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Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for Public Lands and Resources in Garfield, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne Counties, UT
Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.
[Federal Register: November 1, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 212)]
[Notices]
[Page 55202-55204]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr01no01-70]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[UT 100-01-1610-DO-083]
Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for Public Lands and
Resources in Garfield, Piute, Sanpete, Sevier, and Wayne Counties, UT
AGENCY: Richfield Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, Richfield,
Utah.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP)
for public lands and resources managed by the Richfield Field Office.
This action will require preparation of an Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS). These lands are located in Garfield, Piute, Sanpete,
Sevier and Wayne counties, Utah.
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SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) intends to prepare an RMP and associated EIS for the
Richfield Field Office. This planning activity encompasses
approximately 2.2 million acres of public land in the above named
counties and the leaseable mineral estate on portions of the Dixie and
Fishlake National Forests. The plan will fulfill the needs and
obligations set forth by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA),
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM management
policies. The BLM will work closely with interested parties to identify
potential management decisions that are best suited to the needs of the
public. This collaborative process will take into account local,
regional, and national needs and concerns. This notice initiates the
public scoping process to identify planning issues and to review
preliminary planning criteria.
DATES: The scoping comment period will commence with the publication of
this notice. Formal scoping will end 60 days after publication of this
notice. Comments on issues and planning criteria will be most useful if
received on or before the end of the scoping period at the address
listed below.
Public Participation: Public meetings will be held throughout the
plan scoping and preparation period. In order to ensure local community
participation and input, public meetings will be held, at a minimum, in
the towns of Junction, Loa, Manti, and Richfield, Utah. Early
participation by all interested parties is encouraged and will help
determine the future management of the Richfield Field Office public
lands. At least 15 days public notice will be given for activities
where the public is invited to attend. The minutes and list of
attendees for each meeting will be available to the public and open for
30 days to any participant who wishes to clarify the views they
expressed. Written comments will be accepted throughout the planning
process at the address shown below. Meetings and comment deadlines will
be announced through the local news media, newsletters and the BLM Web
site (www.ut.blm.gov). 
In addition to the ongoing public participation
process, formal opportunities for public participation will be provided
through comment on the alternatives and upon publication of the draft
RMP/EIS.
ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent to RMP Comments, Bureau of
Land Management, Richfield Field Office, 150 East 900 North, Richfield,
Utah 84701; Fax 435-896-1550. Documents pertinent to this proposal may
be examined at the BLM's Richfield Field Office. Comments, including
names and street addresses of respondents, will be available for public
review at the Richfield Field Office during regular business hours, 8
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
[[Page 55203]]
except holidays, and may be published as part of the EIS. Individual
respondents may request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your
name or address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom
of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of
your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent
allowed by law. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and
from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials
of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection
in their entirety.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have
your name added to our mailing list, contact Frank Erickson, Assistant
Field Manager for Planning, BLM Richfield Field Office, 150 East 900
North, Richfield, UT 84701, phone: 435-896-1532,
e-mail: frank_erickson@ut.blm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Preliminary issues and management concerns
have been identified by BLM personnel, other agencies, and in meetings
with individuals and user groups. They represent the BLM's knowledge to
date of the existing issues and concerns with current management. The
major issue themes that will be addressed in the plan effort are
management and protection of public land resources; access to and
transportation on the public lands; off-highway vehicle management;
wilderness study area recommendations; and balancing multiple uses.
Other specific issues may include; cultural resource management, fire
management, forestry and woodland harvest management, lands and realty
management, rangeland health and management, wild horse and burro
management, potential establishment of wilderness study areas, areas of
critical environmental concern, wild and scenic rivers, and special
status species management.
After gathering public comments on what issues the plan should
address, the suggested issues will be placed in one of three
categories:
1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
2. Issues resolved through policy or administrative action; or
3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
Rationale will be provided in the plan for each issue placed in
category two or three. In addition to these major issues, a number of
management questions and concerns will be addressed in the plan. The
public is encouraged to help identify these questions and concerns
during the scoping phase. An interdisciplinary approach will be used to
develop the plan in order to consider the variety of resource issues
and concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in the following
disciplines will be involved in the planning process: Rangeland
management, minerals and geology, outdoor recreation, archaeology,
paleontology, wildlife and fisheries, lands and realty, hydrology,
soils, sociology, and economics. Additional expertise will be included
as appropriate.
