[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 136 (Friday, July 15, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41819-41820]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17776]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLNM01000 L16100000 DO0000]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan Amendment
for the Glade Run Recreation Area, Farmington Field Office, New Mexico,
and Associated Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976 (FLPMA), as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Farmington Field Office (Field Office), Farmington, New Mexico, intends
to prepare a Resource Management Plan (RMP) amendment to the 2003
Farmington RMP with an associated Environmental Assessment (EA) to
address recreation and travel management in the Glade Run Recreation
Area (the Glade). By this Notice, the Field Office is announcing the
beginning of the scoping process to solicit public comments and
identify issues.
DATES: This Notice initiates the public scoping process for the RMP
amendment/EA. Comments on issues and planning criteria may be submitted
30 days from the date of publication of this Notice in the Federal
Register (the scoping period). The date(s) and location(s) of any
scoping meeting(s) will be announced at least 15 days in advance
through the local news media, mailings to interested individuals, and
on the BLM Field Office Web site at: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en.html.
In order to be included in the Draft RMP amendment/EA, all comments
must be received prior to the close of the scoping period or 30 days
after the last public meeting, whichever is later.
The BLM will provide additional opportunities for public
participation and comment upon publication of the Draft RMP amendment/
EA.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria
related to the Farmington Field Office Glade Run Recreation Area RMP
amendment/EA by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en.html.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: 505-599-8999 Attention: Outdoor Recreation Planner.
Mail: 1235 La Plata Highway, Farmington, New Mexico 87401,
Attention: Outdoor Recreation Planner.
Public comments, maps and other information related to the Glade
RMP amendment/EA may be examined at the Field Office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have
your name added to our mailing list, contact Janelle Alleman, Outdoor
Recreation Planner, telephone: 505-599-8944; address: 1235 La Plata
Highway, Farmington, New Mexico 87401; or by e-mail at [email protected]. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the
deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-
800-877-8339 to contact the above individual during normal business
hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a
message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply
during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM Farmington Field Office, Farmington,
New Mexico, intends to prepare an RMP amendment/EA to address
recreation and travel management decisions in the Glade. The Glade
encompasses 21,544 acres of which 17,935 acres are Federal lands. The
remaining acres consist of State of New Mexico and private lands. The
planning area is located in San Juan County, New Mexico. The purpose of
the public scoping process is to determine relevant issues that will
influence the scope of the RMP amendment/EA, including alternatives,
and will help to guide the planning process.
New forms of motorized vehicles and technology, population growth,
increasing user conflicts, and related developments have out-paced
guidance and decisions in the current recreation and travel management
plan for the Glade, which was approved in 1996. To address these
developments, the RMP amendment/EA will consider proposals to amend the
RMP to make changes in off-highway vehicle (OHV) area designations (43
CFR 8342.2). OHV area designations are land use allocations that
classify areas of public lands as open, limited, or closed to motorized
travel. The RMP amendment/EA will also consider a proposal to designate
the Glade as a Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA). SRMA
designations recognize specified public lands where recreation
opportunities and recreation settings are the predominant land use
planning focus and are managed through the land use planning process.
In addition, this planning effort will develop management
alternatives that include specific activity planning targeted at
identifying a travel and transportation network of routes for specified
uses within the planning area.
The BLM anticipates the following planning issues (43 CFR
1610.2(c)(3)): (1) How to best address conflicts between recreational
users? (2) What is an appropriate balance in providing for the
different kinds of recreation uses and opportunities? (3) Is there an
opportunity for a Recreation & Public Purpose lease within the planning
area? and (4) How can BLM best promote and address public safety?
The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach 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, forestry, outdoor recreation, archaeology,
paleontology, wildlife and fisheries, lands and realty, hydrology,
soils, sociology, and economics.
Proposed planning criteria include the following:
1. The RMP amendment/EA will comply with FLPMA, NEPA, and all other
applicable laws, regulations, and policies;
2. For program-specific guidance for decisions at the land use
planning level, the process will follow the BLM's policies in the Land
Use Planning Handbook, H-1601-1;
[[Page 41820]]
3. Public participation and collaboration will be an integral part
of the planning process;
4. The BLM will strive to make decisions in the plan compatible
with the existing plans and policies of adjacent local, State, and
Federal agencies and local American Indian tribes, as long as the
decisions are consistent with the purposes, policies, and programs of
Federal laws and regulations applicable to public lands;
5. The RMP amendment/EA will recognize valid existing rights;
6. The RMP amendment/EA will incorporate, where applicable,
management decisions brought forward from existing planning documents;
7. The BLM staff will work with cooperating agencies and all other
interested groups, agencies, and individuals;
8. The BLM and cooperating agencies will jointly develop
alternatives for resolution of resource management issues and
management concerns;
9. GIS and metadata information will meet Federal Geographic Data
Committee standards, as required by Executive Order 12906 and all other
applicable BLM data standards will be followed;
10. The planning process will provide for ongoing consultation with
American Indian tribes to identify strategies for protecting recognized
traditional uses;
11. Planning and management direction will focus on the relative
values of resources and not the combination of uses that will give the
greatest economic return or economic output;
12. The BLM will consider the quantity and quality of non-commodity
resource values;
13. Where practicable and timely for the planning effort, the best
available scientific information, research, and new technologies will
be used;
14. Actions must comply with all applicable regulations and must be
reasonable, achievable, and allow for flexibility while supporting
adaptive management principles; and
15. The Economic Profile System will be used as one source of
demographic and economic data for the planning process, which will
provide baseline data and contribute to estimates of existing and
projected social and economic conditions.
The BLM will utilize and coordinate the NEPA commenting process to
satisfy the public involvement process for Section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470f) as provided for in 36 CFR
800.2(d)(3). Native American tribal consultations will be conducted in
accordance with policy, and tribal concerns will be given due
consideration, including concerns related to impacts on Indian trust
assets. Federal, State, tribal and local agencies, along with
stakeholders, are invited to participate in the scoping process and, if
eligible, may participate as a cooperating agency.
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 set forth in the ADDRESSES section of this
Notice, and within the timeframes set forth in the DATES section of
this Notice. Please note that public comments and information submitted
including names, street addresses, and email addresses of persons who
submit comments will be available for public review and disclosure at
the above address during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.),
Monday through Friday, except holidays. 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 1501.7, 43 CFR 1610.2.
Jesse J. Juen,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2011-17776 Filed 7-14-11; 8:45 am]
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