[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 213 (Monday, November 4, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66064-66065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-25924]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLUT0300-16100000-LXSS005J0000]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Livestock Grazing Monument
Management Plan Amendment and Associated Environmental Impact Statement
for the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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) Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), Kanab, Utah, intends to
prepare a Livestock Grazing Monument Management Plan Amendment (Plan
Amendment) with an associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
This notice announces the beginning of the scoping process to solicit
public comments and identify issues. The Plan Amendment will make land
use-level decisions associated with livestock grazing, thereby amending
the GSENM Management Plan.
DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping process for the Plan
Amendment and associated EIS. Public scoping meetings will be hosted in
the following locations: Kanab, Escalante, and Salt Lake City, Utah.
The date(s) and specific location(s) and any other public involvement
activities will be announced at least 15 days in advance through local
media outlets and on the GSENM Web site at: www.ut.blm.gov/monument.
The public scoping period runs from the issuance of this notice for 60
days or until 30 days after the last public scoping meeting is held,
whichever is later. Comments on issues and planning criteria may be
submitted in writing during this time. In order to be considered in the
Draft Plan Amendment/EIS, all comments must be received prior to the
close of the scoping period. BLM Utah will provide additional
opportunities for public participation upon publication of the Draft
Plan Amendment/EIS.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria
related to the GSENM Plan Amendment/EIS by any of the following
methods:
Email: [email protected];
Fax: 435-644-1250; or
Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument, 669 S. HWY 89-A, Kanab, UT 84741.
Documents pertinent to this planning effort may be examined at the
GSENM Office, 669 S. HWY 89-A, Kanab, Utah.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matt Betenson, Assistant Monument
Manager, Planning and Support Services; telephone: 435-644-1205;
address: GSENM Office, 669 S. HWY 89-A, Kanab, UT 84741; 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 leave a message or question with the above
individual. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Replies are provided during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM
GSENM intends to prepare a Plan Amendment with an associated EIS and
announces the beginning of the public scoping process to request public
input on issues and planning criteria. Cooperating agencies include the
State of Utah; Garfield County and Kane County, Utah; the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service; and the National Park Service (NPS) Glen Canyon
National Recreation Area (GCNRA). The planning area includes all lands
within the GSENM where BLM has livestock grazing management and/or
administrative responsibility. This includes the BLM-Utah lands within
GSENM and additional lands within portions of the Kanab Field Office
(KFO) and the Arizona Strip Field Office (ASFO), as well as lands
managed by NPS in GCNRA where GSENM administers grazing.
Management decisions for lands in the planning area, but outside
the GSENM boundary, will be consistent with the goals and objectives of
the KFO, ASFO, and the GCNRA enabling legislation and management plans,
as appropriate. NPS will also be making a decision for the GCNRA lands
consistent with that area's enabling legislation (Pub. L. 92-593). The
planning area encompasses approximately 2.2 million acres of Federal
lands in Garfield County and Kane County, Utah, and Coconino County,
Arizona. Approximately 68 percent of the planning area is in Kane
County, approximately 32 percent is in Garfield County, and less than 1
percent is in Coconino County. The purpose of the public scoping
process is to determine relevant issues related to livestock grazing
that will influence the scope of the environmental analysis, including
alternatives, and to guide the planning process.
Preliminary issues related to livestock grazing that are likely to
be addressed in the Plan Amendment and EIS include the following:
Effects on GSENM proclamation-identified scientific and
historic objects and values;
Lands available for livestock grazing within the planning
area;
Effects on the resources and values for which GCNRA was
established;
Forage currently available on an area-wide basis for
livestock grazing and
[[Page 66065]]
available for future anticipated demands;
Guidelines and criteria for future allotment-specific
adjustments, such as rotational grazing plans which affect the
livestock use;
Impacts on local custom and culture as well as the area's
economy; and
Management of existing rangeland improvement seedings.
Additional issues will likely be added through the public scoping
process. Planning criteria are the standards, rules, and other factors
developed by managers and interdisciplinary teams for their use in
forming judgments about decision making, analysis, and data collection
during planning. Planning criteria streamline and simplify the resource
management planning actions. The following preliminary criteria will be
considered in the Plan Amendment and EIS process:
The Plan Amendment will be limited to making land use
planning decisions specific to livestock grazing.
Lands addressed in the Plan Amendment will be public lands
managed by the BLM and the NPS.
Grazing within the GCNRA will be administered in a portion
of GCNRA in a manner that protects GCNRA values and purposes pursuant
to Public Law 92-593 and in accordance with the 1916 NPS Organic Act.
The process must utilize The Utah Standards for Rangeland
Health and Guidelines for Livestock Grazing Management. The BLM will
apply existing applicable Land Health Standards to all alternatives.
The approved GSENM Plan Amendment will comply with FLPMA,
NEPA, National Historic Preservation Act, and Council on Environmental
Quality regulations at 40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and Department of the
Interior regulations at 43 CFR part 46 and 43 CFR part 1600; the BLM H-
1601-1 Land Use Planning Handbook; the 2008 BLM H-1790-1 NEPA Handbook,
and all other applicable BLM policies and guidance.
Land use planning decisions must be consistent with the
purpose and objectives outlined in the presidential proclamation for
the GSENM and the enabling legislation for GCNRA, as applicable.
Socio-economic analysis will use an accepted input-output
quantitative model such as IMPLAN or RIMSII, and/or JEDI for analysis.
The BLM and NPS will review and use as appropriate current
scientific information, research, technologies, and results of
inventory, monitoring, and coordination to determine appropriate
management strategies.
The BLM and NPS will coordinate and communicate with
State, local, and tribal governments to ensure that the BLM and NPS
consider provisions of pertinent plans, seek to resolve inconsistencies
between State, local, and Tribal plans, and provide ample opportunities
for State, local, and Tribal governments to comment on the development
of amendments.
The Plan Amendment will be based on the principles of
Adaptive Management.
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 comments before the close of the
public scoping period. 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 request we withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be
able to do so. The minutes and list of attendees for each public
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. The BLM will evaluate identified issues to be
addressed in the plan amendment, and will place them into one of three
categories:
1. Issues to be resolved in the plan amendment;
2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action;
or
3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan amendment.
The BLM will provide an explanation in the Draft Plan Amendment/EIS
as to why an issue was placed in category two or three. The public is
also encouraged to help identify any management questions and concerns
that should be addressed in the plan. 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 BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan
amendment in order to consider the variety of issues and concerns
identified. Specialists with expertise in the following disciplines
will be involved in the planning process: rangeland management, botany,
environmental planning and compliance, ecology, outdoor recreation and
wilderness management, visual resources, archaeology, paleontology,
wildlife and fisheries, hydrology, soils, sociology and economics, and
public affairs.
Authority: 40 CFR 1501.7 and 43 CFR 1610.2.
Jenna Whitlock,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2013-25924 Filed 11-1-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DQ-P