[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 203 (Friday, October 19, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64349-64350]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25624]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[12X LLORE00000 L63500000.DP0000 LXSS021H0000.HAG12-0291]


Notice of Availability of the Draft West Eugene Wetlands Resource 
Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Oregon

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 (RMP) and Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the West Eugene Wetlands and by this notice is 
announcing the opening of the comment period.

DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive 
written comments on the Draft RMP/Draft EIS within 90 days following 
the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes this notice of 
the Draft RMP/Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce 
future meetings or hearings and any other public participation 
activities at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media 
releases, and/or mailings.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the West Eugene Wetlands 
Draft RMP/Draft EIS by any of the following methods:
     Web site: http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/eugene/index.php.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: 541-683-6981.
     Mail: P.O. Box 10226, Eugene, Oregon 97440-2226.
    Copies of the West Eugene Wetlands Draft RMP/Draft EIS are 
available at the Eugene District Office, 3106 Pierce Parkway, 
Springfield, Oregon 97477.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Richard Hardt, Planning and 
Environmental Coordinator, telephone 541-683-6690; address P.O. Box 
10226, Eugene, Oregon 97440-2226; email [email protected]. 
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call 
the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to 
contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is 
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question 
with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal 
business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In the West Eugene Wetlands Draft RMP/Draft 
EIS, the BLM analyzes the environmental consequences of seven 
alternatives for managing approximately 1,340 acres of BLM-administered 
lands in and near the city of Eugene, in Lane County, Oregon. The 
planning area does not currently have an RMP. The planning area is made 
up of acquired lands and survey hiatuses. This RMP is being developed 
separately from the Eugene District RMP because the planning area is 
geographically and ecologically distinct from the rest of the BLM-
administered lands in the Eugene District and many of the resources and 
issues in the planning area are unrelated

[[Page 64350]]

to those addressed in the Eugene District RMP. The approved West Eugene 
Wetlands RMP will apply only to the BLM-administered lands in the West 
Eugene Wetlands.
    The purpose of the action is to manage the planning area to 
contribute to the recovery of species listed under the Endangered 
Species Act, while providing other benefits. There are specific 
considerations in the planning area that lead the BLM to focus 
management on threatened and endangered species, including the Fender's 
blue butterfly and the plants Bradshaw's lomatium, Willamette daisy, 
Kincaid's lupine, and golden paintbrush: The scarcity of the listed 
species and their habitat, the importance of the planning area to the 
recovery of the listed species, and the purposes for which the BLM 
acquired the lands in the planning area. Therefore, the purpose and 
need for this RMP is more focused than the broad mandate of multiple 
use.
    The West Eugene Wetlands Draft RMP/Draft EIS analyzes in detail six 
action alternatives and the No Action alternative. The No Action 
alternative would continue the current management approach into the 
future with no change in the management actions and level of management 
intensity in the planning area. Because the current management approach 
was not developed in an RMP, there are no land use allocations, 
management objectives, or management direction established for the 
planning area.
    The design of the action alternatives varies primarily in the 
amount and location of lands within the planning area that would be 
allocated to the restoration of threatened and endangered species 
habitat. The action alternatives also vary in the management emphasis 
for lands which are not managed for habitat restoration. Additionally, 
the action alternatives vary in whether herbicides would be included as 
a management tool. Under the action alternatives, most or all of the 
planning area would be allocated to two land use allocations:

    Prairie Restoration Area, which would have a management 
objective to restore and maintain habitat for prairie-related 
species; and Natural Maintenance Area, which would have a management 
objective to maintain existing resources and provide opportunities 
for a variety of goods and services.

    Alternative 1 would allocate most of the planning area to the 
Prairie Restoration Area. Alternatives 2A and 2B would allocate to the 
Prairie Restoration Area all designated critical habitat. Alternative 
2B would emphasize providing commodities and services to the extent 
compatible with threatened and endangered species management, and would 
make approximately two-thirds of the planning area open to saleable 
mineral development.
    Alternatives 3A, 3B, and 3C would allocate to the Prairie 
Restoration Area all good quality habitat that is currently occupied by 
threatened or endangered species. Alternative 3C would enhance 
recreation opportunities to the extent compatible with threatened and 
endangered species management.
    Alternatives 1, 2A, 2B, and 3A would include herbicides among the 
management tools. The only nomination for an Area of Critical 
Environmental Concern (ACEC) received in this planning effort was 
continued designation of the currently designated Long Tom ACEC. Under 
Alternatives 1, 3A, 3B, and 3C, the site of the currently designated 
Long Tom ACEC would be included within the Prairie Restoration Area and 
would not need special management to protect the relevant and important 
values of the ACEC. Therefore, under these alternatives, the ACEC 
designation for this site would be removed. Under the No Action 
alternative and Alternatives 2A and 2B, the Long Tom site would 
continue to be designated as an ACEC.
    Under all action alternatives, motorized vehicle use would be 
limited to designated roads throughout the planning area. This planning 
effort will include implementation decisions related to travel 
management networks, including a travel management plan identifying the 
specific roads and trails that will be available for public use and the 
limitations on use of roads and trails.
    Alternative 2A is the BLM preferred alternative.
    The land-use planning process was initiated on June 8, 2011, 
through a Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register (76 FR 
33341), notifying the public of a formal scoping period and soliciting 
public participation. Cooperating agencies in the preparation of this 
land use plan are the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the City 
of Eugene Parks and Open Space Division, and the Confederated Tribes of 
Grand Ronde. Following the close of the public review and comment 
period, any substantive public comments will be used to revise the 
Draft RMP/Draft EIS in preparation for its release to the public as the 
Proposed RMP and Final EIS. The BLM will respond to each substantive 
comment received during the public review and comment period by making 
appropriate revisions to the document, or explaining why the comment 
did not warrant a change. A notice of the availability of the Proposed 
RMP and Final EIS will be published in the Federal Register.
    Please note that public comments and information submitted--
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who 
submit comments--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, email 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 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.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2.

Virginia Grilley,
Eugene District Manager.
[FR Doc. 2012-25624 Filed 10-18-12; 8:45 am]
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