Notice2023-14034
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Eastern Colorado Resource Management Plan, Colorado
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 7, 2023
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Eastern Colorado RMP and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the Proposed RMP and public comment on proposed target shooting closures.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 129 (Friday, July 7, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 129 (Friday, July 7, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43384-43385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-14034]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_CO_FRN_MO4500170164]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Eastern Colorado
Resource Management Plan, Colorado
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended (NEPA), and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act
of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a
Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact
Statement (EIS) for the Eastern Colorado RMP and by this notice is
announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the Proposed RMP and
public comment on proposed target shooting closures.
DATES: This notice announces a 30-day protest period to the BLM on the
Proposed RMP beginning with the date following the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of Availability
(NOA) of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS in the Federal Register. The EPA
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. Protests must be postmarked or
electronically submitted on the BLM's ePlanning site during the 30-day
protest period.
In accordance with the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation,
Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 (Dingell Act, Pub. L. 116-9,
Section 4103), the BLM is announcing the opening of a 60-day public
comment period on the proposed closure of recreational target shooting
(referred to as ``target shooting'' in the RMP) near residences and at
certain rock climbing areas, trail networks, campgrounds, and other
high-use recreation sites identified in the Proposed RMP alternative.
ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP and Final EIS is available on the BLM
ePlanning project website at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/39877">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/39877</a>. Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined
online at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/39877">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/39877</a> and at
the Royal Gorge Field Office.
Instructions for filing a protest of the proposed Eastern Colorado
Resource Management Plan can be found at: <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest</a> and at 43
CFR 1610.5-2.
You may submit comments on the proposed shooting closures by the
following methods:
Mail: RMP Project Manager Royal, Gorge Field Office, 3028 E Main
St., Ca[ntilde]on City, CO 81212.
Email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#145658594b575b4b46534b4659444b577b7979717a6067547678793a737b62"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="652729283a262a3a37223a3728353a260a0808000b1116250709084b020a13">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Smeins, Project Manager,
telephone (719) 252-8212; address 3028 E Main St., Ca[ntilde]on City,
CO 81212; email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#f09a839d95999e83b0929c9dde979f86"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c2a8b1afa7abacb182a0aeafeca5adb4">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who
are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may
dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay
services for contacting Mr. Smeins. Individuals outside the United
States should use the relay services offered within their country to
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM prepared the Eastern Colorado
Proposed RMP/Final EIS to evaluate and revise the management strategy
for resources, resource uses, and special designations on public lands
managed by the Royal Gorge Field Office, which is the planning area for
the RMP. Existing management decisions for public lands and resources
in the Royal Gorge Field Office are currently described in two
documents: the 1986 Northeast RMP, as amended; and the 1996 Royal Gorge
RMP, as amended.
The planning area encompasses approximately 35 million acres of
land under various jurisdictions, including the BLM, U.S. Forest
Service, National Park Service, State of Colorado, and local government
and private lands in 37 counties across south-central and eastern
Colorado. The Browns Canyon National Monument is not part of the
planning area for this RMP/EIS, as it is the subject of a separate
plan. The Eastern Colorado RMP will provide management direction for
approximately 658,200 acres of BLM-administered surface land and
approximately 3,311,900 acres of BLM-administered mineral estate. The
decision area includes all BLM public lands and approximately 2,673,000
acres of split-estate Federal minerals on private, local government,
and State lands. It does not include National Forest System land and
other Federal land where the BLM does not make planning decisions about
oil and gas management and other uses. The BLM typically adopts the
requirements determined by those Federal surface-managing agencies when
leasing the associated mineral estate; while such lands are within the
planning area, they are outside the decision area for this RMP.
