[Federal Register: November 2, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 212)]
[Notices]
[Page 62265-62266]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr02no07-73]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[NM-510-1610-DQ]
Notice of Availability of Special Status Species Proposed
Resource Management Plan Amendment and Final Environmental Impact
Statement, New Mexico
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), the Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Special Status Species Proposed
Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA)/Final Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for portions of the Carlsbad and Roswell Field Offices
in New Mexico.
DATES: The BLM Planning Regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2) state that any
person who participated in the planning process, and has an interest
which is or may be adversely affected, may protest the BLM's approval
or amendment of a RMP. You may file a protest within 30 days of the
date that the Environmental Protection Agency publishes their Notice of
Availability in the Federal Register. Instructions for filing of
protests are described in the Dear Reader letter in the front of the
Special Status Species Proposed RMPA/Final EIS and in the Supplementary
Information section of this notice.
ADDRESSES: For additional information on how to file a protest, refer
to the Supplementary Information section below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard Parman, BLM, Pecos District
Office, 2909 West Second Street, Roswell, New Mexico 88201. To receive
a copy of the document, contact the BLM at the above address or call
505-627-0272 during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.),
Monday through Friday, except holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The planning area for the Special Status
Species Proposed RMPA/Final EIS, which includes approximately 850,000
acres of BLM-administered public lands and 1.15 million acres of
Federal minerals, is located in Chaves, Eddy, Lea, and Roosevelt
Counties, New Mexico. A map of the planning area is available on the
BLM New Mexico Web site (http://www.nm.blm.gov). The BLM-administered
public lands within the planning area are currently managed under
interim management guidelines issued on August 5, 2004, in accordance
with the decisions in the 1988 Carlsbad RMP, as amended, and the 1997
Roswell RMP. The BLM will continue to manage these lands in accordance
with the interim management guidelines until the RMPA is completed and
a Record of Decision is signed.
The purpose of the Proposed RMPA/Final EIS is to amend the existing
RMPs, to protect and enhance habitat for the lesser prairie chicken and
sand dune lizard while allowing other uses to continue. The Proposed
RMPA/Final EIS documents the direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts of six alternatives for BLM-administered public
lands within the planning area. Issues related to possible management
direction and planning decisions (not in priority order) include:
development of energy resources, special management designation,
special status species management, livestock grazing, and off-highway
vehicle designations.
The Draft RMPA/EIS was released to the public for a 90-day comment
period on October 20, 2006. The BLM hosted public meetings in Roswell,
Carlsbad, Artesia, and Hobbs, New Mexico, and Midland, Texas, to answer
questions about the document, as well as to solicit comments from the
public. Public comments on the Draft RMPA/EIS are on file and available
for public review at the address listed above.
Six alternatives were identified in the Draft RMPA/EIS:
The No Action Alternative: represents the continuation of
existing management plans, policies, and decisions as established by
the current RMPs.
Alternative A: Adopts the portions of the Conservation
Strategy developed by the Southeast New Mexico Lesser Prairie Chicken
Working Group that applies to public lands and Federal minerals.
Alternative B (BLM's Preferred Alternative): Represents
the Conservation Strategy and adds emphasis to sand dune lizard habitat
and surface reclamation.
Alternative C: Represents the continuation of Interim
Management, originally put in place by the BLM (August 2004) to
preserve management options in the Planning Area.
Alternative D: Focuses management efforts on preserving
occupied habitat.
Alternative E: Focuses management efforts of preserving
lesser prairie-chicken habitat through the designation of an area of
critical environmental concern.
In the Proposed RMPA/Final EIS, the BLM has selected Alternative B,
the Preferred Alternative in the Draft RMPA, as its Proposed Plan.
Comments on the Draft RMPA/EIS received from the public and internal
BLM review comments were incorporated into the Proposed Plan. Public
comments resulted in the addition of clarifying text, but did not
significantly change the proposed land use decisions in the Preferred
Alternative. The Proposed Plan represents the portions of the strategy
developed by the Southeast New Mexico Lesser Prairie Chicken Working
Group that apply to public lands and Federal minerals, and adds
emphasis to sand dune lizard habitat and surface reclamation. Copies of
the Special Status Species Proposed RMPA/Final EIS have been sent to
affected Federal, State, and local government agencies and to
interested parties. A copy of the Special Status Species Proposed RMPA/
Final EIS is available
[[Page 62266]]
for review via the internet from a link at http://www.nm.blm.gov, or at
the BLM Roswell Field Office, 2909 West Second Street, Roswell, New
Mexico, and the Carlsbad Field Office, 620 East Greene Street,
Carlsbad, New Mexico. Electronic (on CD-ROM) and paper copies may also
be obtained by contacting Howard Parman at the aforementioned address
and phone number.
Instructions for filing a protest with the Director of the BLM
regarding the Proposed RMPA/Final EIS may be found at 43 CFR 1610.5-2.
A protest may only raise those issues which were submitted for the
record during the planning process. E-mail and faxed protests will not
be accepted as valid, unless the protesting party also provides the
original letter by regular mail or other delivery service postmarked by
the close of the protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will
consider the e-mail or faxed protest as an advance copy, and it will
receive full consideration. If you wish to provide us with such advance
notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of Brenda
Hudgens-Williams, Protest Coordinator, at (202) 452-5112, and e-mails
to bhudgens@blm.gov. Please direct the follow-up letter to the
appropriate address provided below.
The protest must contain:
1. The name, mailing address, telephone number, and interest of the
person filing the protest.
2. A statement of the part or parts of the proposed plan and the
issues being protested.
3. A copy of all documents addressing the issue(s) that the
protesting party submitted during the planning process of a statement
to the date they were discussed for the record.
4. A concise statement explaining why the protestor believes the
State Director's decision is wrong.
All protests must be in writing and must be sent to the following
address via regular mail or other delivery service: Regular Mail,
Director 210, Attention: Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 66538, Washington,
DC 20035. Overnight Mail, Director 210, Attention: Brenda Williams,
1620 L Street, NW., Suite 1075, Washington, DC 20236.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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
ask us to withhold your personal identifying information from public
review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The BLM Director will promptly render a decision on the protests.
The decision will be in writing and will set forth the reasons for the
decision. The protest decision will be sent to the protesting party by
Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. The decision of the Director
will be the final decision of the Department of the Interior. The State
Director will sign the Record of Decision for the Special Status
Species RMPA once the protests are resolved.
Linda S.C. Rundell,
New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. E7-21510 Filed 11-1-07; 8:45 am]
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