[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 185 (Thursday, September 24, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57639-57641]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-24208]
[[Page 57639]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWO2100000 L11100000.DR0000.LXSISGST0000]
Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision; and Approved
Resource Management Plan Amendments for the Rocky Mountain Region
Greater Sage-Grouse Sub-Regions of Lewistown, North Dakota, Northwest
Colorado, and Wyoming; and Approved Resource Management Plans for
Billings, Buffalo, Cody, HiLine, Miles City, Pompeys Pillar National
Monument, South Dakota, and Worland
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); and Approved Resource Management Plan
Amendments (ARMPAs) for the Rocky Mountain Region Greater Sage-Grouse
(GRSG) sub-regions of Lewistown, North Dakota, Northwest Colorado, and
Wyoming; and Approved Resource Management Plans (ARMPs) for Billings,
Buffalo, Cody, HiLine, Miles City, Pompeys Pillar National Monument,
South Dakota, and Worland. The Assistant Secretary for Land and
Minerals Management of the U.S. Department of the Interior signed the
ROD.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD, ARMPAs and ARMPs are available upon
request and are also available for public inspection at the addresses
listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section. Interested persons may
also review the ROD, ARMPAs and ARMPs on the internet at: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/sagegrouse.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contacts for each subregion for the
GRSG ARMPAs and ARMPs are listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section.
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 listed individuals 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: This ROD; the ARMPAs for the Rocky Mountain
Region GRSG sub-regions of Lewistown, North Dakota, Northwest Colorado,
and Wyoming; and the ARMPs for Billings, Buffalo, Cody, HiLine, Miles
City, Pompeys Pillar National Monument, South Dakota, and Worland were
developed through a collaborative planning process in order to
incorporate land use plan level measures into existing BLM land use
plans to protect, enhance, and restore GRSG and their habitat by
reducing, eliminating, or minimizing threats to GRSG habitat in the
context of the BLM's multiple-use and sustained yield mission under
FLPMA.
The ARMPAs and ARMPs approved by the ROD include land use
allocations that limit or eliminate new surface disturbance in GRSG
Priority Habitat Management Areas (PHMA), while minimizing disturbance
in GRSG General Habitat Management Areas (GHMA). The Billings and Miles
City ARMPs also include Restoration Habitat Management Areas (RHMA),
where certain management actions in these areas provide for a balance
between ongoing and future resource uses, so that habitat is
maintained, while also allowing for residual populations in impacted
areas to persist. The Northwest Colorado ARMPA also includes Linkage
and Connectivity Habitat Management Areas (LCHMA), which have
protections to facilitate the movement of GRSG and maintain ecological
processes. In addition to establishing protective land use allocations,
the ARMPAs and ARMPs implement a suite of management decisions, such as
the establishment of disturbance limits, GRSG habitat objectives,
mitigation requirements, monitoring protocols, and adaptive management
triggers and responses, as well as other conservation measures
throughout the range.
The cumulative effect of these measures is to protect, improve, and
restore GRSG habitat across the remaining range of the species in the
Rocky Mountain Region and provide greater certainty that BLM land and
resource management activities in GRSG habitat will lead to
conservation of the GRSG and other species associated with the
sagebrush ecosystem in the region.
The ARMPs (plan revisions) approved by the ROD also provide updated
land use plan management direction for all BLM program areas, including
but not limited to, air quality, fish and wildlife, cultural, lands and
realty, livestock grazing, minerals and energy, recreation and visitor
services, soil and water, special management area designations
(including Areas of Critical Environmental Concern), travel and
transportation, vegetation, visual resources, wild horse and burros,
land with wilderness characteristics, and wildland fire management.
