interested 
persons who desire a public meeting for the purpose of being heard on 
the proposed withdrawal must submit a written request to the Wyoming 
State Director within 90 days from the date of publication of this 
notice. If the authorized officer determines that a public meeting will 
be held, a notice of the time and place will be published in the 
Federal Register at least 30 days before the scheduled date of the 
meeting.
    Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will 
be available for public review at the BLM Kemmerer Field Office, 312 
Highway 189 North, Kemmerer, Wyoming, during regular business hours. 
Individual respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to 
withhold your name or address from public review or from disclosure 
under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently 
at the beginning of your comments. Such requests will be honored 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, will be 
made available for public inspection in their entirety.
    A right-of-way or cooperative agreement would not provide the 
necessary administrative controls to adequately protect, develop and 
manage the area in conjunction with, and on the same basis as, the rest 
of the Refuge or for the purposes for which the Refuge was established.
    There are no suitable alternative sites as the land described lies 
within the approved boundary of Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife 
Refuge.
    No additional water rights, other than those currently existing on 
the lands so described are required, to manage the lands as part of the 
Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
    The proposed withdrawal will be processed in accordance with the 
regulations set forth in 43 CFR part 2300.
    For a period of two years from the date of publication of this 
notice in the Federal Register, in accordance with 43 CFR 2310.2(a), 
the land will be segregated from settlement, sale, location and entry 
under the general land laws including the mining laws, but not the 
mineral leasing laws, unless the application is denied or canceled or 
the proposed withdrawal is approved prior to that date.
    During the segregative period, the Bureau of Land Management may, 
after consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, allow uses of 
a temporary nature that are compatible with the purposes for which 
Cokeville Meadows National Wildlife Refuge was established.

(Authority: 43 CFR 2310.2)


[[Page 52145]]


     Dated: July 10, 2006.
Michael Madrid,
Chief, Branch of Fluid Mineral Operations, Lands and Appraisal.
 [FR Doc. E6-14553 Filed 8-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P