[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50090-50091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19841]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLWY930000-L16100000-DS0000]


Notice of Intent To Extend the Public Scoping Period for the Rock 
Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP) and To Amend the 2008 Rawlins 
RMP To Address Wild Horse and Burro Management in the Rock Springs and 
Rawlins Field Offices, WY

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
intends to extend the scoping period for an additional 30 days for the 
ongoing Rock Springs RMP, which was initiated on February 2, 2011, to 
address wild horse and burro management in the Rock Springs Field 
Office and to amend the 2008 Approved Rawlins RMP for the Adobe Town 
Herd Management Area in the Rawlins Field Office in Wyoming. The BLM, 
by this notice, is announcing the beginning of the scoping process to 
solicit public comments and identify issues that will influence the 
scope of the environmental analysis, including alternatives, and guide 
the planning process for wild horse and burro management.

DATES: This notice extends the scoping period initiated on February 2, 
2011 for wild horse and burro management in the ongoing Rock Springs 
RMP and associated environmental impact statement (EIS) and initiates 
the public scoping process for wild horse and burro management for the 
Adobe Town Herd Management Area (HMA) for the amendment of the 2008 
Approved Rawlins RMP.
    Comments on issues relating to these two planning efforts may be 
submitted in writing until September 16, 2013. Two public scoping 
meetings concerning wild horse and burro management will be held in 
Rock Springs and Rawlins, Wyoming. The meeting times and addresses will 
be announced through the local news media, newspapers, and the BLM Web 
site at http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Planning/rmps/RockSprings.html at least 15 days prior to the event. In order to be 
included in the Draft Rock Springs RMP/EIS, all comments must be 
received prior to the close of the scoping period or 15 days after the 
last public scoping meeting, whichever is later. The BLM will provide 
additional opportunities for public participation upon publication of 
the Draft Rock Springs RMP/EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria 
related to the Rock Springs RMP/EIS and an amendment to the Rawlins RMP 
by any of the following methods:
    Web site: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Planning/rmps/RockSprings.html;
    Email: [email protected]. Include ``Wild Horses'' in the 
subject line of the message;
    Fax: 307-352-0329; or
    Mail: BLM Rock Springs Field Office, Wild Horse Scoping, 280 
Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the BLM 
Rock Springs Field Office, during normal business hours: 7:45 a.m. to 
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jay D'Ewart, Wild Horse and Burro 
Specialist, at 307-352-0331. Persons who use a telecommunications 
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay 
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to speak with Jay D'Ewart 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: On June 27, 2011, the Rock Springs Grazing 
Association (RSGA) filed a lawsuit (Rock Springs Grazing Association v. 
Salazar, No. 11-CV-00263-NDF) in the United States District Court for 
Wyoming contending, in part, that the BLM had violated Section 4 of the 
Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. 1334, by failing to 
remove strayed animals from private lands controlled by RSGA within the 
Wyoming checkerboard pattern of mixed public and private land 
ownership. RSGA-controlled private lands include lands within the BLM's 
Rock Springs and Rawlins management areas in the Adobe Town, Great 
Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, and White Mountain HMAs.

[[Page 50091]]

    On April 3, 2013, the United States District Court for the District 
of Wyoming approved a Consent Decree and Joint Stipulation for 
Dismissal (Consent Decree) in Rock Springs Grazing Association v. 
Salazar, No. 11-CV-00263-NDF, that provides in part, ``No later than 
180 days after this Consent Decree is approved by the Court, BLM will 
submit to the Federal Register for publication a notice[s] of scoping 
under NEPA to consider the environmental effects of revising the 
respective Resource Management Plans for the Rock Springs and Rawlins 
Field Offices by considering proposed actions that would: (a) Change 
the Salt Wells [Creek] HMA [Herd Management Area] to a Herd Area, which 
would be managed for zero wild horses, and if BLM determines there are 
more than 200 wild horses within the Herd Area, the area will be re-
gathered to zero wild horses; (b) Change the [Great] Divide Basin HMA 
to a Herd Area, which would be managed for zero wild horses, and if BLM 
determines there are more than 100 wild horses within the Herd Area, 
the area will be re-gathered to zero wild horses; (c) Change the Adobe 
Town HMA [Appropriate Management Level] AML to 225-450 wild horses or 
lower, and that gathered wild horses will not be returned to the Salt 
Wells area; and (d) Manage the White Mountain HMA as a non-reproducing 
herd by utilizing fertility control and sterilization methods to 
maintain a population of 205 wild horses and to initiate gathers if the 
population exceeds 205 wild horses.'' Consent Decree, No. 11-CV-00263-
NDF, pp. 6-7.
    You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria in writing 
to the BLM using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section. 
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 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.

    Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2.

Mary Jo Rugwell,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-19841 Filed 8-15-13; 8:45 am]
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