[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 37 (Friday, February 24, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11154-11155]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-4039]
[[Page 11154]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLAKF02000.16100000.MR0000.L.X.S.S.094L0000]
Notice of Availability for the Eastern Interior Draft Resource
Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Alaska
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a
Draft Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the Eastern Interior Planning Area (Alaska), and by this
notice is announcing the opening of the comment period.
DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft RMP/EIS by July 23, 2012. The BLM will
announce future meetings or hearings and any other public participation
activities at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media
releases, and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Eastern Interior
Draft RMP/EIS by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/planning.html.
Fax: 907-474-2282.
Mail: Eastern Interior Field Office, Attention--Eastern
Interior Draft RMP/EIS, Bureau of Land Management, 1150 University
Avenue, Fairbanks, Alaska 99709.
Copies of the Eastern Interior Draft RMP/EIS are available at the
Fairbanks District Office at the above address; at the Alaska State
Office, Public Information Center, Bureau of Land Management, 222 West
7th Avenue, Anchorage, Alaska 99513; and on the following Web site:
http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/planning.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeanie Cole, telephone 907-474-2340 or
email [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 Eastern Interior Draft RMP/EIS covers
approximately 6.7 million acres of BLM-administered lands in interior
Alaska and is divided into four geographic areas: The Fortymile,
Steese, Upper Black River, and White Mountains subunits. The planning
area encompasses four areas managed under the BLM's National Landscape
Conservation System (NLCS): The Birch Creek, Beaver Creek, and
Fortymile National Wild and Scenic Rivers; and the Steese National
Conservation Area. In addition to these NLCS areas, the planning area
includes the White Mountains National Recreation Area. These five areas
were designated and are covered by special provisions in the Alaska
National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980, as amended (ANILCA).
The following BLM plans currently guide management decisions for
4.2 million acres in the planning area: Fortymile Management Framework
Plan (1980), Fortymile River Management Plan (1983), Birch Creek River
Management Plan (1983), Beaver Creek River Management Plan (1983),
Record of Decision and RMP for the Steese National Conservation Area
(1986), and Record of Decision and RMP for the White Mountains National
Recreation Area (1986). The remaining 2.5 million acres are not covered
by any land use plans.
The BLM published a Notice of Intent to prepare an RMP/EIS in the
Federal Register on February 29, 2008 (73 FR 11140), beginning a 120-
day scoping and public comment period. The following issues were
identified during scoping: Climate change, fisheries, minerals,
recreation, rights-of-way, subsistence, travel management, water
quality, lands with wilderness characteristics, and wildlife.
The Draft RMP/EIS presents four alternatives, including the No
Action Alternative. The BLM's preferred alternative (Alternative C)
proposes a balanced level of protection, use, and enhancement of
resources and services, and represents the mix and variety of actions
that the BLM believes best resolves the issues and management concerns
in consideration of all resource values and programs.
Pursuant to 43 CFR 1610.7-2, areas with potential for designation
as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) and protective
management are considered during the planning process. Four potential
ACECs are considered for designation in Draft RMP/EIS. Boundaries,
size, and management direction within potential ACECs vary by
Alternative. Table 1 lists the three ACECs considered for designation
in the Agency Preferred Alternative (Alternative C). The White
Mountains ACEC is not considered for designation in Alternative C, but
is considered for designation in one other alternative. All
alternatives will retain the four existing Research Natural Areas.
The following table includes the names and acreages of each
proposed ACEC and provides summary descriptions of resource use
limitations for Alternative C.
Table 1--Proposed New ACECs Under the Agency Preferred Alternative,
Alternative C
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Proposed ACEC name Acres Limitations
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Fortymile ACEC...................... 547,000 Limited Off-
Highway Vehicle
(OHV)
designation;
seasonal
limitation on
uses within one
mile of ungulate
mineral licks;
360,000 acres of
core caribou
habitat closed to
locatable mineral
entry and mineral
leasing.
Steese ACEC......................... 460,000 Limited OHV
designation;
winter motorized
use in Dall sheep
habitat may be
restricted if
monitoring
indicates sheep
displacement;
development of
trails and
recreational
facilities must
be compatible
with caribou and
Dall sheep
habitat; seasonal
limitation on
uses within one
mile of ungulate
mineral licks;
closed to
locatable mineral
entry and mineral
leasing.
Salmon Fork ACEC.................... 621,000 Limited OHV
designation;
closed to mineral
leasing.
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Pursuant to section 810 of ANILCA, the BLM evaluated the effects of
the alternatives presented in this Draft RMP/EIS on subsistence
activities and determined that some decisions in the Draft RMP/EIS may
significantly restrict subsistence uses. The BLM will hold public
hearings related to Section 810 of ANILCA, in conjunction with public
[[Page 11155]]
meetings on the Draft RMP/EIS, in potentially affected regions. The BLM
will announce notice of specific dates and locations for ANILCA
hearings at least 15 days in advance, through public notices, media
releases, and/or mailings.
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.
Before including your address, phone number, email 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.
Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 1506.10, and 43 CFR 1610.2
Bud Cribley,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-4039 Filed 2-23-12; 8:45 am]
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