The ARMPAs approved by the ROD amend the following BLM Resource
Management Plans (RMPs), completed in the year indicated:
Lewistown GRSG ARMPA
Judith RMP (1994)
Headwaters RMP (1984)
North Dakota GRSG ARMPA
North Dakota RMP (1988)
Northwest Colorado GRSG ARMPA
Colorado River Valley RMP (2015)
Grand Junction RMP (2015)
Kremmling RMP (2015)
Little Snake RMP (2011)
White River RMP (1997)
Wyoming GRSG ARMPA
Casper RMP (2007)
Kemmerer RMP (2010)
Newcastle RMP (2000)
Pinedale RMP (2008)
Rawlins RMP (2008)
Green River RMP (1997) (being revised under the Rock
Springs RMP)
The ARMPs (plan revisions) approved by the ROD will replace the
following Resource Management Plans (RMPs):
Billings and Pompeys Pillar National Monument ARMPs
Billings RMP (1984)
Buffalo ARMP
Buffalo RMP (1985)
Cody ARMP (portion of the Bighorn Basin planning effort)
Cody RMP (1990)
HiLine ARMP
West HiLine RMP (1988)
Judith-Valley-Phillips RMP (1994)
Miles City ARMP
Big Dry RMP (1996)
Powder River RMP (1985)
South Dakota ARMP
South Dakota RMP (1986)
Worland ARMP (portion of the Bighorn Basin planning effort)
Washakie RMP (1988)
Grass Creek RMP (1998)
The Northwest Colorado and Wyoming Draft Land Use Plan Amendments
(LUPAs)/Draft Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) and Proposed
LUPAs/Final EISs included proposed GRSG management direction for
National Forest System lands. However, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS)
has completed a separate ROD and Land and Resource Management Plans
under USFS planning authorities. Management decisions within the ROD
and ARMPAs apply only to BLM-administered lands.
Across all sub-regions in the Rocky Mountain Region, the ROD, ARMPA
and ARMPs amend and revise existing land use plan decisions on
approximately 23 million BLM-administered surface acres.
Notices of Availability (NOA) for the Rocky Mountain Region GRSG
Proposed
[[Page 57640]]
LUPAs and RMPs/Final EISs were published in the Federal Register on May
29, 2015, which initiated a 30-day protest period and a 60-day
Governor's consistency review period. The BLM received 149 timely and
valid protest submissions across all Rocky Mountain proposed RMPs and
LUPAs/Final EISs. All protests have been resolved and/or dismissed. For
a full description of the issues raised during the protest period and
how they were addressed, please refer to the Director's Protest
Resolution Reports, which are available at the following Web site:
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/planning/planning_overview/protest_resolution/protestreports.html.
The BLM received notifications of inconsistencies and
recommendations as to how to resolve them during the Governor's
consistency review period from the States of Colorado, Montana, North
Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. On August 6, 2015, the BLM State
Directors for Colorado, Montana/Dakotas, and Wyoming sent notification
letters to their respective States as to whether they accepted or
rejected their recommendations for consistency. The States were then
given 30 days to appeal the State Directors' decisions. The States of
North Dakota and South Dakota appealed the BLM State Director's
decisions. The BLM Director affirmed the State Director's decisions on
these recommendations as the recommendations did not provide the
balance required by 43 CFR 1610.3-2(e). The Director communicated his
decisions on the appeals in writing to the Governors concurrently with
the release of the RODs. The Proposed RMPs and LUPAs/Final EISs were
selected in the ROD as the ARMPAs and ARMPs, with some minor
modifications and clarifications based on protests received, the
Governors' consistency reviews, and internal agency deliberations.
Copies of the Lewistown GRSG ROD and ARMPA are available upon
request and are available for public inspection at:
BLM Montana/Dakotas State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive,
Billings, Montana 59101; and
BLM Lewistown Field Office, 920 Northeast Main, Lewistown,
Montana 59457.
Copies of the North Dakota GRSG ROD and ARMPA are available upon
request and are available for public inspection at:
BLM Montana/Dakotas State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive,
Billings, Montana 59101; and
BLM North Dakota Field Office, 99 23rd Avenue East, Suite
A, Dickinson, North Dakota 58601.
Copies of the Northwest Colorado GRSG ROD and ARMPA are available
upon request and are available for public inspection at:
BLM Colorado State Office, 2850 Youngfield Street,
Lakewood, Colorado 80215; and
BLM Northwest District Office, 2815 H Road, Grand
Junction, Colorado 81506.
Copies of the Wyoming GRSG ROD and ARMPA are available upon request
and are available for public inspection at:
BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne,
Wyoming 82009;
BLM Casper Field Office, 2987 Prospector Drive, Casper,
Wyoming 82604;
BLM Kemmerer Field Office, 312 Highway 189 North,
Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101;
BLM Newcastle Field Office, 1101 Washington Boulevard,
Newcastle, Wyoming 82701;
BLM Pinedale Field Office, 1625 West Pine Street,
Pinedale, Wyoming 82941;
BLM Rawlins Field Office, 1300 North Third, Rawlins,
Wyoming 82301; and
BLM Rock Springs Field Office, 280 Highway 191 North, Rock
Springs, Wyoming 82901.
Copies of the Billings and Pompeys Pillar National Monument ROD and
ARMPs are available upon request and are available for public
inspection at:
BLM Montana/Dakotas State Office and Billings Field
Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, Montana 59101.
