[Federal Register: December 30, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 250)]
[Notices]               
[Page 71946]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr30de98-84]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[AK-020-09-1110-00-241A]

 
Raptor Workshop for the Northeast Planning Area of the NPR-A, 
Northern Alaska

    A public workshop will be held in Fairbanks on February 2 and 3, 
1999, to discuss the potential impacts on raptors of oil and gas 
development in the 4.6-million-acre Northeast Planning Area of the 
National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska.
    The workshop, which will involve nationally recognized experts in 
raptor management, will consider extensive literature on raptor 
disturbance and ensure that all activities that may affect raptor 
productivity have been adequately addressed.
    The Northeast Planning Area of the NPR-A borders the Colville River 
from a point across the river from Ninuluk Bluff to the mouth of the 
Itkillik River. The management plan for the area includes all federally 
authorized activities, including oil/gas development. An oil/gas lease 
sale, planned for April or May of 1999, will offer all tracts along the 
Colville River within the planning area. Among the stipulations that 
will be attached to the lease sale and any resulting development is one 
that would prohibit any permanent oil and gas surface facilities, 
except essential pipeline or road crossings, within one mile of the 
west bluffs of the Colville River; within one mile of the Kikiakrorak 
and Kogosukruk rivers, including several of the latter's tributaries; 
and within one-half mile of the Ikpikpuk River. Further, road crossings 
within the Colville River setback would be strictly prohibited.
    The BLM-sponsored workshop will be held at the Princess Hotel, 4477 
Pikes Landing Road, Fairbanks, Alaska, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on 
February 2 and 3, 1999. The workshop is open to the public.
    For further information, contact Dave Yokel, BLM-Northern Field 
Office, 1150 University Ave., Fairbanks, AK 99709-3899. Tel: 907-474-
2314 or 1-800-437-7021; email: dyokel@ak.blm.gov.

    Dated: December 21, 1998.
Timothy J. Grinnell,
Acting Team Lead, Arctic Management Unit.
[FR Doc. 98-34500 Filed 12-29-98; 8:45 am]
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