[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 111 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37901-37904]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-12311]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_OR_FRN_MO4500170655]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the 
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Oregon/Washington and California 
and an Associated Environmental Impact Statement

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, as amended (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended (FLPMA), Presidential Proclamations entitled 
``Establishment of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument'' (June 9, 
2000) and ``Boundary Enlargement of the Cascade-Siskiyou National 
Monument'' (January 12, 2017), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
Oregon/Washington (OR/WA) and California (CA) State Offices intend to 
revise a resource management plan (RMP) with an associated 
environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Cascade-Siskiyou National 
Monument (Monument). With this notice, the BLM announces the beginning 
of a 60-day public scoping period to solicit public comments and 
identify issues, provide the planning criteria for public review, and 
issue a call for nominations for areas of critical environmental 
concern (ACECs). This RMP revision would replace the existing 2008 
Monument RMP.

DATES: The BLM requests the public submit comments concerning the scope 
of the analysis, potential alternatives, and identification of relevant 
information, studies, and ACEC nominations by August 8, 2023. The BLM 
also requests the public submit comments on the planning criteria by 
the same date identified earlier. The planning criteria will be made 
available to the public within the first 30 days of the 60-day comment 
period to ensure the public has at least 30 days to comment on the 
planning criteria as required by the planning regulations at 43 CFR 
1610.2(e).

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria 
related to the Monument RMP and nominations of new ACECs by any of the 
following methods:
     Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2023675/510.
     Mail: ATTN: CSNM RMP Project Manager, BLM Medford 
District, 3040 Biddle Rd., Medford, OR 97504.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2023675/510 and at the 
BLM Medford District Office, 3040 Biddle Rd., Medford, OR 97504.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nikki Haskett, Cascade-Siskiyou 
National Monument RMP Project Manager; (458) 246-8861, address 3040 
Biddle Rd., Medford, OR 97504; email [email protected]. Contact Ms. 
Haskett to have your name added to our mailing list. Individuals in the 
United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a 
speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services for contacting Ms. Haskett. 
Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services 
offered within their country to make international calls to the point-
of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
OR/WA and CA State Directors intend to prepare an RMP with an 
associated EIS for the Monument, announces the beginning of the scoping 
process, seeks public input on issues and relevant planning criteria, 
and invites the public to nominate ACECs. The planning area is in 
Jackson and Klamath Counties in Oregon and Siskiyou County in 
California and encompasses approximately 113,500 acres of BLM-
administered lands. While most of the BLM-administered lands are within 
the BLM Ashland and Klamath Falls Field Offices in Oregon, 
approximately 5,000 acres are located within the BLM Redding Field 
Office in California.
    In response to Presidential Proclamation No. 9564 (Boundary 
Enlargement of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument January 12, 
2017), multiple plaintiffs sued the President and the BLM, claiming 
that the monument expansion violated the Oregon and California Revested 
Lands Sustained Yield Management Act of 1937 (the O&C Act). In 2017, 
two plaintiffs filed separate suits in the U.S. District Court for the 
District of Columbia. A third plaintiff filed suit in the District of 
Oregon. In September 2019, the District of Oregon upheld the monument 
expansion, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed 
the District Court's judgment in April 2023. In November 2019, the 
District Court for the District of Columbia held that the monument 
expansion violated the O&C Act by ``reserving land governed by the O&C 
Act from sustained yield timber production'' and held Presidential 
Proclamation No. 9564 ``invalid and unenforceable as applied to land 
subject to the O&C Act.'' The United States has appealed this decision 
to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 
Although the outcome of this appeal is uncertain, the BLM is exercising 
its discretion to initiate preliminary planning steps with the 
understanding that the BLM retains the ability to modify or terminate 
any planning effort in response to the outcome of the litigation.

