[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 19 (Friday, January 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 4842]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1726]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLAZC02000L16100000.DR0000.241A]


Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Yuma Field 
Office Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD)/Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
for the Yuma Field Office (YFO) located in Arizona and California. The 
Arizona State Director signed the ROD on July 28, 2009, which 
constitutes the final decision of the BLM and makes the approved RMP 
effective immediately.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD/Approved RMP are available upon request 
from the Bureau of Land Management, Yuma Field Office, 2555 Gila Ridge 
Road, Yuma, Arizona 85365, or via the Internet at http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/prog/planning/yuma_plan.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James T. Shoaff, Field Manager, Bureau 
of Land Management, Yuma Field Office, 2555 Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, 
Arizona 85365.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: One of BLM's objectives during the planning 
process was to understand the views of various public interest groups 
by providing opportunities for meaningful participation. Through 
communication media such as meetings, newsletters, and news releases, 
the public was provided opportunities to identify issues that needed to 
be addressed. The public also provided comments during the 90-day 
public comment period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS), which were addressed in the Final EIS. The Approved RMP/Final 
EIS was developed with the following cooperating agencies: the Bureau 
of Reclamation; the Arizona Game and Fish Department; the Arizona 
Department of Transportation; the Federal Highway Administration; the 
Imperial, Cibola, and Kofa National Wildlife Refuges; the Fort Yuma 
Quechan Tribe; the Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma; Natural Resource 
Conservation Service; the Yuma County Department of Public Works; the 
city of Yuma; the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground; the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture, the Natural Resources Conservation Service; the U.S. 
Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Patrol; the Cocopah 
Indian Tribe; the town of Quartzsite; the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation 
District; and the Yavapai-Apache Nation. The BLM also initiated 
consultation with tribes that have oral traditions or cultural concerns 
relating to the planning area or that are documented as having occupied 
or used portions of the planning area during prehistoric or historic 
times.
    The Approved RMP includes strategies for protecting and preserving 
the biological, cultural, recreational, geological, educational, 
scientific, and scenic values that balance multiple uses of the BLM-
administered lands throughout the YFO planning area. The planning area 
encompasses more than 1.2 million acres of BLM-administered lands.
    The ROD and Approved RMP include one new Area of Critical 
Environmental Concern (ACEC): Dripping Springs Natural and Cultural 
ACEC (11,733 acres). One existing ACEC is expanded under the new plan: 
Gila River Cultural ACEC (from 3,668 to 28,504 acres). The Gila River 
Cultural ACEC is renamed the Sears Point Cultural ACEC. The following 
types of resource use limitations generally apply to these ACECs:
    (1) Allowable uses are limited to those which are compatible with 
the natural or cultural resources for which the area is designated; (2) 
Recreation facilities are limited to projects that protect ACEC values; 
and (3) Travel is permitted only on designated open and signed routes. 
Detailed information is provided in the Special Designations Management 
section of the Approved RMP.
    The Preferred Alternative in the Draft Resource Management Plan/
Draft EIS (published December 15, 2006) was revised to include comments 
received during the 90-day public comment period. The resulting 
alternative became the Proposed Plan in the Proposed Resource 
Management Plan/Final EIS (PRMP/FEIS), published on April 11, 2008. 
Seven protests were received during the Final EIS 30-day protest 
period. The Proposed Plan was clarified based on these protests. The 
Proposed Plan is now called the ``Approved RMP'' and is attached to the 
ROD. As a result of protests, only minor editorial modifications were 
made in preparing the Approved RMP. These modifications provided 
further clarification of some of the decisions. Minor clarifications 
and changes between the Proposed Plan/Final EIS and the ROD/Approved 
Plan include the recalculation of Geographic Information System acreage 
to ensure consistency between lands available for grazing and those 
unavailable for grazing in the YFO, and minor text changes to clarify 
certain decisions. The BLM has determined that the Approved RMP 
provides an optimal balance between authorized resource use and the 
protection and long-term sustainability of sensitive resources within 
the planning area.
    Neither the Arizona Governor's Office nor the California Governor's 
Office identified any inconsistencies between the Proposed RMP/Final 
EIS and state or local plans, policies, and programs following the 60-
day Governors' Consistency Reviews (initiated March 6, 2008), in 
accordance with planning regulations at 43 CFR part 1610.3-2(e).
    The Approved RMP does not contain implementation decisions. Future 
activity-level plans will address the implementation of the approved 
RMP. These implementation plans will provide the required additional 
site-specific planning and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
analyses. At that time, such decisions will become appealable. The 
appeal process will be outlined in the future individual implementation 
(activity or project-level) plans.

    Authority: H-1790-1 National Environmental Policy Act Handbook, 
January 30, 2008.

James G. Kenna,
Arizona State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-1726 Filed 1-28-10; 8:45 am]
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