Background Information
Public lands managed by the Richfield Field Office are situated in
south-central Utah in the canyons, plateaus and deserts of the Great
Basin and Colorado Plateau physiographic provinces. The field office
borders the Colorado River, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area,
Capitol Reef National Park, and portions of the Dixie, Fishlake, Manti-
LaSal, and Uinta National Forests. Major waterways include the Sevier,
San Pitch, Fremont, Muddy, and Dirty Devil rivers and the Piute, Otter
Creek, and Sevier Bridge (Yuba) reservoirs. Elevations in the area
range from 3,800 feet in the Cane Spring Desert to over 11,500 feet
atop Mt. Ellen in the Henry Mountains.
The Richfield Field Office is presently managed under five existing
land use plans:
Mountain Valley Management Framework Plan (MFP), approved
in 1982
Henry Mountain MFP, approved in 1982
Parker Mountain MFP, approved in 1982
Cedar-Beaver-Garfield-Antimony (CBGA) RMP, approved in
1984
San Rafael RMP, Approved in 1991
The existing plans are out-of-date with respect to current resource
conditions, public values, laws, regulations and policies.
As part of the land use planning process, the FLPMA mandates that
the BLM give priority to the designation and protection of Areas of
Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in developing and revising land
use plans. As part of the Richfield Field Office RMP planning effort,
the BLM will determine what areas, if any, should be designated as
ACECs. As such, BLM is requesting nominations for areas that the public
may see as being appropriately managed as ACECs.
Additional public nominations are also being sought for those
rivers which may be eligible for inclusion into the National Wild and
Scenic River System. In order to be considered, the body of water must
be free flowing and contain at least one outstandingly remarkable
value. The river can be any size and must be existing or flowing in a
natural condition without major modification. All nominations should be
accompanied by detailed maps, descriptions of the river segment, and
river related values. Rivers will also be tentatively classified as
wild, scenic or recreational. An interdisciplinary team in coordination
with planning partners will make preliminary determinations as to
eligibility and classification of river segments. These preliminary
determinations will be made available for public review prior to
issuance of the Draft RMP/Draft EIS.
Preliminary Planning Criteria have been identified to help guide
the planning effort. The Richfield Field Office Resource Management
Plan and the process used for developing it will: (1) Recognize valid
existing rights; (2) comply with laws, regulations, executive orders
and BLM supplemental program guidance; (3) include management direction
for public lands, including split estate lands managed by BLM; (4)
determine the desired future condition of public lands using, where
possible, a collaborative and multi-jurisdictional approach; (5)
ensure, within applicable laws and policies, that management
prescriptions and planning actions complement those of neighboring
Federal, tribal, state, county and municipal planning jurisdictions;
(6) focus management prescriptions on the harmonious and coordinated
management of the various resources without permanent impairment of the
productivity of the land and the quality of the environment, giving
consideration to the relative values of the resources and not
necessarily the combination of uses that provide the greatest economic
return or greatest unit output; (7) address the social and economic
impacts of the alternatives; (8) utilize current scientific
information, research, new technologies and the results of inventory,
monitoring and coordination to determine appropriate local and regional
management strategies to enhance or restore impaired ecosystems; (9)
apply comprehensive Land Health Standards to all activities and uses;
(10) develop and portray baseline Reasonable Foreseeable Management/
Development (RFD) scenarios based on historical, existing, and
projected development levels for appropriate programs; (11) coordinate
with Indian Tribes to identify sites, areas and objects important to
their culture and religious heritage; (12) evaluate paleontological and
cultural
[[Page 55204]]
resources for use allocations, if appropriate, including provisions for
interpretation, preservation, conservation and enhancement; (13) comply
with the Endangered Species Act and follow interagency agreements with
the USFWS regarding consultation; (14) develop vegetation management
objectives for all areas; (15) develop management actions that are
responsive to the issues, concerns and opportunities identified for
resolution in this plan; and (16) develop direction for managing off-
highway vehicles consistent with BLM's national OHV strategy.
This notice announces the beginning of the formal public
involvement period. The Richfield Field Office is seeking public
involvement at the earliest possible stages of this planning endeavor
to enhance collaboration. If you have information, or concerns you
would like to share, including ideas or opportunities that could
enhance data collection, resource inventories, formulation of issues or
alternatives, or development of planning criteria, please submit them
to the above address.
Alternatives will be developed and analyzed to resolve those issues
identified during the scoping process and a Draft RMP/Draft EIS will be
published and made available for public review.
Dated: September 6, 2001.
Robert A. Bennett,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 01-27424 Filed 10-31-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P