[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 149 (Friday, August 1, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45051-45052]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-17554]



[[Page 45051]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-060-1610-016J]


Notice of Availability of Moab Field Office Proposed Resource 
Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement

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 and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Proposed Resource Management 
Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement (PRMP/FEIS) for the Moab 
Field Office.

DATES: The BLM planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any 
person who meets the conditions as described in the regulations may 
protest the BLM's PRMP/FEIS. A person who meets the conditions and 
files a protest must file the protest within 30 days of the date that 
the Environmental Protection Agency publishes this notice in the 
Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Moab Field Office PRMP/FEIS were sent to 
affected Federal, state, and local government agencies and to 
interested parties. Copies of the PRMP/FEIS are available for public 
inspection at:
    Moab Field Office, 82 East Dogwood, Moab, UT, 84532.
    Utah State Office, 440 West 200 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84145.
    Interested persons may also review the PRMP/FEIS on the Internet at 
http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab/planning.html. All protests must be 
in writing and mailed to the following addresses:
    Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Hudgens-
Williams, P.O. Box 66538, Washington, DC 20035.
    Overnight Mail: BLM Director (210), Attention: Brenda Hudgens-
Williams, 1620 L Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20036.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Brent Northrup, Moab Field Office, 82 
East Dogwood, Moab, UT, 84532; phone: (435)259-2100; or e-mail at: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Moab RMP planning area is located in 
southeastern Utah. The BLM administers approximately 1.8 million acres 
of surface estate and 1.9 million acres of Federal mineral estate 
within the planning area.
    The Moab RMP will provide future broad-scale management direction 
for land use allocations and allowable uses on public lands within the 
planning area. Implementation of the decisions of the PRMP/FEIS would 
apply only to BLM-administered public lands and Federal mineral estate. 
In the Moab Field Office Draft RMP/EIS (DRMP/DEIS), which was released 
for a 90-day public review and comment period in August 2007, four 
alternatives were analyzed, including a No Action alternative. These 
alternatives were developed through issue identification during the 
scoping process. Such issues included: travel management, recreation, 
special designations, minerals, non-WSA lands with wilderness 
characteristics.
    The PRMP/FEIS would designate five new Areas of Critical 
Environmental Concern (ACECs), and the continuation of no existing 
ACECs, totaling 63,232 acres. Resource use limitations that apply to 
the proposed ACECs include a range of different prescriptions as 
described in Table 1 below.

                         Table 1--Evaluation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                Area name                       Values of concern         Resource use limitations      Acres
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Behind the Rocks.........................  Threatened, sensitive and    1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.....        5,201
                                            endangered plants,
                                            cultural, scenic.
Cottonwood Diamond Watershed.............  Natural systems............  4, 5 (outside WSA), 6             35,830
                                                                         (outside WSA), 9, 10, 11
                                                                         (inside WSA), 12, 13, 14
                                                                         (inside WSA).
Highway 279 Shafer Basin/Long Canyon.....  Cultural, scenic, natural    3, 5, 6, 7, 27 (except            13,500
                                            systems, wildlife.           Highway 279 and Long
                                                                         Canyon, 1), 28.
Mill Creek Canyon........................  Cultural, scenic, natural    1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 15, 16,          3,721
                                            systems.                     17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
Ten Mile Wash............................  Cultural, natural systems,   5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (downstream          4,980
                                            natural hazards, wildlife.   from Dripping Springs),
                                                                         12, 23 (at Dripping
                                                                         Springs), 24, 25 (at Green
                                                                         River), 26.
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1. VRM Class I.
2. No Vegetation treatments.
3. Vehicle-based camping, campfires only in campgrounds.
4. No new motorized or mechanized routes.
5. Motorized/ mechanized use limited to designated routes.
6. No surface occupancy for oil and gas leasing.
7. Preclude surface use.
8. No collection of woodland products.
9. Not available for livestock grazing.
10. Closed to vehicle use at the end of Class-B road system.
11. Closed to mechanized and motorized travel.
12. No competitive events.
13. Suspend commercial permits.
14. Closed to oil and gas leasing.
15. No vehicle-based camping.
16. No campfires in riparian areas.
17. No motorized competitive events.
18. Recreational events confined to designated roads.
19. Recreation facility limited to day-use only.
20. No recreational mining.
21. No fuel wood harvesting permits.
22. Campfire wood gathering in upland areas only.
23. Camping in designated sites only.
24. Establish speed limits.
25. Restrict vehicle access.

[[Page 45052]]

 
26. Permits required for groups larger than 25 vehicles or if monitoring indicates long-term damage.
27. VRM Class I.
28. Permitted activities would be confined to main roads within crucial bighorn lambing habitat from April 1
  through June 15. This restriction would not apply to filming if the filming meets the minimum impact criteria.

    Comments on the Moab Field Office DRMP/DEIS received from the 
public and internal BLM review were considered and incorporated as 
appropriate into the PRMP/FEIS. Public comments resulted in the 
addition of clarifying text, but did not significantly change proposed 
land use plan decisions.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM 
regarding the PRMP/FEIS may be found in the Dear Reader Letter of the 
PRMP/FEIS and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. E-mail and faxed protests will not be 
accepted as valid protests unless the protesting party also provides 
the original letter by either regular or overnight mail 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 the BLM with such 
advance notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of 
the BLM protest coordinator at 202-452-5112, and e-mails to [email protected]. All protests, including the follow-up letter 
(if e-mailing or faxing) must be in writing and mailed to the 
appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section above.
    Before including your phone number, e-mail address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

Selma Sierra,
Utah State Director.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 1610.5-1.

[FR Doc. E8-17554 Filed 7-31-08; 8:45 am]
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