[Federal Register: September 3, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 171)]
[Notices]               
[Page 47037-47038]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr03se98-91]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[AZ-050-08-1210-04; 1617]

 
Arizona: Intent to Prepare a Resource Management Plan Amendment 
(Wild Horse and Burro Herd Management Area) and Environmental 
Assessment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Extension of Issue Identification Period for Notice of Intent 
to Prepare a Resource Management Plan Amendment/Environmental 
Assessment and Invitation to Participate in the Identification of 
Issues; Yuma Field Office, AZ.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Yuma Field Office, is 
preparing an Amendment/Environmental Assessment to the Yuma District 
Resource Management Plan to revise wild horse and burro management 
provisions.
    The proposed Amendment would update management provisions for the 
Cibola-Trigo Herd Management Area in conformance with the Wild Free-
Roaming Horse and Burro Act, as amended, (16 U.S.C. 1331-1340) 1994. 
Under the proposed Amendment, horses and burros would be managed to 
maintain an appropriate management level that will provide for a 
thriving natural ecological balance within the Cibola-Trigo Herd 
Management Area south of Interstate 10 and west of the impact area from 
the Yuma Proving Ground firing range located near Highway 95, at the 
southern portion of the military reservation.

DATES: The comment period for the identification of issues related to 
the proposed Amendment has been extended for an additional 30 days and 
the comment period will end on September 18, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to: Ron Morfin, BLM Yuma Field Office, 2555 
Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, Arizona 85365.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ron Morfin, Planning Team Leader, or Roger Oyler, Wild Horse and Burro 
Specialist, Yuma Field Office, Yuma, Arizona. Telephone (520) 317-3200.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Notice of Intent to Prepare a Resource 
Management Plan Amendment was initially published in the Federal 
Register, Vol. 63. No. 138 on July 20, 1998. The BLM Yuma Field Office 
is currently coordinating efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground, and Arizona Game and Fish 
Department to develop a cooperative management plan for lands and 
resources contained within the Cibola-Trigo Wild Horse and Burro Herd 
Management Area through an interdisciplinary planning team. Considering 
other land and resource values and multiple uses and to provide for a 
thriving natural ecological balance, management objectives and 
direction will be proposed for wild horse and burro herds through this 
effort to reach and maintain the appropriate management level as 
established by the Cibola-Trigo Herd Management Area Plan. National BLM 
policies and guidance at 43 CFR 4700 require that management direction 
affecting wild

[[Page 47038]]

horses and burros shall be established through the Land Use Planning 
Process pursuant to 43 CFR 1600.
    Issues to be addressed include: the presence of burros at impact 
areas from a munitions research and development firing range; 
management of animals outside of the herd area; management of the 
current horse and burro herd to reach and maintain an appropriate 
management level; provisions for refining forage utilization monitoring 
protocols; and the use of new technologies to monitor herd size.
    Documents relevant to the planning process will be available for 
public review at the BLM Yuma Field Office, 2555 Gila Ridge Road, Yuma, 
Arizona.
    This notice is published under the authority found in 43 CFR 
1610.2(c).

    Dated: August 27, 1998.
Gail Acheson,
Field Manager.
[FR Doc. 98-23801 Filed 9-2-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-32-M