[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26986-26987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-11457]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLAKF03000.L12200000.DU0000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Amendment to the Kobuk-Seward 
Peninsula Resource Management Plan for the Squirrel River Special 
Recreation Management Area, Alaska

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Field Office 
intends to amend the Kobuk-Seward Peninsula Resource Management Plan 
(KSP/RMP) to address the Squirrel River Special Recreation Management 
Area (SRMA), located 30 miles northwest of Kotzebue, Alaska. The area 
was identified as an SRMA in the KSP/RMP. Some recreation decisions 
that will be addressed in the SRMA are land use plan-level decisions 
requiring a land use plan amendment. The amendment will include an 
associated environmental assessment (EA). This notice announces the 
beginning of the scoping period to solicit public comments and identify 
issues.

DATES: Scoping input may be submitted in writing until 30 days after 
the date of publication of this notice, or 15 days after the last 
public meeting, whichever is later. Public scoping meetings will be 
held in Kiana, Noorvik, Kotzebue, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. Meeting 
dates, times and locations will be announced through local news media 
outlets and on the BLM-Alaska Web site http://www.blm.gov/ak/ at least 
15 days prior to the meeting. The BLM will provide additional 
opportunities for public comment after preparation of the proposed land 
use plan amendment and EA.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments by any of the following methods:
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (907) 474-2282.
     Mail: BLM Central Yukon Field Office, Attention--KSP/RMP 
Amendment, 1150 University Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709-3844.

Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the BLM 
Fairbanks District Office, 1150 University Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska, 
or on the Web site http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/planning.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information and/or to have your 
name added to the mailing list, please use the e-mail address: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM-administered Squirrel River SRMA is 
located in western Alaska, approximately 30 miles northwest of 
Kotzebue, Alaska. The Squirrel River SRMA encompasses approximately 
683,000 acres of public land managed by the BLM. The Record of Decision 
for the KSP/RMP signed in September 2008 specified that an activity 
plan for the Squirrel River SRMA would be completed by September 2011. 
To complete the activity plan, the BLM will establish recreation 
management zones (RMZs) and identify the associated land use plan-level 
decisions. Since the KSP/RMP did not identify the RMZs and the 
associated RMZ decisions, an amendment to the RMP is necessary.
    The EA will analyze the impacts of land use plan-level and 
implementation plan-level decisions proposed for the Squirrel River 
SRMA. These decisions will focus on determining proper use levels, 
visitor numbers, recreation administration, and travel management. This 
amendment and associated EA will meet the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and 
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA), the Alaska National Interest Lands 
Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA), and the BLM policies. The BLM will 
work collaboratively with interested parties to identify the issues to 
be addressed by this planning effort.
    The preliminary issues and opportunities to be addressed include:
     What are the effects of the recreation and travel 
management decisions on subsistence hunting, commercially-guided 
hunting, and general hunting?
     What are the effects of the recreation and travel 
management decisions on moose and caribou populations?
     What are the effects of the recreation and travel 
management decisions on access to inholdings?
     What are the effects of the recreation and travel 
management decisions on the local and regional economy?
    The following preliminary criteria will help guide the amendment/EA 
process:
    1. Opportunities for public participation will be encouraged 
throughout the RMP amendment process;
    2. Valid existing rights will be recognized and protected;
    3. Subsistence uses will be considered and adverse impacts 
minimized in accordance with Title VIII of ANILCA;

[[Page 26987]]

    4. BLM will work cooperatively with State and Federal agencies, 
Native corporations, Tribes, municipal governments, interested groups, 
and individuals;
    5. Decisions reached in this amendment will consider and adhere to 
Alaska Department of Fish and Game objectives to the extent that they 
are consistent with Title VIII of ANILCA;
    6. This plan amendment will conform to the BLM Land Use Planning 
Handbook H-1601-1, as well as FLPMA, NEPA, ANILCA, and other applicable 
laws and policies;
    7. The amendment will be consistent with the Alaska Statewide Land 
Health Standards;
    8. Route designations for off-highway vehicles for public lands 
within the Squirrel River SRMA will be completed in accordance with the 
regulations at 43 CFR 8342;
    9. Recreation and travel management decisions related to the 
Squirrel River SRMA will follow guidance in the BLM's Land Use Planning 
Handbook. All other decisions made in the KSP/RMP will remain in 
effect;
    10. The plan will address only the BLM managed lands within the 
Squirrel River SRMA; and
    11. The BLM will incorporate Environmental Justice (EJ) 
considerations into this amendment, to adequately respond to the EJ 
identified issues faced by minority populations, low income 
communities, and Tribes living near the planning area and using public 
land resources.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to identify relevant 
issues and planning criteria that will guide the planning process and 
influence the scope of the analysis and EA alternatives. You may submit 
comments on issues and planning criteria in writing to the BLM at 
public scoping meetings or by the methods listed in the ADDRESSES 
section above. 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 your personal 
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.

Julia Dougan,
Acting BLM-Alaska State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-11457 Filed 5-12-10; 8:45 am]
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