[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 15, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2520-2521]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-520]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[HAG  8-0020]


Notice of Intent To Revise a Resource Management Plan and the 
Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Baker Resource Area 
of the Vale District

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Office, Baker City, 
Oregon intends to revise a Resource Management Plan (RMP) with an 
associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Baker Resource 
Area of the Vale District and by this notice is announcing public 
scoping meetings. The RMP will revise the existing Baker Resource 
Management Plan of 1989.

DATES: The BLM will announce public scoping meetings to identify 
relevant issues through local news media, newsletters, and the BLM Web 
site http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/vale/index.php at least 15 days 
prior to the first meeting. We will provide formal opportunities for 
public participation upon publication of the Draft RMP/EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: 541-523-1965.
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Baker Field Office, P.O. 
Box 947, Baker City, OR 97814.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the BLM 
Baker Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have 
your name added to our mailing list, Contact: Allison Kuehl, RMP Team 
Leader, Telephone: 541-523-1931; E-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Field Office, Baker City, Oregon, intends to revise an RMP with an 
associated EIS for the Baker Resource Area and announces public scoping 
meetings.
    The planning area is located in Baker, Union, Wallowa, Morrow, and 
Umatilla Counties in Oregon and in Asotin County, Washington. This 
planning activity encompasses approximately 423,000 acres of public 
land. The plan will fulfill the needs and obligations set forth by the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM management policies. The BLM will work 
collaboratively with interested parties to identify the management 
decisions that are best suited to local, regional, and national needs 
and concerns.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine relevant 
issues, concerns and ideas that will influence the scope of the 
environmental analysis and EIS alternatives. These issues also guide 
the planning process. You may submit comments on issues and planning 
criteria in writing to the BLM at any public scoping meeting, or you 
may submit them to the BLM using one of the methods listed in the 
ADDRESSES section above. To be most helpful, you should submit formal 
scoping comments within 30 days after the last public meeting. The 
minutes for each scoping meeting will be available to the public and 
open for 30 days after the meeting to any participant who wishes to 
clarify the views he or she expressed. 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. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, are available for public inspection in their entirety.
    Preliminary issues and management concerns have been identified. 
They represent the BLM's knowledge to date regarding the existing 
issues and concerns with current land management. The preliminary 
issues being considered in this planning effort include: vegetation 
management; water quality, aquatic resources, fisheries; special 
management areas; recreation

[[Page 2521]]

management; cultural and paleontological resources; socioeconomics and 
environmental justice; energy and minerals; lands and realty; 
transportation, including Off Highway Vehicle management, and public 
access; fire and fuels management; wildlife habitat and wildlife.
    After public comments as to what issues the plan should address are 
gathered, they will be placed in one of three categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
    2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action; 
or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
    The BLM will provide an explanation in the plan as to why we placed 
an issue in category two or three. In addition to these major issues, a 
number of management questions and concerns will be addressed in the 
plan. The public is encouraged to help identify these questions and 
concerns during the scoping phase.
    Preliminary planning criteria are:
    1. The BLM will manage the Baker Resource Area to protect resources 
in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 
(FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), other applicable laws and regulations, 
and all existing public land laws.
    2. The Plan will recognize valid existing rights within the 
Planning Area and review how valid existing rights are verified. The 
Plan will outline the process the BLM will use to address applications 
or notices filed on existing claims or other land use authorizations 
after the completion of the Plan.
    3. Lands covered in the RMP will be public lands, including split 
estate lands, managed by BLM. Decisions on lands not managed by the BLM 
will not be made in the RMP except when formal cooperator status is 
mutually accepted and leads to additional Records of Decision.
    4. The BLM will use a collaborative and multi-jurisdictional 
approach, where possible to jointly determine the desired future 
conditions of public lands.
    5. The Plan will emphasize the protection and enhancement of the 
Planning Area's biodiversity while at the same time providing the 
public with opportunities for compatible commodity-based and recreation 
activities.
    6. The socioeconomic impacts of the alternatives will be addressed.
    7. The BLM will use current scientific information, research, 
technologies, and results of inventory, monitoring and coordination to 
determine appropriate local, and regional management strategies that 
will enhance or restore impaired ecosystems.
    8. The planning process will include an EIS that will comply with 
NEPA standards.
    9. Any land located within the Planning Area's administrative 
boundary, and subsequently acquired by the BLM, will be managed 
consistent with the Plan, subject to any constraints associated with 
the acquisition.
    10. The Plan will recognize the State's responsibility to manage 
wildlife. The BLM would consult with Oregon Department of Fish and 
Wildlife before establishing no-hunting zones or periods for the 
purposes of protecting public safety, administration, or public use and 
enjoyment.
    11. The Plan will address transportation and access, and will 
identify where better access is warranted, where it should remain as 
is, and where decreased access is appropriate to protect Planning Area 
resources.
    12. Laws and regulations regulate grazing management. The Plan will 
incorporate the Rangeland Health Standards and Guidelines. It will 
provide a strategy to ensure proper grazing practices are followed 
within the Planning Area.
    13. The planning process will involve American Indian Tribal 
governments and will provide possible strategies for the protection of 
recognized traditional uses, if such uses are identified.
    14. Decisions in the Plan will strive to be compatible with 
existing plans and policies of adjacent local, State, Federal, and 
tribal agencies as long as the decisions are consistent with Federal 
law governing the administration of public land.
    The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the 
revision in order to consider the variety of resource issues and 
concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in the following 
disciplines will be involved in the planning process: rangeland 
management, minerals and geology, forestry, fire and fuels, outdoor 
recreation, archaeology, paleontology, wildlife and fisheries, lands 
and realty, hydrology, soils, sociology, and economics.

     Dated: January 8, 2008.
Nancy K. Lull,
Baker City Field Manager.
 [FR Doc. E8-520 Filed 1-14-08; 8:45 am]
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