[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 159 (Friday, August 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50090-50091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19841]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWY930000-L16100000-DS0000]
Notice of Intent To Extend the Public Scoping Period for the Rock
Springs Resource Management Plan (RMP) and To Amend the 2008 Rawlins
RMP To Address Wild Horse and Burro Management in the Rock Springs and
Rawlins Field Offices, WY
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)
intends to extend the scoping period for an additional 30 days for the
ongoing Rock Springs RMP, which was initiated on February 2, 2011, to
address wild horse and burro management in the Rock Springs Field
Office and to amend the 2008 Approved Rawlins RMP for the Adobe Town
Herd Management Area in the Rawlins Field Office in Wyoming. The BLM,
by this notice, is announcing the beginning of the scoping process to
solicit public comments and identify issues that will influence the
scope of the environmental analysis, including alternatives, and guide
the planning process for wild horse and burro management.
DATES: This notice extends the scoping period initiated on February 2,
2011 for wild horse and burro management in the ongoing Rock Springs
RMP and associated environmental impact statement (EIS) and initiates
the public scoping process for wild horse and burro management for the
Adobe Town Herd Management Area (HMA) for the amendment of the 2008
Approved Rawlins RMP.
Comments on issues relating to these two planning efforts may be
submitted in writing until September 16, 2013. Two public scoping
meetings concerning wild horse and burro management will be held in
Rock Springs and Rawlins, Wyoming. The meeting times and addresses will
be announced through the local news media, newspapers, and the BLM Web
site at http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Planning/rmps/RockSprings.html at least 15 days prior to the event. In order to be
included in the Draft Rock Springs RMP/EIS, all comments must be
received prior to the close of the scoping period or 15 days after the
last public scoping meeting, whichever is later. The BLM will provide
additional opportunities for public participation upon publication of
the Draft Rock Springs RMP/EIS.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria
related to the Rock Springs RMP/EIS and an amendment to the Rawlins RMP
by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Planning/rmps/RockSprings.html;
Email: [email protected]. Include ``Wild Horses'' in the
subject line of the message;
Fax: 307-352-0329; or
Mail: BLM Rock Springs Field Office, Wild Horse Scoping, 280
Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, Wyoming 82901.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the BLM
Rock Springs Field Office, during normal business hours: 7:45 a.m. to
4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jay D'Ewart, Wild Horse and Burro
Specialist, at 307-352-0331. Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay
Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 to speak with Jay D'Ewart 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: On June 27, 2011, the Rock Springs Grazing
Association (RSGA) filed a lawsuit (Rock Springs Grazing Association v.
Salazar, No. 11-CV-00263-NDF) in the United States District Court for
Wyoming contending, in part, that the BLM had violated Section 4 of the
Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, 16 U.S.C. 1334, by failing to
remove strayed animals from private lands controlled by RSGA within the
Wyoming checkerboard pattern of mixed public and private land
ownership. RSGA-controlled private lands include lands within the BLM's
Rock Springs and Rawlins management areas in the Adobe Town, Great
Divide Basin, Salt Wells Creek, and White Mountain HMAs.
[[Page 50091]]
On April 3, 2013, the United States District Court for the District
of Wyoming approved a Consent Decree and Joint Stipulation for
Dismissal (Consent Decree) in Rock Springs Grazing Association v.
Salazar, No. 11-CV-00263-NDF, that provides in part, ``No later than
180 days after this Consent Decree is approved by the Court, BLM will
submit to the Federal Register for publication a notice[s] of scoping
under NEPA to consider the environmental effects of revising the
respective Resource Management Plans for the Rock Springs and Rawlins
Field Offices by considering proposed actions that would: (a) Change
the Salt Wells [Creek] HMA [Herd Management Area] to a Herd Area, which
would be managed for zero wild horses, and if BLM determines there are
more than 200 wild horses within the Herd Area, the area will be re-
gathered to zero wild horses; (b) Change the [Great] Divide Basin HMA
to a Herd Area, which would be managed for zero wild horses, and if BLM
determines there are more than 100 wild horses within the Herd Area,
the area will be re-gathered to zero wild horses; (c) Change the Adobe
Town HMA [Appropriate Management Level] AML to 225-450 wild horses or
lower, and that gathered wild horses will not be returned to the Salt
Wells area; and (d) Manage the White Mountain HMA as a non-reproducing
herd by utilizing fertility control and sterilization methods to
maintain a population of 205 wild horses and to initiate gathers if the
population exceeds 205 wild horses.'' Consent Decree, No. 11-CV-00263-
NDF, pp. 6-7.
You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria in writing
to the BLM using one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section.
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 may
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 and 43 CFR 1610.2.
Mary Jo Rugwell,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-19841 Filed 8-15-13; 8:45 am]
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