[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 212 (Friday, October 31, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64982-64983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-26076]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO200-2920-EQ]


Notice of Realty Action; Land Use Authorization for Public Lands 
in Fremont and Chaffee Counties, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of realty action.

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SUMMARY: Christo and Jeanne Claude Over the River Corporation (OTR 
Corp.) has submitted a written proposal for a land use authorization to 
construct and display a temporary work of art titled Over the 
River\TM\, pursuant to Section 302 of the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1732), using noncompetitive permit 
procedures as provided in regulations at 43 CFR 2920. Interested 
parties may submit comments to the BLM at the address stated below with 
respect to:
    (1) The decision of the BLM regarding the potential availability of 
the lands described herein, and
    (2) The decision of the BLM to entertain an application from OTR 
Corp. for a non-competitive land use permit.

DATES: Interested parties may submit comments in writing to the BLM at 
the address given below on or before December 15, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Field Manager, Royal Gorge Field Office, Bureau of Land 
Management, 3028 East Main Street, Ca[ntilde]on City, Colorado 81212.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joe Vieira, at the address given 
above, by e-mail at [email protected], or by phone at (719) 269-
8708.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Over the River\TM\ proposal submitted by 
OTR Corp. includes exhibit installation, a large-scale art exhibition 
and visitor event, and exhibit removal actions, including site 
restoration. The Over the River\TM\ proposal would involve 911 porous 
fabric panels, weighing an average 140 lbs/panel, suspended 8 to 25 
feet above the water for a total of 5.9 miles over a 40 mile stretch of 
the Arkansas River, between Ca[ntilde]on City and Salida. The public 
art project would be constructed utilizing an estimated 8,992 steel 
anchors drilled along and into the banks of the Arkansas River to 
support 2,247 steel anchor transition frames for an estimated 1,264 
steel cables that would support the fabric panels. OTR Corp also 
proposes a 4,000 square foot temporary building and a temporary gravel 
access road on the public land to stage art installation and removal as 
well as manage the large-

[[Page 64983]]

scale visitor event. The entire Over the River\TM\ event would attract 
an estimated 560,000 visitors over the course of 700-days from 
installation to removal.
    The public land, consisting of approximately 2,470 acres, is in 
western Fremont and southeast Chaffee Counties, and within the Arkansas 
River corridor between the cities of Ca[ntilde]on City and Salida, 
Colorado. The footprint of the actual project will encumber 
approximately 310 acres of the lands listed below. The lands are 
located within:

Sixth Principal Meridian, Colorado

T. 18 S., R. 72 W.,
    Sec. 14, lot 2, E\1/2\NW\1/4\, and SW\1/4\NW\1/4\;
    Sec. 15, SE\1/4\NE\1/4\, SW\1/4\, and N\1/2\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 20, E\1/2\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 21, NW\1/4\NE\1/4\, NE\1/4\NW\1/4\, W\1/2\NW\1/4\, and W\1/
2\SW\1/4\;
    Sec. 30, N\1/2\NE\1/4\;
T. 18 S., R. 73 W.,
    Sec. 25, N\1/2\SW\1/4\, and NW\1/4\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 26 NE\1/4\SE\1/4\;
T. 19 S., R. 73 W.,
    Sec. 4, S\1/2\NW\1/4\, and N\1/2\SW\1/4\;
    Sec. 5, S\1/2\;
    Sec. 7, lots 5, 10 and 11, MS 326, tract 46B, and tract 46A 
excluding those lands conveyed by Patent No. 3713;
    Sec. 8, NW\1/4\NW\1/4\, MS 326.

New Mexico Principal Meridian, Colorado

T. 49 N., R. 9 E.,
    Sec. 10, lot 19;
    Sec. 13, SW\1/4\NW\1/4\;
    Sec. 14, N\1/2\N\1/2\ excluding MS 18410, S\1/2\NE\1/4\, and 
SE\1/4\NW\1/4\;
    Sec. 15, N\1/2\NE\1/4\NE\1/4\, SW\1/4\NE\1/4\NE\1/4\, and NW\1/
4\NE\1/4\;
T. 49 N., R 10 E.,
    Sec. 28, lots 4, 5, and 6;
    Sec. 29, lots 1 and 8;
T. 48 N., R. 11 E.,
    Sec. 18, E\1/2\NW\1/4\SE\1/4\, and SE\1/4\SE\1/4\.

Extensive scoping has been completed on the proposed project. Three 
public meetings were held in Ca[ntilde]on City, Cotopaxi, and Salida, 
Colorado. Over 700 people attended the public meetings.
    The BLM has determined the proposed use of the above described 
tracts of land is in conformance with the Royal Gorge Resource 
Management Plan (May 1996), and that the above described land is 
available for that use. Natural resource and public safety issues have 
been identified and will be addressed in the Environmental Impact 
Statement including:
     Arkansas Canyonlands Area of Critical Environmental 
Concern (ACEC);
     Scenic (visual) resources;
     Bighorn sheep habitat;
     Raptor and migratory bird habitat;
     Recreation resources;
     Physical resources;
     Cultural/historic resources.

The BLM will estimate the costs of processing the land use permit 
application. Before the BLM begins to process the application, the 
applicant must pay the full amount of the estimated costs to the United 
States. If a land use permit is not granted, the applicant must pay to 
the United States, in addition to the estimated costs, the reasonable 
costs incurred by the BLM in processing the land use permit in excess 
of the estimated costs.
    Adverse comments will be evaluated by the BLM Field Manager, Royal 
Gorge Field Office, who may sustain, vacate or modify this realty 
action. In the absence of any adverse comment, this realty action will 
become a final determination of the BLM as to each one of the two 
decisions stated above.

Roy L. Masinton,
Field Manager, Royal Gorge Field Office.
[FR Doc. E8-26076 Filed 10-30-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P