[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 212 (Friday, November 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62265-62266]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21510]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM-510-1610-DQ]


Notice of Availability of Special Status Species Proposed 
Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact 
Statement, New Mexico

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 Special Status Species Proposed 
Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA)/Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for portions of the Carlsbad and Roswell Field Offices 
in New Mexico.

DATES: The BLM Planning Regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any 
person who participated in the planning process, and has an interest 
which is or may be adversely affected, may protest the BLM's approval 
or amendment of a RMP. You may file a protest within 30 days of the 
date that the Environmental Protection Agency publishes their Notice of 
Availability in the Federal Register. Instructions for filing of 
protests are described in the Dear Reader letter in the front of the 
Special Status Species Proposed RMPA/Final EIS and in the Supplementary 
Information section of this notice.

ADDRESSES: For additional information on how to file a protest, refer 
to the Supplementary Information section below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Parman, BLM, Pecos District 
Office, 2909 West Second Street, Roswell, New Mexico 88201. To receive 
a copy of the document, contact the BLM at the above address or call 
505-627-0272 during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), 
Monday through Friday, except holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The planning area for the Special Status 
Species Proposed RMPA/Final EIS, which includes approximately 850,000 
acres of BLM-administered public lands and 1.15 million acres of 
Federal minerals, is located in Chaves, Eddy, Lea, and Roosevelt 
Counties, New Mexico. A map of the planning area is available on the 
BLM New Mexico Web site (http://www.nm.blm.gov). The BLM-administered 
public lands within the planning area are currently managed under 
interim management guidelines issued on August 5, 2004, 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 Proposed RMPA/Final EIS is to amend the existing 
RMPs, to protect and enhance habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and 
sand dune lizard while allowing other uses to continue. The Proposed 
RMPA/Final EIS documents the direct, indirect, and cumulative 
environmental impacts of six alternatives for BLM-administered public 
lands within the planning area. Issues related to possible management 
direction and planning decisions (not in priority order) include: 
development of energy resources, special management designation, 
special status species management, livestock grazing, and off-highway 
vehicle designations.
    The Draft RMPA/EIS was released to the public for a 90-day comment 
period on October 20, 2006. The BLM hosted public meetings in Roswell, 
Carlsbad, Artesia, and Hobbs, New Mexico, and Midland, Texas, to answer 
questions about the document, as well as to solicit comments from the 
public. Public comments on the Draft RMPA/EIS are on file and available 
for public review at the address listed above.
    Six alternatives were identified in the Draft RMPA/EIS:
     The No Action Alternative: represents the continuation of 
existing management plans, policies, and decisions as established by 
the current RMPs.
     Alternative A: Adopts the portions of the Conservation 
Strategy developed by the Southeast New Mexico Lesser Prairie Chicken 
Working Group that applies to public lands and Federal minerals.
     Alternative B (BLM's Preferred Alternative): Represents 
the Conservation Strategy and adds emphasis to sand dune lizard habitat 
and surface reclamation.
     Alternative C: Represents the continuation of Interim 
Management, originally put in place by the BLM (August 2004) to 
preserve management options in the Planning Area.
     Alternative D: Focuses management efforts on preserving 
occupied habitat.
     Alternative E: Focuses management efforts of preserving 
lesser prairie-chicken habitat through the designation of an area of 
critical environmental concern.
    In the Proposed RMPA/Final EIS, the BLM has selected Alternative B, 
the Preferred Alternative in the Draft RMPA, as its Proposed Plan. 
Comments on the Draft RMPA/EIS received from the public and internal 
BLM review comments were incorporated into the Proposed Plan. Public 
comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did not 
significantly change the proposed land use decisions in the Preferred 
Alternative. The Proposed Plan represents the portions of the strategy 
developed by the Southeast New Mexico Lesser Prairie Chicken Working 
Group that apply to public lands and Federal minerals, and adds 
emphasis to sand dune lizard habitat and surface reclamation. Copies of 
the Special Status Species Proposed RMPA/Final EIS have been sent to 
affected Federal, State, and local government agencies and to 
interested parties. A copy of the Special Status Species Proposed RMPA/
Final EIS is available

[[Page 62266]]

for review via the internet from a link at http://www.nm.blm.gov, or at 
the BLM Roswell Field Office, 2909 West Second Street, Roswell, New 
Mexico, and the Carlsbad Field Office, 620 East Greene Street, 
Carlsbad, New Mexico. Electronic (on CD-ROM) and paper copies may also 
be obtained by contacting Howard Parman at the aforementioned address 
and phone number.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the Proposed RMPA/Final EIS may be found at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. 
A protest may only raise those issues which were submitted for the 
record during the planning process. E-mail and faxed protests will not 
be accepted as valid, unless the protesting party also provides the 
original letter by regular mail or other delivery service postmarked by 
the close of the protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will 
consider the e-mail or faxed protest as an advance copy, and it will 
receive full consideration. If you wish to provide us with such advance 
notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of Brenda 
Hudgens-Williams, Protest Coordinator, at (202) 452-5112, and e-mails 
to [email protected]. Please direct the follow-up letter to the 
appropriate address provided below.
    The protest must contain:
    1. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and interest of the 
person filing the protest.
    2. A statement of the part or parts of the proposed plan and the 
issues being protested.
    3. A copy of all documents addressing the issue(s) that the 
protesting party submitted during the planning process of a statement 
to the date they were discussed for the record.
    4. A concise statement explaining why the protestor believes the 
State Director's decision is wrong.
    All protests must be in writing and must be sent to the following 
address via regular mail or other delivery service: Regular Mail, 
Director 210, Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 66538, Washington, 
DC 20035. Overnight Mail, Director 210, Attention: Brenda Williams, 
1620 L Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20236.
    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 to withhold your personal identifying information from public 
review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    The BLM Director will promptly render a decision on the protests. 
The decision will be in writing and will set forth the reasons for the 
decision. The protest decision will be sent to the protesting party by 
Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. The decision of the Director 
will be the final decision of the Department of the Interior. The State 
Director will sign the Record of Decision for the Special Status 
Species RMPA once the protests are resolved.

Linda S.C. Rundell,
New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. E7-21510 Filed 11-1-07; 8:45 am]
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