[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 178 (Friday, September 14, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52579-52580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-18098]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-070-1610-DP-011J]


Notice of Availability of the Price Field Office Supplemental 
Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for 
Non-Wilderness Study Area (WSA) Lands with Wilderness Characteristics

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 the Price Field Office Supplemental 
Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement 
(Supplemental DRMP/EIS) to augment the analysis of managing non-
Wilderness Study Area (WSA) lands with wilderness characteristics. This 
Notice announces the availability of the document and the beginning of 
a 90-day comment period.

DATES: To ensure that public comments will be considered, the BLM must 
receive written comments on the Supplemental DRMP/EIS within 90 days 
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes the 
Notice of Availability in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Price Field Office, 125 
South 600 West, Price, Utah 84501.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (435) 636-3657.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Floyd Johnson, Assistant Field 
Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Price Field Office, 125 South 600 
West, Price, Utah 84501; telephone (435) 636-3600; e-mail: [email protected]. Or, the public may go to http://www.blm.gov/rmp/ut/price for additional information.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Price Field Office planning area 
encompasses public lands managed by the BLM in Carbon and Emery 
Counties, Utah. This includes approximately 2.5 million acres of BLM-
administered surface lands and 2.8 million acres of federal mineral 
estate underlying federal, State, and private lands. The Price Field 
Office Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact 
Statement (DRMP/EIS), prepared to guide management of these lands, was 
released for public review on July 16, 2004. (The DRMP/EIS is available 
on the internet at: http://www.blm.gov/rmp/ut/price/).
    There are multiple areas (totaling 933,440 acres) outside of 
existing WSAs, which have wilderness characteristics. The BLM's land 
use planning handbook (Manual Handbook H-1601-1) provides guidance for 
consideration of non-WSA lands with wilderness characteristics in land 
use planning. The handbook

[[Page 52580]]

provides that the BLM may consider these lands and resource values in 
planning, and prescribes measures to manage for their wilderness 
characteristics. These characteristics include the appearance of 
naturalness, outstanding opportunities for solitude, and outstanding 
opportunities for primitive and unconfined recreation.
    The DRMP/EIS analyzed five alternatives for management of public 
lands in the Price Field Office, and disclosed the impacts of 
implementing each alternative. The Price Field Office Supplemental 
DRMP/EIS will prescribe specific actions to manage for the wilderness 
characteristics of non-WSA lands with wilderness characteristics in a 
new alternative to ensure that: (1) Adequate consideration is given to 
wilderness characteristics; (2) an adequate range of alternatives is 
considered for these lands; and (3) an adequate analysis is prepared 
from which to base future land use decisions. Comments, including names 
and addresses of respondents, will be available for public review at 
the Price Field Office. Before including your address, phone number, e-
mail address, or other personal identifying information in your 
comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including your 
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any 
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal 
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we 
will be able to do so.
    Copies of the Supplemental DRMP/EIS are available in the Price 
Field Office and on the Internet at the address provided above.

Jeff Rawson,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. E7-18098 Filed 9-13-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DP-P