[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 206 (Thursday, October 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59751-59752]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-23495]



[[Page 59751]]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLORM06000-L630000000.DF00000-21X.HAG21-0052]


Notice of Proposed Restrictions on Public Lands in Jackson 
County, OR

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of proposed restrictions.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to restrict 
recreational target shooting for 2 years on certain public lands 
administered by the Ashland Field Office.

DATES: Interested parties may submit written comments regarding the 
proposed restriction until December 27, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may submit comments regarding the 
proposed restriction by any of the following methods:
    BLM National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/123432/510.
    Email: [email protected].
    Mail: BLM, Medford District Office, Attention: Tye Morgan, 3040 
Biddle Road, Medford, Oregon 97526.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Brown, Ashland Field Office 
Manager; telephone: (541) 618-2232; email: [email protected]; Tye Morgan, 
Planner and Environmental Specialist; telephone: (541) 618-2229; email: 
[email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the 
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339 
to contact the above individuals during normal business hours. The FRS 
is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or 
question. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM Ashland Field Office proposes to 
restrict recreational target shooting on public lands at 11 sites 
totaling 50 acres in the Anderson Butte area for 2 years to address 
public safety issues.
    In compliance with the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, 
Management, and Recreation Act (Dingell Act; 16 U.S.C. 7913(a)(1)) and 
43 CFR 8364.1, notice is hereby given that the BLM proposes to 
implement this 2-year restriction on recreational target shooting on 11 
identified sites (approximately 50 acres) in Jackson County. These 
proposed restrictions are necessary to ensure public safety. These 
recreational target shooting restrictions were proposed and analyzed in 
conformance with NEPA under the 2021 Anderson Butte Safety Project 
Environmental Assessment. The BLM solicited and incorporated public 
comment during the NEPA process.
    The Anderson Butte area has a long history of local community 
residents enjoying public lands for a wide variety of uses, including 
hiking, horseback riding, hunting, riding off-highway vehicles, and 
recreational target shooting. As the Rogue Valley's population has 
continued to increase, so has the recreational use of the Anderson 
Butte area, as well as an increase in home construction in close 
proximity to the public lands that lie within it. These increasing 
pressures have resulted in a number of public safety issues and 
recreational user conflicts from public land visitors participating in 
a variety of recreational target shooting activities. There have been 
reported instances of these activities resulting in bullets hitting 
nearby private residences and other private property and bullets 
passing over hikers' heads while they are on designated BLM trails.
    Under the Dingell Act, the BLM is required to consider public 
comments when temporary closures are proposed that would affect 
recreational target shooting on public lands. This notice announces the 
beginning of the 60-day comment period for the proposed temporary 
restriction of approximately 50 acres of public lands to recreational 
target shooting. Following the public comment period, the BLM will 
issue a final decision that will include a summary of comments received 
and will respond in a reasonable manner to substantive comments. The 
final decision will also explain how significant issues were resolved 
and will be made available on the project website at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/123432/510.
    The BLM will be monitoring recreation uses and site conditions 
during the closure period to determine if target shooting restrictions 
resolve safety issues. The findings will help guide long-term solutions 
to these land management challenges.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in any comment, 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, the BLM cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
    The legal description of the affected public lands:

                  Table 1--Center Point of Restriction Site Locations, 250' Buffer From Center
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          Site No.                      Latitude, longitude             Township, range, section, and subsection
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1                            42[deg]13'50.92'' N, 122[deg]55'32.47'' W  T38S, R2W, Sec. 27, SW\1/4\.
2                            42[deg]13'05.97'' N, 122[deg]55'42.47'' W  T38S, R2W, Sec. 34, SW\1/4\.
3                            42[deg]12'22.14'' N, 122[deg]55'59.83'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 3, SW\1/4\.
4                            42[deg]13'02.40'' N, 122[deg]54'26.51'' W  T38S, R2W, Sec. 35, SW\1/4\.
5                            42[deg]12'31.66'' N, 122[deg]54'10.50'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 2, NE\1/4\.
6                            42[deg]12'29.14'' N, 122[deg]54'23.39'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 2, NW\1/4\.
7                            42[deg]12'08.84'' N, 122[deg]54'56.21'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 3, SE\1/4\.
8                            42[deg]11'42.75'' N, 122[deg]53'15.56'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 12, NW\1/4\.
9                            42[deg]11'43.92'' N, 122[deg]53'27.04'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 12, NW\1/4\.
10                           42[deg]10'41.22'' N, 122[deg]55'47.82'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 15, SW\1/4\.
11                           42[deg]11'16.57'' N, 122[deg]56'33.62'' W  T39S, R2W, Sec. 9, SE\1/4\.
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    More details on the proposed closure, including maps, are available 
on the project website located at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/123432/510. A copy of this notice and map of the restricted 
areas will be posted at least 30 days in advance of the effective date 
of the restriction at the main entry points to each of these sites, at 
the Medford District Office, 3040 Biddle Road, Medford, OR, 97526, and 
on the project website.
    The BLM provides notice under 43 CFR 8364.1 that, unless the BLM

[[Page 59752]]

advises differently through the final decision and a subsequent Federal 
Register notice, the public lands listed earlier will be closed to 
recreational shooting for 2 years, starting on December 27, 2021. 
Therefore, the restriction authorized in the final decision would be 
enforced by the BLM under the authority of Section 303(a) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1733(a)), 43 
CFR 8360.0-7, and 43 CFR 8364.1 within the closure area for each site.
    Any person who violates restrictions authorized in a final decision 
may be tried before a United States Magistrate and fined in accordance 
with 18 U.S.C. 3571, imprisoned no more than 12 months under 43 U.S.C. 
1733(a) and 43 CFR 8360.0-7, or both. In accordance with 43 CFR 8365.1-
7, State or local officials may also impose penalties for violations of 
State law.

(Authority: 43 CFR 8364.1 and 16 U.S.C. 7913)

Lauren P. Brown,
Ashland Field Office Manager.
[FR Doc. 2021-23495 Filed 10-27-21; 8:45 am]
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