[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 120 (Friday, June 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52083-52085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13463]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_CA_FRN_MO4500179115]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Redding and Arcata 
Field Offices Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan, 
California

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In compliance 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 Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Redding Field Office and 
Arcata Field Office Northwest California Integrated Resource Management 
Plan and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest 
period of the Proposed RMP.

DATES: This notice announces a 30-day protest period to the BLM on the 
Proposed RMP beginning with the date following the Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of Availability 
(NOA) of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS in the Federal Register. The EPA 
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. Protests must be postmarked or 
electronically submitted on the BLM's ePlanning site during the 30-day 
protest period.

[[Page 52084]]


ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP and Final EIS is available on the BLM 
ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2012803/510. Documents pertinent to this proposal may be 
examined online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2012803/510 and at the Arcata Field Office and Redding Field Office.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the Proposed 
Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan can be found 
at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. The address for filing a 
protest is: the ePlanning website listed above or BLM Director, 
Attention: Protest Coordinator (HQ210), Denver Federal Center, Building 
40 (Door W-4), Lakewood, CO 80215.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Callahan, Planning and 
Environmental Specialist, telephone: (707) 825-2315; address: Bureau of 
Land Management, Arcata Field Office, 1695 Heindon Road, Arcata, 
California 95521-4573; email: [email protected] or Chad Endicott, 
Planning and Environmental Specialist, telephone: (530) 224-2140; 
address: Bureau of Land Management, Redding Field Office, 6640 Lockheed 
Drive, Redding, CA 96002-9003; 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 Ms. Callahan or Mr. 
Endicott. 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 
California State Director has prepared a Proposed RMP and Final EIS and 
provides information announcing the availability on the Proposed RMP 
and Final EIS. The planning area is in Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte, 
Siskiyou, Trinity, Shasta, Tehama, and Butte counties, California, and 
encompasses approximately 382,200 acres of public land and 
approximately 295,100 subsurface acres of Federal mineral estate.
    Current Arcata Field Office and Redding Field Office management is 
identified in their respective 1992 and 1993 RMPs. All existing 
management as described in the Arcata Field Office and Redding Field 
Office approved RMPs remains in effect until and unless replaced or 
modified by the Northwest California Integrated Resource Management 
Plan Approved RMP and Record of Decision. Separate management plans 
guide BLM management for National Monuments, National Conservation 
Areas, and similar designations within the planning area.
    Other non-BLM-administered lands within the planning area include 
the Six Rivers, Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, Lassen, Plumas, and Mendocino 
National Forests; Lassen Volcanic and Redwoods National Parks; the 
Whiskeytown and Smith River National Recreation Areas; the Sacramento 
Castle Rock and Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuges; and Black Butte 
Lake (managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers). In addition, Tribal 
lands and reservations for 31 federally recognized Native American 
Tribes fall within the planning area, and the BLM-administered lands 
include ancestral territories, sacred sites, gathering areas, and other 
places important to Tribes. The Bureau of Reclamation manages numerous 
land holdings and facilities within the planning area, including six 
hydroelectric dams and lands that are co-managed with the BLM under a 
memorandum of agreement with the Redding Field Office near the Shasta 
Dam and Keswick Reservoir. In addition to federally managed lands, 
there are an extensive number of State of California-managed beaches, 
parks, wildlife areas, and recreation areas in the planning area. The 
Arcata Field Office and Redding Field Office have taken these non-BLM-
administered lands into account in this planning effort.
    In preparing the Proposed RMP, the BLM evaluated in detail four 
alternatives in the Final EIS, including the No Action Alternative 
(Alternative A) and three action alternatives (Alternatives B, C, and 
D) that were based on known resource use and issues in the planning 
area. Alternative B emphasizes resource connectivity and resiliency. 
Under Alternative B, the BLM would manage for multiple use and 
maintenance of corridors of relatively undeveloped areas to provide for 
connectivity of wildlife and fisheries habitat, and to serve as a 
resilient refuge from ongoing development and climate change. This, in 
turn, would provide recreational and aesthetic resources for public 
enjoyment. Alternative C emphasizes community access and development. 
Under Alternative C, the BLM would also manage for multiple use and 
public enjoyment with an emphasis on recreational opportunity and 
access, travel and utility opportunities, and social and economic 
benefits. Alternative D aims to create opportunities for resource uses, 
such as recreation, motorized and mechanized travel, and livestock 
grazing, while maintaining ecological function and meeting land 
capability to protect habitat connectivity. All action alternatives 
would enable the BLM to manage for multiple use and long-term 
sustainability and provide for public use and enjoyment of BLM-
administered lands.
    These action alternatives are analyzed against the No Action 
Alternative (current management) and comply with the BLM's management 
responsibilities and regulatory requirements.
    The State Director has identified Alternative D as the preferred 
alternative. Alternative D was found to best meet the State Director's 
planning guidance and, therefore, was selected as the preferred 
alternative. By including components of all alternatives considered, 
Alternative D strikes a balance between the action alternatives to 
provide community access and development, while ensuring wildlife 
connectivity and ecosystem resilience.
    Public review of the Draft Northwest California Integrated RMP and 
EIS began on September 29, 2023, and ended on December 28, 2023. The 
BLM held two virtual and two in-person public meetings across the 
planning area during the 90-day comment period. Comments received on 
the Draft RMP and EIS were considered and incorporated in the Proposed 
RMP and Final EIS as appropriate. Public and cooperating agency 
comments and further internal BLM review resulted in the addition of 
clarifying text and refinement of Alternative D, including, but not 
limited to, updated suitability determinations for six Wild and Scenic 
Rivers segments, and revised goals, objectives, and management 
direction for the Riparian Management Areas.

Protest of the Proposed RMP

    The BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated 
in the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or might be 
adversely affected by approval of the Proposed RMP may protest its 
approval to the BLM Director. Protest on the Proposed RMP constitutes 
the final opportunity for administrative review of the proposed land 
use planning decisions prior to the BLM adopting an approved RMP. 
Instructions for filing a protest regarding the Proposed RMP with the 
BLM Director may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 
CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be

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in writing and mailed to the appropriate address or submitted 
electronically through the BLM ePlanning project website, as set forth 
in the ADDRESSES section earlier. Protests submitted electronically by 
any means other than the ePlanning project website will be invalid 
unless a protest is also submitted as a hard copy. The BLM Director 
will render a written decision on each protest. The Director's decision 
shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior. 
Responses to valid protest issues will be compiled and documented in a 
Protest Resolution Report made available following the protest 
resolution online at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports. Upon resolution of 
protests, the BLM will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) and Approved 
RMP.
    Before including your phone number, email address, or other 
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware 
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your protest 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 
1610.5)

Gordon R. Toevs,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-13463 Filed 6-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-16-P