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Notice of Intent To Revise a Resource Management Plan and the Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Baker Resource Area of the Vale District

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


[Federal Register: January 15, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 10)]
[Notices]
[Page 2520-2521]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr15ja08-90]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[HAG # 8-0020]

Notice of Intent To Revise a Resource Management Plan and the
Associated Environmental Impact Statement for the Baker Resource Area
of the Vale District

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior
ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Office, Baker City,
Oregon intends to revise a Resource Management Plan (RMP) with an
associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Baker Resource
Area of the Vale District and by this notice is announcing public
scoping meetings. The RMP will revise the existing Baker Resource
Management Plan of 1989.

DATES: The BLM will announce public scoping meetings to identify
relevant issues through local news media, newsletters, and the BLM Web
site http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/vale/index.php at least 15 days
prior to the first meeting. We will provide formal opportunities for
public participation upon publication of the Draft RMP/EIS.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
    • E-mail: BakerRMP@blm.gov.
    • Fax: 541-523-1965.
    • Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Baker Field Office, P.O.
Box 947, Baker City, OR 97814.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the BLM
Baker Field Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have
your name added to our mailing list, Contact: Allison Kuehl, RMP Team
Leader, Telephone: 541-523-1931; E-mail: allison_kuehl@blm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM
Field Office, Baker City, Oregon, intends to revise an RMP with an
associated EIS for the Baker Resource Area and announces public scoping
meetings.
    The planning area is located in Baker, Union, Wallowa, Morrow, and
Umatilla Counties in Oregon and in Asotin County, Washington. This
planning activity encompasses approximately 423,000 acres of public
land. 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
collaboratively with interested parties to identify the management
decisions that are best suited to local, regional, and national needs
and concerns.
    The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine relevant
issues, concerns and ideas that will influence the scope of the
environmental analysis and EIS alternatives. These issues also guide
the planning process. You may submit comments on issues and planning
criteria in writing to the BLM at any public scoping meeting, or you
may submit them to the BLM using one of the methods listed in the
ADDRESSES section above. To be most helpful, you should submit formal
scoping comments within 30 days after the last public meeting. The
minutes for each scoping meeting will be available to the public and
open for 30 days after the meeting to any participant who wishes to
clarify the views he or she expressed. Before including your address,
phone number, e-mail 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. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, are available for public inspection in their entirety.
    Preliminary issues and management concerns have been identified.
They represent the BLM's knowledge to date regarding the existing
issues and concerns with current land management. The preliminary
issues being considered in this planning effort include: vegetation
management; water quality, aquatic resources, fisheries; special
management areas; recreation

[[Page 2521]]

management; cultural and paleontological resources; socioeconomics and
environmental justice; energy and minerals; lands and realty;
transportation, including Off Highway Vehicle management, and public
access; fire and fuels management; wildlife habitat and wildlife.
    After public comments as to what issues the plan should address are
gathered, they will be placed in one of three categories:
    1. Issues to be resolved in the plan;
    2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action;
or
    3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan.
    The BLM will provide an explanation in the plan as to why we placed
an issue 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.
    Preliminary planning criteria are:
    1. The BLM will manage the Baker Resource Area to protect resources
in accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976
(FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), other applicable laws and regulations,
and all existing public land laws.
    2. The Plan will recognize valid existing rights within the
Planning Area and review how valid existing rights are verified. The
Plan will outline the process the BLM will use to address applications
or notices filed on existing claims or other land use authorizations
after the completion of the Plan.
    3. Lands covered in the RMP will be public lands, including split
estate lands, managed by BLM. Decisions on lands not managed by the BLM
will not be made in the RMP except when formal cooperator status is
mutually accepted and leads to additional Records of Decision.
    4. The BLM will use a collaborative and multi-jurisdictional
approach, where possible to jointly determine the desired future
conditions of public lands.
    5. The Plan will emphasize the protection and enhancement of the
Planning Area's biodiversity while at the same time providing the
public with opportunities for compatible commodity-based and recreation
activities.
    6. The socioeconomic impacts of the alternatives will be addressed.
    7. The BLM will use current scientific information, research,
technologies, and results of inventory, monitoring and coordination to
determine appropriate local, and regional management strategies that
will enhance or restore impaired ecosystems.
    8. The planning process will include an EIS that will comply with
NEPA standards.
    9. Any land located within the Planning Area's administrative
boundary, and subsequently acquired by the BLM, will be managed
consistent with the Plan, subject to any constraints associated with
the acquisition.
    10. The Plan will recognize the State's responsibility to manage
wildlife. The BLM would consult with Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife before establishing no-hunting zones or periods for the purposes
of protecting public safety, administration, or public use and enjoyment.
    11. The Plan will address transportation and access, and will
identify where better access is warranted, where it should remain as
is, and where decreased access is appropriate to protect Planning Area
resources.
    12. Laws and regulations regulate grazing management. The Plan will
incorporate the Rangeland Health Standards and Guidelines. It will
provide a strategy to ensure proper grazing practices are followed
within the Planning Area.
    13. The planning process will involve American Indian Tribal
governments and will provide possible strategies for the protection of
recognized traditional uses, if such uses are identified.
    14. Decisions in the Plan will strive to be compatible with
existing plans and policies of adjacent local, State, Federal, and
tribal agencies as long as the decisions are consistent with Federal
law governing the administration of public land.
    The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the
revision 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, forestry, fire and fuels, outdoor
recreation, archaeology, paleontology, wildlife and fisheries, lands
and realty, hydrology, soils, sociology, and economics.

     Dated: January 8, 2008.
Nancy K. Lull,
Baker City Field Manager.
[FR Doc. E8-520 Filed 1-14-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P

 
 

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