Copies of the Buffalo ROD and ARMP are available upon request and
are available for public inspection at:
BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne,
WY 82003;
BLM High Plains District Office, 2987 Prospector Drive,
Casper, WY 82604; and
BLM Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, WY
82834.
Copies of the Cody ROD and ARMP are available upon request and are
available for public inspection at:
BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne,
WY 82003; and
BLM Cody Field Office, 1002 Blackburn Avenue, Cody,
Wyoming 82414.
Copies of the HiLine ROD and ARMP are available upon request and
are available for public inspection at:
BLM Montana/Dakotas State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive,
Billings, Montana 59101;
BLM Havre Field Office, 3990 Highway 2 West, Havre,
Montana 59501;
BLM Malta Field Office, 501 South 2nd Street, Malta,
Montana 59538; and
BLM Glasgow Field Office, 5 Lasar Drive, Glasgow, Montana
59230.
Copies of the Miles City ROD and ARMP are available upon request
and are available for public inspection at:
BLM Montana/Dakotas State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive,
Billings, Montana 59101; and
BLM Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles
City, MT 59301.
Copies of the South Dakota ROD and ARMP are available upon request
and are available for public inspection at:
BLM Montana/Dakotas State Office, 5001 Southgate Drive,
Billings, Montana 59101; and
BLM South Dakota Field Office, 310 Roundup Street, Belle
Fourche, SD 57717.
Copies of the Worland ROD and ARMP are available upon request and
are available for public inspection at:
BLM Wyoming State Office, 5353 Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne,
WY 82003; and
BLM Worland Field Office, 101 South 23rd Street, Worland,
Wyoming 82401.
For further information contact: For the Lewistown GRSG ARMPA: Adam
Carr, BLM Project Lead, telephone 406-538-1913; address Lewistown Field
Office, 920 Northeast Main, Lewistown, MT 59457; email [email protected].
For the North Dakota GRSG ARMPA: Ruth Miller, BLM Team Lead,
telephone 406-896-5023; address Montana/Dakotas State Office, 5001
Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101; email
[email protected].
For the Northwest Colorado GRSG ARMPA: Erin Jones, BLM Northwest
District NEPA Coordinator, telephone 970-244-3008; address Northwest
District Office, 2815 H Road, Grand Junction, CO 81506; email
[email protected].
For the Wyoming GRSG ARMPA: William West, BLM Planning and
Environmental Coordinator, telephone 307-352-0259; address Rock Springs
Field Office, 280 Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901; email
[email protected].
For the Billings ARMP: Carolyn Sherve-Bybee, Billings and Pompeys
Pillar National Monument RMP Team Leader, telephone: 406-896-5234;
address: 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101; email:
[email protected].
[[Page 57641]]
For the Buffalo ARMP: Thomas Bills, Buffalo RMP Team Leader; The
BLM Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, WY 82834, by
telephone 307-684-1133, or by email [email protected].
For the Cody ARMP: Holly Elliott, RMP Project Manager, telephone:
307-347-5193; address: 101 South 23rd Street, Worland, Wyoming 82401;
email: [email protected].
For the HiLine ARMP: Brian Hockett, Planning and Environmental
Coordinator, telephone: 406-262-2837; address: 3990 Highway 2 West,
Havre, MT 59501; email: [email protected].
For the Miles City ARMP: Mary Bloom, Miles City RMP Team Leader,
telephone: 406-233-2800; address: 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, MT
59301; email: [email protected].
For the Pompeys Pillar National Monument ARMP: Carolyn Sherve-
Bybee, Billings and Pompeys Pillar National Monument RMP Team Leader,
telephone: 406-896-5234; address: 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT
59101; email: [email protected].
For the South Dakota ARMP: Mitch Iverson, RMP Project Manager,
telephone: 605-892-7008; or Lori (Chip) Kimball, BLM South Dakota Field
Manager, telephone: 605-892-7000; address: 310 Roundup Street, Belle
Fourche, SD 57717; email: [email protected].
For the Worland ARMP: Holly Elliott, RMP Project Manager,
telephone: 307-347-5193; address: 101 South 23rd Street, Worland,
Wyoming 82401; email: [email protected].
Authority: 36 CFR 219.59, 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR
1610.2; 43 CFR 1610.5.
Amy Lueders,
Acting Assistant Director, Renewable Resources & Planning.
[FR Doc. 2015-24208 Filed 9-22-15; 4:15 pm]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P