Notice2024-13463
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Redding and Arcata Field Offices Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan, California
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
June 21, 2024
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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Redding Field Office and Arcata Field Office Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of the Proposed RMP.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 120 (Friday, June 21, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 120 (Friday, June 21, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52083-52085]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-13463]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_CA_FRN_MO4500179115]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Redding and Arcata
Field Offices Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan,
California
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has
prepared a Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Redding Field Office and
Arcata Field Office Northwest California Integrated Resource Management
Plan and by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest
period of the Proposed RMP.
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.
[[Page 52084]]
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/2012803/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2012803/510</a>. Documents pertinent to this proposal may be
examined online at <a href="https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2012803/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2012803/510</a> and at the Arcata Field Office and Redding Field Office.
Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the Proposed
Northwest California Integrated 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. The address for filing a
protest is: the ePlanning website listed above or BLM Director,
Attention: Protest Coordinator (HQ210), Denver Federal Center, Building
40 (Door W-4), Lakewood, CO 80215.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Victoria Callahan, Planning and
Environmental Specialist, telephone: (707) 825-2315; address: Bureau of
Land Management, Arcata Field Office, 1695 Heindon Road, Arcata,
California 95521-4573; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1264617e7367757a66776052707e7f3c757d64"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="c9bfbaa5a8bcaea1bdacbb89aba5a4e7aea6bf">[email protected]</span></a> or Chad Endicott,
Planning and Environmental Specialist, telephone: (530) 224-2140;
address: Bureau of Land Management, Redding Field Office, 6640 Lockheed
Drive, Redding, CA 96002-9003; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#d2b1b7bcb6bbb1bda6a692b0bebffcb5bda4"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="93f0f6fdf7faf0fce7e7d3f1fffebdf4fce5">[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 Ms. Callahan or Mr.
Endicott. 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: This document provides notice that the BLM
California State Director has prepared a Proposed RMP and Final EIS and
provides information announcing the availability on the Proposed RMP
and Final EIS. The planning area is in Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte,
Siskiyou, Trinity, Shasta, Tehama, and Butte counties, California, and
encompasses approximately 382,200 acres of public land and
approximately 295,100 subsurface acres of Federal mineral estate.
Current Arcata Field Office and Redding Field Office management is
identified in their respective 1992 and 1993 RMPs. All existing
management as described in the Arcata Field Office and Redding Field
Office approved RMPs remains in effect until and unless replaced or
modified by the Northwest California Integrated Resource Management
Plan Approved RMP and Record of Decision. Separate management plans
guide BLM management for National Monuments, National Conservation
Areas, and similar designations within the planning area.
Other non-BLM-administered lands within the planning area include
the Six Rivers, Shasta-Trinity, Klamath, Lassen, Plumas, and Mendocino
National Forests; Lassen Volcanic and Redwoods National Parks; the
Whiskeytown and Smith River National Recreation Areas; the Sacramento
Castle Rock and Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuges; and Black Butte
Lake (managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers). In addition, Tribal
lands and reservations for 31 federally recognized Native American
Tribes fall within the planning area, and the BLM-administered lands
include ancestral territories, sacred sites, gathering areas, and other
places important to Tribes. The Bureau of Reclamation manages numerous
land holdings and facilities within the planning area, including six
hydroelectric dams and lands that are co-managed with the BLM under a
memorandum of agreement with the Redding Field Office near the Shasta
Dam and Keswick Reservoir. In addition to federally managed lands,
there are an extensive number of State of California-managed beaches,
parks, wildlife areas, and recreation areas in the planning area. The
Arcata Field Office and Redding Field Office have taken these non-BLM-
administered lands into account in this planning effort.
In preparing the Proposed RMP, the BLM evaluated in detail four
alternatives in the Final EIS, including the No Action Alternative
(Alternative A) and three action alternatives (Alternatives B, C, and
D) that were based on known resource use and issues in the planning
area. Alternative B emphasizes resource connectivity and resiliency.
Under Alternative B, the BLM would manage for multiple use and
maintenance of corridors of relatively undeveloped areas to provide for
connectivity of wildlife and fisheries habitat, and to serve as a
resilient refuge from ongoing development and climate change. This, in
turn, would provide recreational and aesthetic resources for public
enjoyment. Alternative C emphasizes community access and development.
Under Alternative C, the BLM would also manage for multiple use and
public enjoyment with an emphasis on recreational opportunity and
access, travel and utility opportunities, and social and economic
benefits. Alternative D aims to create opportunities for resource uses,
such as recreation, motorized and mechanized travel, and livestock
grazing, while maintaining ecological function and meeting land
capability to protect habitat connectivity. All action alternatives
would enable the BLM to manage for multiple use and long-term
sustainability and provide for public use and enjoyment of BLM-
administered lands.
These action alternatives are analyzed against the No Action
Alternative (current management) and comply with the BLM's management
responsibilities and regulatory requirements.
The State Director has identified Alternative D as the preferred
alternative. Alternative D was found to best meet the State Director's
planning guidance and, therefore, was selected as the preferred
alternative. By including components of all alternatives considered,
Alternative D strikes a balance between the action alternatives to
provide community access and development, while ensuring wildlife
connectivity and ecosystem resilience.
Public review of the Draft Northwest California Integrated RMP and
EIS began on September 29, 2023, and ended on December 28, 2023. The
BLM held two virtual and two in-person public meetings across the
planning area during the 90-day comment period. Comments received on
the Draft RMP and EIS were considered and incorporated in the Proposed
RMP and Final EIS as appropriate. Public and cooperating agency
comments and further internal BLM review resulted in the addition of
clarifying text and refinement of Alternative D, including, but not
limited to, updated suitability determinations for six Wild and Scenic
Rivers segments, and revised goals, objectives, and management
direction for the Riparian Management Areas.
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 might 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
[[Page 52085]]
in writing and mailed to the appropriate address or submitted
electronically through the BLM ePlanning project website, as set forth
in the ADDRESSES section earlier. Protests submitted electronically by
any means other than the ePlanning project website 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 valid 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>. Upon resolution of
protests, the BLM will issue a Record of Decision (ROD) and Approved
RMP.
Before including your phone number, email address, or other
personal identifying information in your protest, you should be aware
that your entire protest--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us in your protest 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)
Gordon R. Toevs,
Acting State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-13463 Filed 6-20-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-16-P
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