[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 238 (Tuesday, December 13, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 73790]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7253]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[UT-080-1610-DP-010J]
Supplement to Notice of Availability of the Draft Resource
Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Vernal
Field Office To List Proposed Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
and Specific Associated Resource Use Limitations for Public Lands in
Daggett, Duchesne, Uintah and Grand Counties, UT
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: A notice of availability for the Draft Resource Management
Plan (RMP) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Vernal
Field Office planning area in Daggett, Duchesne, and Uintah Counties,
Utah was published in the Federal Register, volume 70, number 10, on
Friday, January 14, 2005. This supplements that Notice with information
on existing and potential Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACECs) considered within the Draft RMP and EIS, as required in 43 CFR
1610.7-2. The CFR also provides an associated 60-day comment period on
the potential ACECs.
DATES: The comment period will commence with the publication of this
notice in the Federal Register and end 60 days after its publication.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on ACECs should be sent to the Bureau of
Land Management, Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT
84078; Fax 435-781-4410. If you have already submitted comments during
the comment period for the Draft RMP and EIS held from January 14,
2005, to June 24, 2005, they will be considered for the Proposed RMP
and Final EIS, and there is no need to resubmit them in response to
this notice.
Comments, including names and street addresses of respondents, will
be available for public review at the Vernal Field Office during
regular business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except holidays and will be subject to disclosure under the Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA). They may be published as part of the EIS and
other related documents. Individual respondents may request
confidentiality with respect to their name, address, and phone number.
If you wish to withhold your name or street address from public review
and disclosure under the FOIA, you must state this prominently at the
beginning of your written comment. Such requests will be honored to the
extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations or businesses
will be made available for public inspection in their entirety.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Kenczka, Planner, BLM Vernal
Field Office, 170 South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078, phone 435-781-4400.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Vernal Field Office planning area
includes all of the public land and Federal mineral ownership managed
by the Vernal Field Office in Daggett, Duchesne, and Uintah Counties,
in northeast Utah, and about 3,000 acres in Grand County. This area
includes approximately 1.8 million acres of BLM administered surface
lands and 2.1 million acres of Federal mineral lands under Federal,
state, private, and Ute Tribal surface in the four county areas.
The Draft RMP/EIS addresses four alternatives and provides proposed
management decisions and impact analysis of the alternatives. The
number and acreages of ACECs that would be designated vary by
alternative. For example, Alternative D would designate seven ACECs
comprising 165,944 public surface acres, while Alternative C would
designate 13 ACECs comprising 681,310 acres. Resource use limitations
often vary by ACEC and alternative as well.
There are presently 7 designated ACECs (165,944 acres) in the
Vernal Field Office, which were established by the Diamond Mountain
Resource Management Plan (RMP) (1994). These are reflected in the No
Action Alternative (Alternative D) of the Draft RMP and EIS. There are
also 6 potential ACECs (515,366 acres), each of which is being
considered in at least one alternative. Specific ACEC proposals,
including resource use limitations, are described in detail by
alternative in Chapter 2 of the Draft RMP/EIS. A summary of this
information follows:
The 7 currently designated ACECs that are being reconsidered are as
follows (acreage figures shown are for existing ACEC boundaries): Red
Mountain-Dry Fork ACEC (24,285 acres), Nine Mile Canyon ACEC (44,181
acres), Browns Park ACEC (52,721 acres), Lower Green River ACEC (8,470
acres), Lears Canyon ACEC (1,375 acres) and Pariette Wetlands ACEC
(10,437 acres), and the Red Creek Watershed ACEC (24,475 acres).
Resource use limitations for these ACECs would vary by alternative, and
relate to oil and gas leasing, visual resource management (VRM) and
management of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use. In addition, there are
limitations regarding disposal of mineral materials within the Lears
Canyon and Pariette Wetlands ACECs. The Red Mountain-Dry Fork ACEC,
Browns Park ACEC, Lears Canyon ACEC, Pariette Wetlands ACEC, Red Creek
Watershed ACEC, and Nine Mile Canyon ACEC would continue to be
designated in all alternatives, although boundaries and acreages vary
by alternative for the Nine Mile Canyon and Brown's Park ACEC. The
Lower Green River ACEC would continue to be designated in Alternatives
A, C, and D, and boundaries and acreages for this ACEC would vary by
alternative.
The 6 potential ACECs being considered are as follows: Middle Green
River Potential ACEC (6,768 acres), Four Mile Wash Potential ACEC
(50,280 acres), Main Canyon Potential ACEC (100,915 acres), Coyote
Basin Potential ACEC, White River Potential ACEC, and Bitter Creek
Potential ACEC. Boundaries and acreages would vary by alternative for
the Coyote Basin, White River, and Bitter Creek Potential ACECs. When
included in more than one alternative, resource use limitations for
these ACECs would vary and relate to oil and gas leasing, visual
resource management, and management of OHV use.
Dated: October 18, 2005.
Jeff Rawson,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. E5-7253 Filed 12-12-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-DK-P