[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 41 (Friday, March 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9576-9577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-3626]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[AZ-420-06-1610-DP-085A]


Notice of Availability of the Ironwood Forest National Monument 
Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DRMP/DEIS), Arizona

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 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of 
Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan and 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DRMP/DEIS) for the Ironwood 
Forest National Monument and by this notice is announcing the opening 
of the comment period.

DATES: To assure that they will be considered, BLM must receive written 
comments on the DRMP/DEIS within 90 days following the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency publishes its Notice of Availability in

[[Page 9577]]

the Federal Register. Public meetings and other public-involvement 
activities will be announced at least 15 days in advance through local 
media and via the Internet at http://www.blm.gov/az/news.htm.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be mailed to Mark Lambert, Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator, Ironwood Forest National Monument, Tucson 
Field Office, 12661 East Broadway Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85748-
7208. You may also hand-deliver comments to the above listed address. 
Electronic comments will be accepted and should be sent to: [email protected]. Oral comments will also be accepted and recorded at public 
meetings held during the 90-day public review and comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mark Lambert, Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, Tucson Field 
Office, 12661 East Broadway Boulevard, Tucson, Arizona 85748-7208, 
Telephone 520-258-7200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Ironwood Forest National Monument, 
established by Presidential Proclamation on June 9, 2000, encompasses 
approximately 128,686 acres of Federal land administered by the BLM. 
The DRMP/DEIS affects only Federal lands and Federal interests located 
within the established boundary of the monument. The BLM's Tucson Field 
Office has the responsibility of planning for and management of Federal 
lands within the monument. Issues identified as part of the planning 
process and addressed in the DRMP/DEIS include air resources, 
biological resources, cultural resources, fire management, grazing 
management, hazardous materials, lands and realty, mineral and energy 
resources, Native American issues, recreation, social and economic 
conditions, soils, wilderness characteristics, transportation and 
access, visual resources, and water resources. The DRMP/DEIS includes 
strategies for protecting and preserving the biological, cultural, 
recreational, geological, educational, scientific, and scenic values 
for which the monument was established. Four alternatives have been 
developed in response to the issues. The ``no action'' alternative 
represents current management of the Ironwood Forest National Monument. 
Three additional ``action'' alternatives present reasonable, yet 
varying, management scenarios. The alternatives range from emphasizing 
maintenance of the naturalness of Ironwood Forest National Monument (by 
restricting some human uses) to emphasizing continued human uses, while 
still protecting the objects and resources for which the monument was 
established. The no-action alternative proposes the continued 
designation of the Waterman Mountains Area of Critical Environmental 
Concern (ACEC). This ACEC is approximately 3,342 acres and was 
designated to protect the endangered Nichol Turk's head cactus, provide 
optimum habitat for naturally occurring populations of Nichol Turk's 
head cactus, and assist in its recovery. The following resource-use 
limitation applies to this ACEC: Prohibit land use authorizations 
except along existing roads and trails. The action alternatives do not 
propose designation of this ACEC. For detailed information, refer to 
Chapter 2 of the DRMP/DEIS, Special Area Designations section.
    The range of alternatives in the DRMP/DEIS evaluates planning 
decisions brought forward from current BLM planning documents, 
including the Phoenix Resource Management Plan (1989), Arizona 
Standards for Rangeland Health and Guidelines for Grazing 
Administration (1987), and the Arizona Statewide Land Use Plan 
Amendment for Fire, Fuels, and Air Quality Management (2003). A 
Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact 
Statement, as well as a Record of Decision will be prepared by the BLM 
for the Ironwood Forest National Monument Resource Management Plan in 
accordance with planning regulations at 43 CFR part 1610 and NEPA at 40 
CFR part 1502.
    Public comments, including names and street addresses of 
respondents, will be available for public review at: Bureau of Land 
Management, Tucson Field Office, 12661 East Broadway Boulevard Tucson, 
Arizona 85748-7208, during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), 
Monday through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may 
request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name and/or 
street address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom 
of Information Act (FOIA), 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 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.
    Copies of the Ironwood Forest National Monument DRMP/DEIS are 
available for review via the Internet at http://www.blm.gov/az/env_docs/library/rmps/rmps.htm. Electronic (CD-ROM) and paper copies are 
available for review at the BLM, Tucson Field Office. Electronic (on 
CD-ROM) and paper copies also may be obtained by contacting the BLM at 
the address and phone number provided above.

    Dated: October 25, 2006.
Michael A. Taylor,
Acting State Director.

    Editorial Note: This document was received at the Office of the 
Federal Register on February 26, 2007.

 [FR Doc. E7-3626 Filed 3-1-07; 8:45 am]
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