[Federal Register: May 26, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 102)]
[Notices]
[Page 30446-30447]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26my06-118]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[NM-220-1610-DO-026G]
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan Revision
(RMPR) for the Taos Field Office, New Mexico, and Associated
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Office, Taos, New
Mexico, intends to prepare a Resource Management Plan Revision with an
associated Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Taos Field
Office and by this notice is announcing public scoping meetings. The
RMPR will revise the existing Taos Resource Management Plan.
DATES: The BLM will announce public scoping meetings to identify
relevant issues through local news media, newsletters and the BLM Web
site http://www.nm.blm.gov/tafo/taos_rmpa/taos_rmpa.htm at least 15
days prior to the first meeting. We will provide formal opportunities
for public participation upon publication of the Draft RMPR/EIS.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
Web site: http://www.nm.blm.gov/tafo/taos_rmpr/taos_rmpr.htm
.
Fax: (505) 758-1620.
Mail: Attn: RMPR Comments, BLM-Taos, 226 Cruz Alta Rd.,
Taos, NM 87571.
Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the Taos
Field Office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information and/or to have
your name added to our mailing list, contact Ms. Sharon ``Sher''
Churchill, telephone (505) 751-4725; e-mail
sharon_churchill@nm.blm.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM
Field Office, Taos, New Mexico, intends to prepare a RMPR with
associated EIS for the Taos Field Office and announces public scoping
meetings.
The planning area is located in Taos, Rio Arriba, Santa Fe, Colfax,
Harding, Los Alamos, Mora, San Miguel and Union counties in the state
of New Mexico. This planning activity encompasses approximately 593,659
surface acres of public land and 4,331,946 acres of Federal mineral
estate. The plan revision will fulfill the obligations set forth by the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM management policies. The BLM will work
collaboratively with interested parties to identify the management
decisions that are best suited to local, regional, and national needs
and concerns.
The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine relevant
issues that will influence the scope of the environmental analysis and
EIS alternatives. These issues also guide the planning process. You may
submit comments on issues and planning criteria in writing to the BLM
at any public scoping meeting or you may submit them to the BLM using
one of the methods listed in the ADDRESSES section above. To be most
helpful, you should submit formal scoping comments within 30 days after
the last public meeting. The minutes and list of attendees for each
scoping meeting will be available to the public and open for 30 days
after the meeting to any participant who wishes to clarify the views he
or she expressed. Individual respondents may request confidentiality.
If you wish to withhold your name and/or address from public review or
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this
prominently at the beginning of your written comment. The BLM will
honor such requests to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or
businesses, are available for public inspection in their entirety.
Preliminary issues and management concerns have been identified by
BLM personnel, other agencies, and in meetings with individuals and
user groups. They represent the BLM's knowledge to date regarding the
existing issues and concerns with current land management. The major
issues that will be addressed in this planning effort include land
tenure adjustment, land uses, special area designations, visual
resource management, off-highway vehicle use, and minerals materials.
After public comments as to what issues the plan revision should
address are gathered, they will be placed in one of three categories:
1. Issues to be resolved in the plan revision;
2. Issues to be resolved through policy or administrative action;
or
3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan revision.
The BLM will provide an explanation in the plan revision as to why
we placed an issue in category two or three. In addition to these major
issues, a number of management questions and concerns will be addressed
in the plan revision. The public is encouraged to help identify these
questions and concerns during the scoping phase.
Preliminary planning criteria are:
1. Actions must comply with laws, regulations, executive orders,
and BLM Manual (i.e., supplemental program guidance).
2. Actions must be reasonable, achievable, allow for flexibility
where appropriate, and support adaptive management principles.
3. The Taos RMP Revision will change Field Office management
guidance in a number of program areas by either modifying existing
direction or adding new direction. As appropriate, RMPR guidance will
be developed within an adaptive management framework, providing context
and identifying processes and tools for implementing adaptive
management.
4. The planning process will include an environmental impact
statement that complies with National Environmental Policy Act
standards.
5. The planning process will follow guidance provided in the BLM
Land Use Planning Handbook H-1610-1.
6. The planning process will be conducted using an
interdisciplinary approach.
7. While ensuring conformance with BLM policies and Federal laws,
the planning team and Taos Field Office manager will strive to make RMP
Revision decisions consistent with
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existing plans and policies of adjacent local, state, and Federal
agencies, to the extent possible.
8. A collaborative approach to public and agency participation will
be used throughout the planning process. The Taos RMP Revision planning
team will work collaboratively with county, municipal and Tribal
governments; other Federal, state and local agencies; interested
individuals and groups; and other BLM staff groups.
9. The Economic Profile System (EPS) will be used as one source of
demographic and economic data for the planning process. EPS data will
provide important baseline data and contribute to estimates of existing
and future (projected) social and economic conditions. Socio-cultural
and economic analysis will subsequently be performed to identify
impacts of the potential management alternatives on the diverse
populations within the planning area.
10. As required in the Land Use Planning Handbook H-1610-1, EPS
workshops will be conducted with community participants from Santa Fe
and Rio Arriba Counties. These workshops will be held to foster strong
working relationships with county residents and to share information
and perspectives about local economic conditions.
11. The RMP Revision process will foster participation of Native
American tribal governments and will provide strategies for protection
of cultural resources and traditional cultural practices on public
lands.
12. The RMP Revision process will emphasize focused, collaborative
work with communities to identify public lands and resources upon which
they currently rely and/or will rely in the future. This work will
center on identifying current and future land use and land ownership
patterns that support communities while meeting BLM's overarching
mission and goals, and identifying areas with potential for a modified
or new special designation status and associated benefits to local
communities, the general public and BLM.
13. The RMP Revision will recognize valid existing rights related
to the use of public lands.
The BLM will use an interdisciplinary approach to develop the plan
revision in order to consider the variety of resource issues and
concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in the following
disciplines will be involved in the planning process: sociology and
economics; archaeology; paleontology; lands and realty; outdoor
recreation; visual resource management; transportation management;
minerals and geology; vegetation management (including forest and fire
ecology); hydrology; soils; wildlife and Threatened and Endangered
species management; and fisheries.
Dated: April 20, 2006.
Linda S.C. Rundell,
New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. E6-8087 Filed 5-25-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-FB-P