[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 154 (Friday, August 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54663-54665]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-17203]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_UT_FRN_MO45172464]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource Management Plan and
Environmental Impact Statement for the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument in Utah
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 (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, as amended (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Draft Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument (GSENM or Monument), and by this notice is providing
information announcing the opening of the comment period on the Draft
RMP/EIS and the comment period on the BLM's proposed areas of critical
environmental concern (ACECs) and proposed recreational target shooting
closures.
DATES: This notice announces the opening of a 90-day comment period for
the Draft RMP/EIS beginning with the date following the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA's) publication of its Notice of Availability
(NOA) of the Draft RMP/EIS in the Federal Register. The EPA usually
publishes its NOAs on Fridays.
To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments in the
Proposed RMP/Final EIS, please ensure that the BLM receives your
comments prior to the close of the 90-day public comment period or 15
days after the last public meeting, whichever is later.
In addition, this notice also announces the opening of a 90-day
comment period for proposed target shooting closures and a 90-day
comment period for proposed ACECs. The BLM must receive your comments
by November 9, 2023.
ADDRESSES: The Draft RMP/EIS is available for review on the BLM
ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/510.
Written comments related to the GSENM Draft RMP/EIS may be
submitted by any of the following methods:
Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/510.
Mail: ATTN: GSENM RMP Project Manager, BLM Paria River
District, 669 S Highway 89A, Kanab, UT 84741.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020343/570 and at the
BLM Paria River District Office, 669 US-89A, Kanab, Utah 84741.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott M. Whitesides, Project Manager,
telephone (801) 539-4054; address Bureau of Land Management Utah, 440
West 200 South, Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101; email
[email protected]. 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 Mr. Whitesides. 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
Utah State Director has prepared a Draft RMP/EIS, provides information
announcing the opening of the comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS, and
announces the comment period on the BLM's proposed ACEC and proposed
[[Page 54664]]
recreational target shooting closures. The planning area is located in
Kane and Garfield Counties, Utah, and encompasses approximately 1.87
million acres of public land.
Management of GSENM is currently guided by the 2020 GSENM Approved
RMPs and 2020 Kanab Escalante Planning Area (KEPA) Approved RMP to the
extent the management actions in the RMPs are consistent with
Presidential Proclamation 10286 (Oct. 8, 2021).
Purpose and Need for the Planning Effort
The purpose and need serve to frame the identification of issues,
alternatives development, and effects analyses. Proclamation 10286
directs the BLM to ``prepare and maintain a new management plan for the
entire monument'' for the specific purposes of ``protecting and
restoring the objects identified [in Proclamation 10286] and in
Proclamation 6920.''
The RMP's underlying purpose (40 CFR 1502.13) is to provide a
management framework, including goals, objectives, and management
direction, to guide GSENM management consistent with the protection
and/or restoration of GSENM objects and the management direction
provided in Proclamation 10286.
Alternatives Including the Preferred Alternative
The BLM has analyzed four alternatives in detail, including the no
action alternative.
Alternative A, the no action alternative, represents current
management from the 2020 GSENM Approved RMPs, which apply to the lands
in GSENM as it existed under Proclamation 9682, and the 2020 KEPA
Approved RMP, which applies to the lands that were excluded from GSENM
by Proclamation 9682, to the extent that those management actions are
consistent with Proclamation 10286. In some cases, decisions in the
2020 Approved RMPs are inconsistent with Proclamation 10286; in those
instances, Alternative A has been modified to be consistent with
Proclamation 10286.
Alternative B emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction to
maximize the potential for an array of discretionary actions that are
compatible with the protection of GSENM objects.
Alternative C emphasizes the protection and maintenance of intact
and resilient landscapes using a zonal management approach to
selectively allow for discretionary uses in appropriate settings. Four
management zones similar to those used in the 2000 GSENM Management
Plan would be established: the front country zone, passage zone,
outback zone, and primitive zone. Each of these management zones would
provide certain management direction to guide resource protection and
allowable uses; the intensity of resource protection and use would vary
depending on the zone. Under Alternative C, the designation of
management zones would serve primarily as a tool for managing
visitation and allowable uses while also protecting GSENM objects.
Alternative D strives to maximize natural processes by minimizing
active management and limiting discretionary uses. Land use allocations
would minimize discretionary uses, including recreation, livestock
grazing, rights-of-way (ROWs), and activities under special recreation
permits. This alternative would also constrain management actions to
emphasize natural conditions, such as passive vegetation management.
