[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 91 (Friday, May 9, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26408-26410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-10376]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

National Park Service

[AZ-100-07-1610-DR-241E]


Notice of Availability of Four Records of Decision and Three 
Approved Resource Management Plans for the Arizona Strip Field Office, 
Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, and Grand Canyon-Parashant National 
Monument (BLM Portion), and Approved General Management Plan for Grand 
Canyon-Parashant National Monument (NPS Portion), Arizona

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. National Park Service, 
Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act, the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and the National Park and 
Recreation Act of 1978, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and 
National Park Service (NPS) policies, the BLM and NPS announce the 
availability of the two Records of Decision (RODs) for the Approved 
Resource Management Plan/General Management Plan for the jointly-
managed Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument (Parashant), located 
in Mohave County, Arizona. Separate RODs for the BLM and NPS decisions 
in the Approved Resource Management Plan/General Management Plan have 
been signed by the BLM Arizona State Director, and by the NPS Pacific 
West Regional Director, respectively, for each agency's decisions 
contained in the Approved Resource Management Plan/General Management

[[Page 26409]]

Plan. The BLM also announces the availability of the ROD/Approved 
Resource Management Plan for the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument 
(Vermilion) and the ROD/Approved Resource Management Plan for the 
Arizona Strip Field Office (ASFO), located in Mohave and Coconino 
Counties, Arizona. Both of these areas are managed solely by the BLM.

ADDRESSES: The RODs/Approved Plans and associated documents or 
information may be viewed and downloaded at http://www.blm.gov/az/LUP/strip/strip_plan.htm or at http://www.nps.gov/lame/parkmgmt/docs.htm. 
Copies of the BLM and NPS RODs are available upon request from the 
Arizona Strip District Office, Bureau of Land Management, or the 
National Park Service, both located at 345 East Riverside Drive, St. 
George, Utah 84790. Copies of the three Approved Plans are also 
available at the same address. Please indicate which ROD/Approved Plan 
you are requesting. Reference copies of each ROD/Approved Plan are 
available for review during regular business hours at the following 
locations:
    Lake Mead National Recreation Area Office, 601 Nevada Highway, 
Boulder City, Nevada 89005; BLM Arizona State Office (AZ-931), One 
North Central, Suite 800, Phoenix, Arizona 85004-4427; Boulder City 
Library, 701 Adams Blvd, Boulder City, Nevada 89005; Flagstaff Public 
Library, 300 West Aspen, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001; Fredonia Town 
Library, 130 North Main, Fredonia, Arizona 86022; Kanab City Library, 
374 North Main Street, Kanab, Utah 84741; Mohave County Library, 3269 
North Burbank Street, Kingman, Arizona 86401; Page City Library, 697 
Vista Avenue, Page, Arizona 86040; and Washington County Library, 88 
West 100 South, St. George, Utah 84770.
    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 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: District Manager, Arizona Strip 
District or Superintendent, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, 
345 East Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah 84790; telephone 435-688-
3200; e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Parashant was established by 
Presidential Proclamation on January 11, 2000. The Parashant is 
cooperatively managed by the BLM and the NPS. It encompasses 1,048,325 
acres in Mohave County, Arizona, of which 808,744 acres are 
administered by the BLM and 208,447 acres are administered by the NPS. 
The Vermilion was established by Presidential Proclamation on November 
9, 2000. The Vermilion covers 293,689 acres in Coconino County, 
Arizona, and is administered solely by the BLM. The remainder of the 
BLM-administered lands is in the ASFO, which encompass approximately 
1,981,000 acres located in Mohave and Coconino Counties, Arizona, north 
of the Grand Canyon and is situated almost entirely between the two 
National Monuments.
    Ten Cooperating Agencies assisted the BLM and the NPS in this 
planning effort: Arizona Game and Fish Department; Arizona Department 
of Transportation; Coconino County, Arizona; Mohave County, Arizona; 
Kane County, Utah; Washington County, Utah; Kaibab Paiute Tribe; Town 
of Colorado City, Arizona; Town of Fredonia, Arizona; and the Federal 
Highway Administration.
    The RODs/Approved Plans were developed with broad public and 
Cooperating Agency participation through a 5-year collaborative 
planning process. These RODs/Approved Plans address management on 
approximately 2,768,247 acres of BLM-administered land and 208,447 
acres of NPS-administered land. The RODs/Approved Plans contain both 
land use planning decisions and implementing decisions, to achieve 
desired future conditions and to provide planning structure to 
facilitate the management of the Parashant, Vermilion, and ASFO. Major 
resources and activities addressed by the BLM in their RODs/Approved 
Resource Management Plans include travel management; wilderness 
characteristics areas; cultural resources; geological resources; 
recreation and environmental education including interpretation; visual 
resources; vegetation management including ponderosa pine restoration; 
livestock grazing; areas of critical environmental concern; special 
status species; and wildlife management. Major resources and activities 
addressed by the NPS in its ROD/Approved General Management Plan 
include travel management; wilderness characteristics areas; cultural 
resources; geological resources; recreation and environmental education 
including interpretation; visual resources and cultural landscapes; 
soundscapes; vegetation management; control of non-native invasive 
species; livestock grazing; special status species; and wildlife 
management. As noted in the Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(FEIS), the NPS determined that none of the actions proposed would lead 
to impairment of park resources.
    The Approved Plans are essentially the same decisions as contained 
in Alternative E in the Arizona Strip Proposed Plan/FEIS, published in 
February 2007. The BLM received seven protests on BLM land use plan 
decisions in the Proposed Plan/FEIS. After careful consideration of all 
points raised in those protests, the BLM Director concluded that the 
BLM Arizona State Director and the Arizona Strip District Manager 
followed all applicable planning procedures, laws, regulations, and 
policies, and considered all relevant resource information and public 
input in developing the proposed plan. None of the protests to BLM 
raised salient points pertaining to NPS decisions for lands and 
resources in Parashant. No inconsistencies with State or local plans, 
policies, or programs were identified during the Governor's consistency 
review of the Proposed Plan/FEIS. As a result, only minor editorial 
modifications were made in preparing the RODs/Approved Plans.
    The decisions identifying designated routes of travel for motorized 
vehicles on BLM-administered lands are implementation decisions 
appealable under 43 CFR Part 4, subpart E. Any party adversely affected 
by the BLM's decision(s) to identify, evaluate, define, delineate and/
or select specific routes as available for motorized use within 
designated areas in either the Parashant or Vermilion Management Plans 
may appeal within 30 days of publication of this Notice of Availability 
pursuant to 43 CFR, part 4, subpart E. The appeal should state the 
specific BLM route(s), as identified in the Approved Plans for the 
Parashant or Vermilion, on which the decision is being appealed. The 
appeal must be filed with the Arizona Strip District Manager at the 
above listed address. Please consult 43 CFR part 4 for further 
information on the IBLA appeals process.
    There is no appeal process for NPS decisions in the NPS ROD and 
Parashant Approved Resource Management Plan/General Management Plan. 
Implementation of NPS decisions may begin upon publication of this 
Notice of Availability for the Parashant

[[Page 26410]]

NPS ROD/Approved Plan in the Federal Register.

Helen M. Hankins,
Associate State Director, BLM Arizona.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
Regional Director, NPS Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. E8-10376 Filed 5-8-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-84-P