Purpose and Need for the RMP

    This RMP will provide a management framework, including goals, 
objectives, and management direction, to guide management of the 
Monument. The RMP purposes and needs will frame issue identification, 
alternatives development, and effects analyses. The following purposes 
are explicitly provided in Presidential Proclamations No. 7318 
(Establishment of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument) and No. 9564, 
other designating legislation, and/or have been identified based on key 
present and historical Monument management challenges. Planning for 
these purposes will be crucial for development of an RMP that provides 
direction for addressing critical management challenges. Associated 
problems and opportunities that the RMP will address are also 
summarized.
    1. Protect and/or restore the unique and varied natural and 
scientific resources in the Monument. This includes Monument objects 
identified in the proclamations, including:
    a. A landscape of ecological wonder with unmatched biological 
diversity that provides habitat connectivity, watershed protection, and 
landscape-

[[Page 37902]]

scale resilience for the area's critically important natural resources.
    b. The varied and diverse plant communities that support the 
diverse, rare, and endemic wildlife and plant species that populate 
them.
    c. The intact habitats and undisturbed corridors that allow for 
animal migration and movement.
    d. The unique and varied geological features and landscapes that 
exist.
    e. A landscape that provides opportunities for scientific and 
historic studies and an invaluable resource to scientists and 
conservationists wishing to research and sustain the functioning of the 
landscape's ecosystems into the future.
    Challenges and Opportunities: The Monument is home to a spectacular 
variety of rare species of plants and animals, whose survival depends 
upon its continued ecological integrity. Ecological integrity refers to 
the degree to which an area's natural ecosystem processes have either 
remained intact or been interrupted through human intervention. The 
checkerboard pattern of ownership within the monument, the lack of fire 
due to fire exclusion, and activities such as timber harvest, livestock 
grazing, and road building have changed natural processes across the 
monument landscape. These current and past activities continue to 
present management challenges. Additionally, recreation and visitor use 
in the monument continues to increase.
    The Monument's biodiversity is internationally recognized and 
provides an invaluable resource to scientists. Evolutionary biologists 
have identified this area as a center of endemism and diversity for 
springsnails, and researchers have discovered four new species of 
mygalomorph spiders in the Monument. Scientific research and monitoring 
activities play a crucial role in supporting an adaptive management 
approach in the land use planning process. They contribute to effective 
and science-based management decisions and help us understand the 
intricate web of actions and reactions in an ecosystem as changes are 
introduced or disturbances occur.
    The BLM will explore various ways of protecting and restoring the 
Monument's natural and scientific resources, including the Monument 
objects, by identifying acceptable existing conditions, educating 
visitors, setting research priorities, and providing for public access 
and enjoyment where access does not conflict with the protection of 
Monument objects.
    2. Protect and or restore the historical and cultural understanding 
and appreciation related to the Monument, including Monument objects. 
These objects include historic and prehistoric features on the 
landscape that provide traces of the presence of human use in the 
Monument, both by Native American and Euro-American settlers.
    Challenges and Opportunities: Public visitation, permitted 
activities, and climate change have the potential to impact cultural 
resources, including the Monument's historic and prehistoric features. 
Management decisions are needed to clarify how to select and prioritize 
protection and restoration of these features and our understanding of 
and appreciation for them.
    3. Reduce fire risk to important fire-susceptible Monument objects, 
and adjacent wildland urban interface lands.
    Challenges and Opportunities: The lack of fire due to fire 
exclusion and the checkerboard pattern of ownership within the Monument 
continue to present management challenges. Much of the planning area 
has a checkerboard pattern of ownership of intermixed private, state, 
Bureau of Reclamation, and BLM-administered lands. The private lands 
are comprised of rural residential areas, the small communities of 
Greensprings, Lincoln, and Pinehurst, and private and industrial 
forests. This is an area commonly referred to as the wildland urban 
interface.
    4. Protect a range of habitats that can be resistant and resilient 
to large-scale disturbance such as fire, insects and disease, invasive 
species, drought, or floods, events likely to be exacerbated by climate 
change.
    Challenges and Opportunities: Climate change is leading to changes 
in disturbance regimes and severities (e.g., drought, fire, insects, 
and disease). For example, long-term drought has led to declining 
stream flows and historically low reservoir levels, which impacts 
aquatic habitats and species that depend on them. Drought and 
subsequent insect damage have caused substantial mortality in forest 
stands, increasing fuel loading, and reducing resilience to fire.
    5. Manage discretionary uses in the Monument in the context of 
protecting Monument objects and values.
    Challenges and Opportunities: Public land uses in the Monument, 
such as recreation and livestock grazing, are important to the economic 
opportunities and quality of life of the local communities surrounding 
the Monument. These uses, and others, can present management challenges 
for the BLM. Since designation in 2000, controversy and disputes have 
existed among interested parties regarding BLM's discretionary uses, 
particularly because designation as a national monument requires the 
BLM to protect the objects and values within its boundary. External 
interests span the spectrum from supporting a wide variety of uses and 
activities to promoting strong preservation interests. Establishing 
management that best protects the Monument's objects and values while 
considering other compatible uses is vital in this planning effort.