The BLM further considered two additional alternatives but
dismissed these alternatives from detailed analysis as explained in the
Draft RMP/EIS.
The State Director has identified Alternative C as the preferred
alternative. Alternative C was found to best meet the State Director's
planning guidance and, therefore, was selected as the preferred
alternative because it provides goals, objectives, and management
direction determined to be most effective at resolving planning issues,
protecting monument objects, balancing resource uses, and meeting the
purpose and need.
Mitigation
The BLM will identify, analyze, and consider best management
practices to mitigate the reasonably foreseeable impacts to resources
and monument objects. The Draft EIS analyzes all alternatives and, in
accordance with 40 CFR 1502.14(e), will include appropriate mitigation
measures (best management practices) not already included in the
proposed plan or alternatives. Best management practices may include
measures to avoid, minimize, rectify, reduce, or eliminate reasonably
foreseeable impacts over time, and may be considered at multiple
scales, including the landscape scale.
ACECs
Consistent with land use planning regulations at 43 CFR 1610.7-
2(b), the BLM is announcing a comment period on the ACECs proposed for
designation, which will be open for 90 days. Comments may be submitted
using any of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section.
The proposed ACECs included in the preferred alternative are:
Little No Man's Mesa Research Natural Area (RNA)--
approximately 50 acres. Designation proposed to protect vegetation and
provide opportunities for scientific research. Identified special
management would include prohibiting campfires, camping, ROWs, and
recreational target shooting and making the area unavailable for
livestock grazing.
No Man's Mesa RNA--approximately 2,800 acres. Designation
proposed to protect vegetation resources and provide opportunities for
scientific research. Identified special management would include
prohibiting campfires and recreational target shooting, making the area
unavailable for livestock grazing, and closing the area to off-highway
vehicles.
Little Spring Point RNA--approximately 300 acres.
Designation proposed to protect vegetation resources and provide
opportunities for scientific research. Special management would include
prohibiting campfires, camping, ROWs, and recreational target shooting
and making the area unavailable for livestock grazing.
Fiftymile Mountain RNA--approximately 56,800 acres.
Designation proposed to protect cultural resources and provide
opportunities for scientific research. Special management would include
camping by permit only, prohibiting ROWs and recreational target
shooting, and requiring monitoring to ensure the appropriate level of
grazing, including, if necessary, no grazing for the protection of
cultural resources.
The preferred alternative does not propose to designate the
following potential ACECs:
Warm Creek ACEC.
Willis Creek ACEC.
Dingell Act Proposed Target Shooting Closures
In accordance with the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation,
Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 (Dingell Act, Pub. L. 116-9,
Section 4103), the BLM is announcing the opening of a public comment
period on the proposed recreational target shooting closures within the
Monument, which will be open for 90 days. The preferred alternative
would close approximately 1,215,100 acres to recreational target
shooting to protect GSENM objects. Comments may be submitted using any
of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section.
[[Page 54665]]
Schedule for the Decision-Making Process
The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public
participation consistent with the NEPA and land use planning processes,
including a 30-day public protest period and a 60-day Governor's
consistency review on the Proposed RMP. The Proposed RMP/Final EIS is
anticipated to be available for public protest in April 2024 with a
Record of Decision and Approved RMP in July 2024.
The BLM will hold a total of five public meetings. Two meetings
will be held virtually, and three meetings will be conducted in-person:
in Kanab, Panguitch, and Escalante, Utah. The dates and locations of
these meetings will be announced at least 15 days in advance through
local media, social media, newspapers, and the ePlanning website (see
ADDRESSES).
The BLM will continue to consult with Indian Tribal Nations on a
government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order
13175, BLM Manual Section 1780, and other Departmental policies. Tribal
concerns, including impacts on Indian trust assets and potential
impacts to cultural resources, will be given due consideration.
You may submit comments on the Draft RMP/EIS in writing to the BLM
at any public meetings or to the BLM using one of the methods listed in
the ADDRESSES section. To be considered, comments must be received by
the end of the 90-day comment period. The ePlanning website (see
ADDRESSES) includes background information on GSENM and the planning
process.
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, 43 CFR
1610.7-2)
Gregory Sheehan,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-17203 Filed 8-10-23; 8:45 am]
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