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Notice of Availability of Yuma Field Office Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: December 15, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 241)]
[Notices]
[Page 75578-75579]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15de06-100]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[AZ 320-06-1610-DP-091A-241E]

Notice of Availability of Yuma Field Office Draft Resource
Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of Yuma Field Office (YFO) Draft
Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(DRMP/DEIS).

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Resource Management Plan and
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DRMP/DEIS) for the Yuma Field
Office (YFO), Arizona, and by this notice is announcing the opening of
the public review and comment period.

DATES: Written comments on the DRMP/DEIS will be accepted for 90 days
following the date the Environmental Protection Agency publishes its
NOA in the Federal Register. Future meetings or hearings and any other
public involvement activities will be announced at least 15 days in
advance through local media.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be mailed to Rebecca Heick, Bureau of
Land Management, Yuma Field Office, 2555 East Gila Ridge Road, Yuma,
Arizona 85365 or by e-mail at AZ_YM_RMP@blm.gov. You may also hand-
deliver comments to the above listed address. A minimum of five public
meetings will be held during the 90-day public review and comment
period during which oral comments will be accepted. Exact dates,
places, and times of public meetings will be posted on the BLM Arizona
Web page at http://www.blm.gov/az/, news releases and Planning
Bulletin, or you may contact Micki Bailey at (928) 317-3215, for
further information.
    Public comments, including names and street addresses of
respondents, will be available for public review at the Bureau of Land
Management, Yuma Field Office, 2555 East Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, Arizona
85365, during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday
through Friday, except holidays. Individual respondents may request
confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street address
from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information
Act, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comments.
Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All
submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations
or businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their
entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Micki Bailey, Planning and
Environmental Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, Yuma Field
Office, 2555 East Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, Arizona 85365; telephone (928)
317-3200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of the YFO DRMP/DEIS is available for
review via the internet from a link at http://www.blm.gov/az/LUP/
planning.htm (subject to change), electronic (on CD-ROM), and paper at
the BLM YFO. Electronic (on CD-ROM) and paper copies may also be
obtained by contacting Micki Bailey at the aforementioned address and
phone number.
    The planning area encompasses more than 1.3 million acres of BLM-
administered public land. The DRMP/DEIS includes strategies for
protecting and preserving the biological, cultural, recreational,
geological, educational, scientific, and scenic values that balance
multiple uses of the BLM-administered lands throughout the YFO planning
area.
    The agency-preferred alternative attempts to accomplish the above
while achieving consistency among the Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, Arizona Department of Transportation, Arizona
State Land Department, Arizona Game and Fish Department, California
Department of Fish and Game, the BLM, and other land managing agencies
within the boundaries of the planning area. The range of alternatives
in this draft evaluates planning decisions brought forward from the
current BLM planning documents, the Yuma District Resource Management
Plan (1987), the Lower Gila South Resource Management Plan (1988), and
the Lower Gila North Management Framework Plan (1983).
    The agency-preferred alternative identifies one new proposed Area
of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC): Dripping Springs Natural and
Cultural ACEC (11,700 acres). One existing ACEC would be expanded under
the agency-preferred alternative: Gila River Cultural ACEC (3,700 to
28,500 acres). The Gila River Cultural ACEC would be renamed the Sears
Point Cultural ACEC.
    A total of seven ACECs are represented within the [proposed] range
of alternatives. The existing Big Maria Mountains Cultural ACEC (4,500
acres) would be carried forward within Alternatives A, B, C, and E. An
expansion of this ACEC is proposed within Alternative D (from 4,500
acres to 9,200 acres). Dripping Springs Natural and Cultural ACEC is
proposed within Alternatives C (11,700 acres), D (9,800 acres), and E
(11,700 acres). The Gila River Terraces and Trails Cultural ACEC is
proposed within Alternative D only (140,400 acres). The Limitrophe is
proposed as an ACEC within Alternative D only (4,500 acres). Palomas
Plain Natural ACEC is proposed within Alternative D only (429,900
acres). The Gila River Cultural ACEC would be carried forward within
Alternatives A and B (3,700 acres), and expanded within Alternatives C,
D, and E (28,500 acres). Walter's Camp Natural and Cultural ACEC is
proposed within Alternative D only (3,500 acres).
    The following types of resource-use limitations would apply to
these ACECs: (1) Allowable uses would be limited to those that are
compatible with the natural or cultural resources for which the area is
designated, (2) Recreation facilities would be limited to projects that
protect ACEC values, and (3) Travel would be permitted only on
designated open and signed routes. For detailed information on specific
management for each proposed ACEC, see Chapter 2,

[[Page 75579]]

Description of Alternatives, Special Designations section.
    After reviewing and considering all public comments received during
this comment period, a Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final
Environmental Impact Statement will be prepared by the BLM in accordance
with planning regulations at 43 CFR 1610 and NEPA at 40 CFR 1502.

Elaine Y. Zielinski,
Arizona State Director.
[FR Doc. E6-21311 Filed 12-14-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-P

 
 

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