[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 193 (Friday, October 5, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57063-57064]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-19706]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-070-1610-DP-010J]


Notice of Availability of the Supplement to the Vernal Field 
Office Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) 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 Supplement to the Vernal Field 
Office DRMP/DEIS to augment the identification and analysis of managing 
non-WSA lands with wilderness characteristics.

DATES: The 90-day public comment period will begin on the date the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its Notice of 
Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register. To assure that public 
comments will be considered, the BLM must receive written comments on 
the Supplement to the Vernal Field Office DRMP/DEIS on or before the 
end of the comment period at the address listed below.
    Comments: Comments and information submitted on the Supplement to 
the Vernal Field Office DRMP/DEIS, including names, e-mail addresses, 
and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public 
review and disclosure at the Vernal Field Office address listed below. 
The BLM will not accept anonymous comments. 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.
    Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Vernal Field Office, 170 
South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (435) 781-4480.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kelly Buckner, RMP Project Manager, 
Bureau of Land Management, Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, 
Vernal, UT 84078; telephone (435) 781-4400; e-mail Kelly 
[email protected]. Copies of the Supplement to the Vernal Field Office 
DRMP/DEIS are available in the Vernal Field Office and on the Internet 
at http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal.html.
    Background Information: The planning area includes approximately 
1.8 million acres of BLM administered surface lands and 2.1 million 
acres of federal mineral estate under federal, state, private, and Ute 
Tribal surface in Duchesne, and Uintah Counties in northeast Utah, and 
about 3,000 acres in Grand County. The planning area encompasses public 
lands currently managed under the Book Cliffs and Diamond Mountain 
RMPs. The decisions of the DRMP/DEIS will only apply to BLM-
administered public lands and federal mineral estate. The Vernal Field 
Office prepared the DRMP/DEIS to reevaluate, with public involvement, 
existing conditions, resources and uses, and consider the mix of 
resource allocations and management decisions designed to balance uses 
and protection of resources pursuant to FLPMA and other applicable 
laws. The DRMP/DEIS was released for public review January 14, 2005.
    Pursuant to FLPMA Sections 201 and 202 (43 U.S.C. 1711, 1712) and 
the BLM's land use planning handbook (Manual Handbook H-1601-1), BLM 
has authority to evaluate and manage non-WSA lands with wilderness 
characteristics through land use planning. These characteristics 
include the appearance of naturalness, outstanding opportunities for 
solitude, and outstanding opportunities for primitive and unconfined 
recreation. The applicable law requires that the BLM consider these 
lands and resource values in planning, including prescribing measures 
to manage for their wilderness characteristics. Accordingly, during the 
planning process, the Vernal Field Office found 25 areas (totaling 
277,596 acres), outside of existing WSAs that have wilderness 
characteristics.
    The DRMP/DEIS analyzed five alternatives for the management of 
public lands in the Vernal Field Office and disclosed the impacts of 
implementing each alternative to the human environment. To ensure that 
(1) adequate consideration is given to non-WSA lands with wilderness 
characteristics, (2) an adequate range of alternatives is considered 
for these

[[Page 57064]]

lands, and (3) an adequate analysis is prepared from which to base land 
use decisions, the Supplement to the Vernal Field Office DRMP/DEIS will 
prescribe specific actions to manage for the wilderness characteristics 
of non-WSA lands with wilderness characteristics in a new alternative.

    Dated: September 18, 2007.
Selma Sierra,
Utah State Director.
 [FR Doc. E7-19706 Filed 10-4-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-$$-P