[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 203 (Friday, October 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62008-62010]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17452]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM-510-1610-DS-025G]


Notice of Availability (NOA)

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Special Status Species Draft 
Resource Management Plan Amendment/ Environmental Impact Statement 
(DRMPA/EIS), New Mexico.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the BLM has prepared a 
Special Status Species DRMPA/EIS for the Pecos District and by this 
Notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To assure that they will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the DRMPA/EIS within 90 days following the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes their NOA in the Federal 
Register. The BLM will announce future meetings or hearings and any 
other

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public involvement activities at least 15 days in advance through 
public notices, media news releases, and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods: Web 
Site: http://www.nm.blm.gov; E-mail: [email protected]; Fax: 505-
627-0276; or Mail: BLM Roswell Field Office, Attention: RMPA, 2909 West 
Second Street, Roswell, NM 88201.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or to have 
your name added to the Special Status Species 
DRMPA[bs]EIS Mailing List, contact Howard Parman, 
Planning Team Leader, at the Roswell Field Office (see ADDRESSES 
above), telephone 505-627-0272. Requests for information may be sent 
electronically to: [email protected] with ``Attention: Special 
Status Species DRMPA Information Request'' in the subject line.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The planning area for the Special Status 
Species DRMPA[bs]EIS, which includes 847,491 acres of 
BLM-administered public lands, is located in Chaves, Eddy, Lea, and 
Roosevelt Counties, New Mexico. A map of the planning area is available 
on the Web site (see ADDRESSES above). The planning area includes all 
surface and subsurface (mineral estate) lands managed by BLM within the 
planning area.
    The BLM-administered public lands within the planning area are 
currently managed under interim management guidelines issued on August 
5, 2004. Interim management is in accordance with the decisions in the 
1988 Carlsbad RMP, as amended, and the 1997 Roswell RMP. The BLM will 
continue to manage these lands in accordance with the interim 
management guidelines until the RMPA is completed and a Record of 
Decision is signed.
    The purpose of the DRMPA[bs]EIS is to amend the 
existing Resource Management Plans, in order to protect and enhance 
lesser prairie-chicken and sand dune lizard habitats, while allowing 
other uses to continue. The Special Status Species 
DRMPA[bs]EIS documents the direct, indirect, and 
cumulative environmental impacts of six alternative plans for BLM-
administered public lands within the planning area.
    The DRMPA/EIS describes the physical, biological, cultural, 
historic, and socioeconomic resources in and around the surrounding 
planning area. The focus for impact analysis was based on resource 
issues and concerns identified during scoping and public involvement 
activities and opportunities. Potential impacts of concern regarding 
possible management direction and planning decisions (not in priority 
order) are: development of energy resources, special management 
designation, special status species management, livestock grazing, and 
off-highway vehicle designations.
    Six alternatives were analyzed in detail: The No Action Alternative 
represents the continuation of existing management plans, policies, and 
decisions as established in the 1988 Carlsbad RMP (as amended) and the 
1997 Roswell RMP. Alternative A represents a strategy developed by the 
Southeast New Mexico Lesser Prairie Chicken Working Group to give 
greater protection to the Lesser prairie chicken and the sand dune 
lizard. Alternative B represents the working group's strategy and adds 
more emphasis to sand dune lizard habitat and surface reclamation. 
Alternative C represents the continuation of interim management, 
originally put in place by the BLM to preserve management options in 
the planning area. Alternative D focuses management efforts on 
preserving occupied habitat. Alternative E analyzes the impacts of an 
Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) nomination. (See below 
for additional information about the ACEC.) The BLM's preferred 
alternative is Alternative B.
    Since the publication of the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare a 
DRMPA[bs]EIS in the Federal Register on November 18, 
2004, scoping meetings, economic workshops, and mailings have been 
conducted to solicit public comments and input. The Pecos District 
Office has been providing updates on the development of the DRMPA/EIS 
to the Chaves, Eddy, and Lea County Boards of Commissioners, and the 
New Mexico Resource Advisory Council. Tribal governments with interests 
in the planning area were also contacted. In addition to Chaves, Eddy, 
and Lea counties, the New Mexico State Land Office, the New Mexico 
Department of Agriculture, and New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, 
applied for, and were granted, Cooperating Agency status for the 
development of the DRMPA/EIS.
    The DRMPA/EIS considers the nomination of one ACEC. Alternative E 
describes the proposed Lesser Prairie Chicken ACEC, and analyzes the 
impacts of establishing this ACEC. This ACEC would be four tracts 
totaling approximately 231,040 acres. Resource use limitations in this 
ACEC include a 5-year moratorium on all livestock grazing and new oil 
and gas activities within the proposed ACEC south of U.S. Highway 380 
and the two small portions of the proposed ACEC straddling U.S. Highway 
70; no new oil or gas well drilling allowed within 0.9 mile of an 
active lesser prairie chicken lek within the proposed ACEC; and no new 
rights-of-way granted within 0.9 mile of an active lesser prairie 
chicken lek within the proposed ACEC. Within the Adaptive Management 
Area of the proposed ACEC, experimental reductions in livestock grazing 
would be conducted, including no livestock grazing on at least 1 square 
mile within 1.5 miles of lesser prairie chicken lek sites; and light 
intensity livestock grazing after June 30 on at least 1 square mile 
within 1.5 miles of lesser prairie chicken lek sites. Each grazing 
treatment experiment would be conducted on a minimum of five sites.
    From the publication date of the NOI in the Federal Register, 
through February 5, 2005, the BLM solicited comments and received 10 
written letters, comment forms, and e-mails from interested parties. In 
addition, four scoping meetings were held to provide the public with an 
opportunity to acquire information about the planning process and its 
status, and how to submit comments.
    These public meetings were held in Portales, New Mexico, on January 
11, 2005, Roswell, New Mexico, on January 13, 2005, Carlsbad, New 
Mexico, on January 18, 2005, and Hobbs, New Mexico, on January 20, 
2005. The four meetings resulted in approximately 64 oral comments from 
the public. All comments presented throughout the process have been 
considered. Background information and maps used in developing the 
Draft RMPA/EIS are available for public viewing at the Roswell Field 
Office at the above address.
    Comments that are e-mailed or faxed must include ``Comments on 
Special Status Species DRMPA/EIS'' in the subject line. Individual 
respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your 
name or street address, or both, from public review or from disclosure 
under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently 
at the beginning of your written comments. Such requests will be 
honored to the extent allowed by law. The BLM will not consider 
anonymous comments. All submissions from organizations and businesses 
will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.
    Copies of the Special Status Species DRMPA/EIS will be available 
for public inspection at the following locations: BLM New Mexico State 
Office, 1474 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505; BLM Carlsbad Field Office, 
620 East Greene,

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Carlsbad, NM 88220; BLM Roswell Field Office, 2909 West Second Street, 
Roswell, NM 88201. The current RMPs/EISs, and all other documents 
relevant to this planning process, are available for public review at 
the Field Offices at the above addresses.

     Dated: June 6, 2006.
Linda S.C. Rundell,
New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. E6-17452 Filed 10-19-06; 8:45 am]
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