[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 180 (Friday, September 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 57056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23330]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWYP07000; L16100000.DU0000]


Notice of Availability of the Draft Buffalo Resource Management 
Plan Amendment for the Fortification Creek Planning Area and 
Environmental Assessment, Wyoming

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, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a 
Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment 
(RMPA/EA) for the Buffalo Field Office (BFO) and by this notice is 
announcing the opening of the comment period. The RMPA/EA will amend 
the 1985 Buffalo Resource Management Plan. The BLM also announces the 
availability of information regarding a proposed Area of Critical 
Environmental Concern (ACEC) considered in the Draft RMPA/EA.

DATES: The BLM must receive written comments on the Draft RMPA/EA and 
on the proposed ACEC information within 60 days following the date that 
this Notice of Availability appears in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Draft RMPA/EA by any 
of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/bfodocs/fortification_creek.html.
     E-mail: [email protected].
     Fax: (307) 684-1122.
     Mail: Buffalo RMP Amendment/Fortification Creek EA, BLM 
Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, Wyoming 82834.

Copies of the Draft RMPA/EA are available in the Buffalo Field Office 
at the above address and at the following location:

     Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, 5353 
Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Thomas 
Bills, Buffalo RMPA Team Leader, telephone at 307-684-1133; mailing 
address at BLM Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, Wyoming 
82834; e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fortification Creek Planning Area (FCPA) 
is described as requiring ``special management'' in the Powder River 
Basin Oil and Gas Project Environmental Impact Statement (PRB EIS). The 
FCPA also contains an isolated elk herd, a Wilderness Study Area (WSA) 
and a citizen-proposed ACEC. The FCPA is 100,655 acres in size and 
located in the center of the Powder River Basin in parts of Campbell, 
Johnson, and Sheridan Counties, Wyoming.
    An RMP amendment has been initiated to simplify, consolidate and 
unify overlapping planning decisions in the FCPA while ensuring the 
viability of the existing elk herd and maintaining other management 
activities in the planning area.
    The Draft RMPA/EA documents the direct, indirect, and cumulative 
environmental impacts of three alternatives for management of BLM-
administered public lands and mineral resources within the 
Fortification Creek Area of the BFO. The alternatives incorporate best 
management practices for oil and gas development and other measures 
necessary to address impacts to transportation, public safety, cultural 
resources, recreational opportunities, wildlife, threatened and 
endangered species, visual resources, air quality, wilderness 
characteristics, and other relevant issues. The following descriptions 
of alternatives considered in the Draft RMPA/EA have been included to 
provide context for reviewers. Three alternatives are analyzed in 
detail:
    Alternative 1 (No Action Alternative): Continues the existing 
management direction in conformance with the current RMP and would not 
designate an ACEC in the FCPA;
    Alternative 2: Amends the existing RMP to allow overhead power 
lines on BLM surface within pre-defined corridors, applies elk security 
habitat standards as recommended by the Wyoming Game and Fish 
Department (WGFD), prescribes acceptable mitigation measures, and would 
designate an ACEC based on citizen proposed boundaries (33,757 acres; 
primarily public surface); and
    Alternative 3 (Agency Preferred Alternative): Amends the existing 
RMP by allowing overhead power lines along roads on BLM surface, 
applies elk security habitat standards developed jointly by the BLM and 
WGFD, establishes standards for performance based mitigation, and does 
not designate any area as an ACEC.
    There are no ACECs in the existing BFO land use plan. As proposed 
in the Draft RMPA/EA, there is potential for designation of a 
Fortification Creek ACEC. Values of concern include steep slopes, 
erosive soils, elk habitat, cultural resources, and visual resources.
    When commenting, please include reference to either the page or 
section in the Draft RMPA/EA to which the comment applies. To 
facilitate analysis of comments and information submitted, the BLM 
encourages those individuals submitting comments to submit them in 
electronic format.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted 
including names, street addresses, and e-il addresses of respondents 
will be available for public review and disclosure at the above address 
during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday through 
Friday, except holidays.
    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 identifying 
information-may be made publicly available at any time. While you may 
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.

Donald A. Simpson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-23330 Filed 9-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P