Preliminary Alternatives

    The BLM will analyze a range of alternatives that explore and 
evaluate different ways of achieving its purposes and needs. The 
alternatives will explore different outcomes to be addressed through 
this planning effort to better understand the trade-offs of different 
land management approaches. The BLM welcomes comments on all 
preliminary alternatives, as well as suggestions for additional 
alternatives.

Preliminary Planning Criteria

    The planning criteria guide the planning effort and lay the 
groundwork for effects analysis by identifying the preliminary issues 
and their analytical frameworks. The BLM has identified preliminary 
issues for the planning area from early engagement conducted for this 
planning effort with Federal, State, and local agencies, Tribal 
Nations, and interested participants. The BLM will provide the planning 
criteria within the timeframe identified in DATES earlier. The planning 
criteria will be available for public review and comment at the 
ePlanning website (see ADDRESSES).

Summary of Expected Impacts

    Consistent with protection of the Monument's objects of scientific 
and historic interest identified in Presidential Proclamations No. 7318 
and No. 9564, implementation of a new RMP may impact--either 
beneficially or adversely--resources, resource uses, and special 
designations within the Monument, including soils, water, vegetation, 
cultural and historic resources, paleontological resources, visual 
resources, recreation, livestock grazing, social and economic values, 
and other human and environmental resources.

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public 
participation consistent with NEPA and BLM land use planning processes, 
including a 90-day comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS, then a 30-day 
public protest period, as well as a concurrent 60-day

[[Page 37903]]

Governor's consistency review, on the Proposed RMP. The Draft RMP/EIS 
is anticipated to be ready for public review in early 2024, and the 
Proposed RMP/Final EIS is anticipated to be available for public 
protest in fall 2024, with an approved RMP and Record of Decision 
completed in late 2024.

Public Scoping Process

    This Notice of Intent initiates the scoping period and public 
review of the planning criteria, which guide the development and 
analysis of the Draft RMP/EIS. The BLM will hold a total of four 
scoping meetings. One scoping meeting will be held virtually. Three 
scoping meetings will be conducted in-person: one in Ashland, Oregon, 
one in Greensprings, Oregon, and one in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Details 
of all meetings will be announced once known. In compliance with 
Department of the Interior public health guidelines, the BLM may need 
to hold public meetings in a virtual format if county-level 
transmission of COVID-19 is ``high'' at the time of the public 
meetings. In that case, the BLM will hold four virtual public meetings. 
The specific dates and locations of these scoping meetings will be 
announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, social 
media, newspapers, and the ePlanning website (see ADDRESSES).
    The ePlanning website (see ADDRESSES) also includes, or will 
include, background information on the Monument, an overview of the 
planning process, preliminary planning criteria, and interim management 
guidance. You may submit comments on issues, potential alternatives, 
relevant information and analyses, and the preliminary planning 
criteria in writing to the BLM at any public scoping meeting, or to the 
BLM using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section.

