[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 56 (Wednesday, March 25, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12891-12892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-6636]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCOS02000; L10200000.EE0000]


Notice of Intent To Amend the San Juan/San Miguel Resource 
Management Plan and Prepare the Beaver Meadows-Sauls Creek Travel 
Management Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) intends to amend the San 
Juan/San Miguel Resource Management Plan (RMP) to limit Off-Highway 
Vehicle (OHV) use to designated roads and motorized trails on lands 
within the Beaver Meadows-Sauls Creek Travel Management Landscape. The 
Landscape project analysis area encompasses approximately 797 acres of 
BLM lands and approximately 54,397 acres of Forest Service lands on the 
Columbine Field Office/Ranger District in the vicinity of Bayfield, 
Colorado. Both agencies will conduct a joint Environmental Assessment 
(EA) which will also determine designated motorized routes within the 
landscape in addition to the San Juan/San Miguel RMP amendment.

DATES: Initial scoping has been conducted as described below in 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION. Additional scoping comments will be accepted 
through April 24, 2009 if they relate to the scope of issues regarding 
the proposal to amend the San Juan/San Miguel RMP for the 797-acre BLM 
parcel, and if the issues have not already been identified below. An 
additional 30-day public comment period will be announced with the 
release of a Pre-Decisional EA, and will be advertised in the local 
media and San Juan Public Lands Center Web site at http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/sanjuan/projects/projects.shtml. This is anticipated 
to occur in the spring of 2009.

ADDRESSES: Comments regarding the proposal to amend the San Juan/San 
Miguel RMP for the BLM parcel should be sent to Nancy Berry, Recreation 
Forester, Columbine Field Office, P.O. Box 439, Bayfield, CO 81122 or 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Berry at the above address or e-
mail, telephone number 970-375-3304.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM recognizes the use of motorized and 
non-motorized vehicles as acceptable uses of the public lands. In 
response to Presidential Executive Orders 11644 and 11989, and in 
accordance with the BLM National Strategy for OHV Use on Public Lands, 
and 43 CFR 8342, this EA proposes to amend the San Juan/San Miguel RMP 
to limit motorized use to designated routes and will designate routes 
within the landscape. This EA analysis is being conducted jointly by 
the BLM and the Forest Service under authority as a Service First 
office.
    This notice is required under BLM regulations for the proposed 
amendment of the San Juan/San Miguel RMP which would change the travel 
management designation for 797 acres of BLM land from ``open'' to 
``limited.'' This notice is not required for the project-level route 
designations on either BLM or Forest Service lands. For this reason, 
this notice is seeking scoping comments only as they relate to the 
proposal to amend the San Juan/San Miguel RMP.
    Initial scoping was conducted through direct mailings, public 
meetings, public field trips, and newspaper announcements during the 
fall of 2008. Scoping replies resulted in the identification of a scope 
of issues to be analyzed in the EA. These issues are:
    1. Impacts to Resources, including erosion, noxious weeds, 
wildlife, air quality, roadless areas;
    2. Impacts to social niches, including noise, safety, providing for 
motorized and non-motorized opportunities, and requests for certain 
specific routes;

[[Page 12892]]

    3. Impacts to adjacent residents, including Forest Lakes, Deer 
Valley, and Pine Springs Ranch subdivisions.
    Other issues are not to be included in the analysis because they 
were determined to be outside the scope of the proposed action; already 
decided by law, regulation, plan, or higher level decision; irrelevant 
to the decision to be made; opinion, conjectural, or not supported by 
factual evidence; or purely supportive of the proposed action.
    These issues led to the development of four alternatives that will 
be analyzed in the EA: Alternative 1--No Action--existing travel 
management designation would remain in place; Alternative 2--cross-
country motorized travel would no longer be allowed and all motorized 
travel would be restricted to existing open system roads and trails; 
Alternative 3--would provide motorized opportunities on designated 
roads and trails utilizing some closed roads and some user created 
routes, in addition to the existing open roads and trails in 
Alternative 2, while protecting the resources from impacts; Alternative 
4--would be similar to Alternative 3, with additional miles of 
designated motorized trails. These alternatives will be described in 
detail when the Pre-Decisional EA is released.

    Dated: March 20, 2009.
Matthew Janowiak,
Acting Field Office Manager.
 [FR Doc. E9-6636 Filed 3-24-09; 8:45 am]
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