[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 213 (Friday, November 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67189-67190]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-22037]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[NM-110-1610-DS]
Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement (DEIS) for the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument
Resource Management Plan (RMP)
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Interior.
ACTION: NOA of a Draft Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact
Statement (DRMP/EIS) for the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument,
New Mexico.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 202 of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the BLM announces the availability of the
DEIS for the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument RMP. The DEIS
documents the direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental impacts of
three alternative management plans for BLM-administered public lands
within the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. When completed,
the RMP will fulfill the obligations set forth by NEPA, the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act, and associated Federal regulations.
DATES: The Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument DRMP/EIS will be
available for review for 90 calendar days from the date the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes its NOA in the Federal
Register. In order to assure your comments and resource information
submissions are fully considered they must be received within the 90-
day review period identified above.
Open House meetings will be scheduled to provide the public
additional opportunities to submit written comments on the Kasha-Katuwe
Tent Rocks National Monument DRMP/EIS. All meetings and any other
public involvement activities will be announced at least 15 days in
advance through public notices, media news releases, New Mexico BLM Web
site announcements, or mailings.
ADDRESSES: A copy of the DRMP/EIS has been sent to affected Federal,
State, and local government agencies and to interested parties. The
document may
[[Page 67190]]
be available electronically on the following web site: http://www.blm.gov/nhp/spotlight/state_info/planning.htm. Copies of the DRMP/
EIS will be available for public inspection at the following locations:
BLM New Mexico State Office, 1474 Rodeo Road, Santa Fe, NM 87505; BLM
Rio Puerco Field Office, 435 Monta[ntilde]o Road NE, Albuquerque, NM
87107. The current RMPs, EISs, and all other documents relevant to this
planning process, are available for public review at the Rio Puerco
Field Office at the above address.
Written comments may be mailed directly, or delivered to the BLM
at: Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, DRMP/EIS, BLM Rio Puerco
Field Office, 435 Monta[ntilde]o Road NE., Albuquerque, NM 87107.
Comments may be electronically mailed to: [email protected].
Comments may be faxed to the BLM at: (505) 761-8911. Comments that
are e-mailed or faxed must include ``Comments on Kasha-Katuwe Tent
Rocks National Monument DRMP/EIS'' in the subject line. Interested
parties may also provide written comments during the public open house
meetings. In order to assure that your comments are fully considered
they must be submitted in one of the four ways described above. To be
given consideration by the BLM all DRMP/EIS comment submittals must
include the commentor's name and street address.
Our practice is to make comments, including the name and street
address of each respondent, available for public review at the BLM
office listed above during business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except for Federal holidays). Your comments may
be published as part of the EIS process. Individual respondents may
request confidentiality. If you wish to withhold your name or street
address, or both, from public review or from disclosure under the
Freedom of Information Act, you must state this prominently at the
beginning of your written comments. Such requests will be honored to
the extent allowed by law. We will not consider anonymous comments. All
submissions from organizations and businesses will be made available
for public inspection in their entirety.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Mr. John Bristol, RMP Team
Leader, at the BLM Rio Puerco Field Office (see address above),
telephone (505) 761-8755. Requests for information may be sent
electronically to: [email protected] with ``Attention: KKTR NM
DRMP/EIS Information Request'' in the subject line.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 2001, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National
Monument, was designated a National Monument by Presidential
Proclamation 7394. The proclamation directed management of the monument
by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management.
It required the development of a Management Plan in close cooperation
with the Pueblo de Cochiti and the promulgation of regulations for its
management as the Secretary of the Interior deems appropriate. The
monument is located in Sandoval County, New Mexico. Within the monument
boundaries are 4,124 acres federally owned land, 521 acres of State
owned land and 757 acres land in private ownership, for a total of
5,402 acres.
The DRMP/EIS describes the physical, biological, cultural,
historic, and socioeconomic resources in the ``Decision Area'' (5,402
acres) and the ``Planning Area'' (15,635 acres--includes edge-
holdings). The focus for impact analysis was based on resource issues
and concerns identified during scoping and public involvement
activities and opportunities. Issues of concern regarding possible
management direction and planning decisions (not in priority order)
are: land tenure adjustments, access and transportation, recreation
(use and development), ecosystem restoration, and American Indian uses
and traditional cultural practices.
Three alternatives were analyzed in detail: Alternative A is the No
Action Alternative representing the continuation of existing management
plans, policies, and decisions established in the 1986 Rio Puerco RMP,
as amended, and as implemented through the Tent Rocks ACEC Protection
Plan, with minimal compliance with proclamation requirements.
Alternative B represents the agency proposed resource use and
conservation alternative. Alternative C emphasizes an adaptive
management approach (particularly for recreation management) with the
inclusion of additional monitoring. The monitoring results would
trigger management changes to maximize recreational use and facility
development while minimizing natural resource degradation and
depletion. The BLM's preferred alternative is Alternative B.
Since the publication of the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an
RMP/EIS in the Federal Register on January 22, 2004, open house
meetings, scoping meetings, and mailings have been conducted to solicit
public comments and input. The Rio Puerco Field Office has been
providing updates on the development of this DRMP/EIS to the Sandoval
County Manager, Pueblo de Cochiti and the New Mexico Resource Advisory
Council. Other tribal governments with interests in the monument area
were also consulted. From the publication date of the NOI in the
Federal Register, through June 30, 2005, the BLM solicited and received
approximately 30 submissions from interested parties. In addition,
three public meetings were held to provide the public with an
opportunity to acquire information about the RMP/EIS process and its
status, and to submit comments. These public meetings were held in Pena
Blanca, New Mexico, on February 24, 2004, Rio Rancho, New Mexico,
February 25, 2004 and in Santa Fe, New Mexico, February 26, 2004. All
comments received throughout the process have been considered.
Background information and maps used in developing the DRMP/EIS are
available for public viewing at the Rio Puerco Field Office at the
above address.
Dated: September 6, 2005.
Jesse J. Juen,
Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. 05-22037 Filed 11-3-05; 8:45 am]
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