In preparing the Proposed RMP, the BLM evaluated, in detail, a No
Action Alternative (Alternative A) and three action alternatives
(Alternatives B, C and D). Alternative A retains the current management
goals, objectives, and direction specified in the 1986 Northeast RMP
and the 1996 Royal Gorge RMP. Alternative B emphasizes improving,
rehabilitating, and restoring resources; sustaining the ecological
integrity of habitats for all priority plant, wildlife, and fish
species; and allowing appropriate development scenarios for allowable
uses (such as mineral leasing, recreation, communication sites, and
livestock grazing). Alternative C emphasizes a mix of uses that
maximizes utilization of resources while protecting land health. The
development scenarios for allowable uses in this alternative emphasize
maximizing resource production in an environmentally responsible manner
while maintaining the basic protection needed to sustain resources,
including mitigating impacts on land health. Alternative D, the
Proposed RMP, emphasizes balancing resources and resource use among
competing human interests, land uses, and the conservation of natural
and cultural resource values, while sustaining and enhancing ecological
integrity across the landscape, including plant, wildlife, and fish
habitat. This alternative has four geographic landscapes with distinct
management, and incorporates a balanced level of protection,
restoration, and enhancement, as well as the use of resources and
services to meet ongoing programs and land uses with an emphasis on
local community visions for the future of public lands.
Public review of the Eastern Colorado Draft RMP/EIS began on June
21, 2019. The BLM held seven public open-house meetings across the
Eastern Colorado Planning Area during the 90-day public comment period.
Comments on the Draft RMP/EIS were considered and incorporated into the
final EIS and proposed plan as appropriate. Public and cooperating
agency comments and further internal BLM review resulted in the
addition of clarifying text and refinement of Alternative D to include
backcountry conservation areas, expanded ACEC designations, and the
[[Page 43385]]
closure of areas with low or no fluid mineral potential to oil and gas
leasing. In the Proposed RMP, the BLM proposes that recreational target
shooting would generally be allowed on BLM-managed lands in the
planning area, but to protect the safety of visitors, target shooting
would continue to be prohibited at certain rock-climbing areas, trail
networks, campgrounds, and other high-use recreation sites. To protect
public safety near residences, target shooting would not be allowed on
small BLM-administered parcels west of Boulder that are interspersed
with private lands and numerous houses.
Protest of the Proposed RMP
The BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated
in the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or may be
adversely affected by approval of the Proposed RMP may protest its
approval to the BLM Director. Protest on the Proposed RMP constitutes
the final opportunity for administrative review of the proposed land
use planning decisions prior to the BLM adopting an approved RMP.
Instructions for filing a protest regarding the Proposed RMP with the
BLM Director may be found online at <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest</a> and at 43
CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in writing and mailed or delivered
to the appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section, or
submitted electronically through the BLM ePlanning project website as
described previously. Protests submitted by email or by fax will be
invalid unless a protest is also submitted as a hard copy. The BLM
Director will render a written decision on each protest. The Director's
decision shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior.
Responses to protest issues will be compiled and documented in a
Protest Resolution Report made available following the protest
resolution online at: <a href="https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports">https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports</a>. After resolution of
protests, the BLM will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) and an Approved
RMP.
Dingell Act Comment on Proposed Target Shooting Closures
Target shooting closures near residences, certain rock-climbing
areas, trail networks, campgrounds, and other high-use recreation sites
are for the safety of residents and the visiting public. To afford the
BLM the opportunity to consider comments on proposed Penrose Commons,
Phantom Canyon Road, Shelf Road Recreation Area, Guffey Gorge,
Methodist Mountain, Turkey Rock, Temple Canyon Road, Garden Park, and
Boulder County target shooting closures before approval of the ROD/RMP,
please ensure your comments are received by the DATES listed above.
Comments may be submitted using the specified methods listed in the
ADDRESSES section earlier.
Before including your phone number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your protest or comment, you should
be aware that your entire protest or comment--including your personal
identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time.
While you can ask us in your protest or comment to withhold your
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot
guarantee that we will be able to do so.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR
1610.5.)
Douglas J. Vilsack,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2023-14034 Filed 7-6-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-16-P
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