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs)

    There are five ACECs within the Monument: Jenny Creek, Tunnel 
Creek, Moon Prairie, Lost Lake, and Old Baldy. This notice invites the 
public to comment on whether to retain the existing ACECs and whether 
to nominate areas on BLM-administered lands for ACEC consideration. To 
assist the BLM in evaluating nominations for consideration in the Draft 
RMP/EIS, please provide supporting descriptive materials, maps, and 
evidence of the relevance and importance of resources or hazards by the 
close of the public scoping period to facilitate timely evaluation (see 
DATES and ADDRESSES). The BLM has identified the anticipated issues 
related to the consideration of ACECs in the planning criteria.

Tribal Coordination

    The Monument planning process will provide Tribal Nations multiple 
ways to engage, including, but not limited to, through government-to-
government coordination and consultation, consultation under Section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. 
306108), and participation as cooperating agencies.

Cooperating Agencies

    Federal, State, and local agencies, along with Tribal Nations, may 
request or be asked by the BLM to participate as cooperating agencies. 
At this time, the BLM has identified the following potential 
cooperating agencies:
     National Park Service,
     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
     NOAA, Fisheries,
     U.S. Geological Survey,
     U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs,
     Oregon Department of Environmental Quality,
     Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife,
     California Department of Fish and Wildlife,
     Oregon Department of Transportation,
     California Department of Transportation,
     Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department,
     California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection,
     Klamath County Commissioners,
     Jackson County Commissioners,
     Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors,
     City of Ashland,
     City of Klamath Falls, and
     All nine affiliated Tribal Nations that wish to 
participate.

Responsible Official

    The OR/WA and the CA State Directors are the deciding officials for 
this planning effort.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The nature of the decision to be made will be the State Directors 
selection of land use planning decisions for managing BLM-administered 
lands within the Monument that protect the objects and values 
identified in Proclamation 7318 and Proclamation 9564. Uses on the 
Monument may be allowed to the extent they are consistent with 
Proclamation 7318 and Proclamation 9564 and the protection of the 
objects and values within the Monument.

Interdisciplinary Team

    The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach in developing the 
RMP/EIS to consider the variety of resource issues and concerns 
identified. Specialists with expertise in various disciplines, such as 
cultural resources, Native American concerns, paleontology, minerals, 
lands/access, recreation, special designations, wildlife, livestock 
grazing, soils, water resources, vegetation, rangeland management, 
fisheries, fire management, woodlands/forestry, socioeconomics, 
environmental justice, visual resources, air quality, and climate 
change will be involved in the planning process.

Additional Information

    The BLM will identify, analyze, and consider mitigation to address 
the reasonably foreseeable impacts to resources from the proposed RMP 
and all analyzed alternatives and, in accordance with 40 CFR 
1502.14(e), include appropriate mitigation measures not already 
included in the proposed plan or alternatives. Mitigation may include 
avoidance, minimization, rectification, reduction or elimination over 
time, and compensation, and may be considered at multiple scales, 
including the landscape scale.
    The BLM will coordinate its NEPA and land use planning processes 
with its efforts to ensure compliance with section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act (16 U.S.C. 1536) and Section 106 of the NHPA, as provided 
in 36 CFR 800.2(d)(3), including the public involvement requirements of 
section 106. Information about historic and cultural resources and 
threatened and endangered species within the area potentially affected 
by the proposed plan will assist the BLM in identifying and evaluating 
impacts to such resources.
    The BLM will consult with Tribal Nations on a government-to-
government basis in accordance with Executive Order 13175 and 
applicable Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, including impacts on 
American Indian trust assets and potential impacts on cultural 
resources, will be given due consideration. The BLM intend to hold a 
series of government-to-government consultation meetings beginning 
during the public scoping period. The BLM will send invitations to 
interested Tribal Nations at least 30-days prior to the meetings. The 
BLM will provide additional opportunities for government-to-government 
consultation during the NEPA process.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other

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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 1501.9 and 43 CFR 1610.2.)

Barry Bushue,
BLM Oregon/Washington State Director.
Karen Mouritsen,
BLM California State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-12311 Filed 6-8-23; 8:45 am]
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