Notice2024-23440
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in Oregon/Washington and 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
October 11, 2024
Issuing agencies
Interior DepartmentLand Management Bureau
Abstract
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, 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 Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) 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 198 (Friday, October 11, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 198 (Friday, October 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82624-82625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23440]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[BLM_OR_FRN_MO4500180774]
Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cascade-Siskiyou
National Monument in Oregon/Washington and California
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, 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 Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) 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.
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/2023675/510">https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2023675/510</a> and at the BLM Medford District, 3040 Biddle Rd,
Medford, OR 97504; and the BLM Klamath Falls Field Office, 2795
Anderson Avenue, Bldg. #25, Klamath Falls, OR 97603.
Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the CSNM 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. Protests
must be submitted at the ePlanning website listed above or to: BLM
Director, Attention: Protest Coordinator (HQ210), P.O. Box 151029,
Lakewood, CO 80215.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nikki Haskett, Program Manager,
telephone (458)-246-8861; address 3040 Biddle Rd, Medford, OR 97504;
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#452729281a26362b281a372835052729286b222a33"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="47252b2a182434292a18352a3707252b2a69202831">[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. Haskett. 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 CSNM boundary, as identified by
Presidential Proclamation No. 9564, constitutes the planning area for
this RMP. The planning area is 170,407 acres and includes lands within
Jackson and Klamath Counties in Oregon, and Siskiyou County in
California. The CSNM's decision area is the approximately 113,500 acres
of BLM-administered lands within the planning area. While most of the
BLM-administered lands are within the BLM Ashland and Klamath Falls
Field Offices in Oregon, approximately 5,000 acres are located within
the BLM Redding Field Office in California.
The BLM's current RMPs for lands in the decision area do not
address all the legal mandates related to management of the
congressionally designated National Conservation Lands (i.e., Soda
Mountain Wilderness; the Jenny Creek and Spring Creek Wild and Scenic
Rivers; the Applegate Trail, which is part of the California National
Historic Trail; and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail) and the
lands included in President Obama's enlargement of the monument
boundary. In addition, some aspects of the existing RMPs covering the
planning area need to be updated to be consistent with current BLM
policies.
The RMP's underlying purpose (40 CFR 1502.13) is to provide a
management framework, including objectives and management direction,
that guides the BLM's management of the decision area to protect and
restore the resources, objects, and values for which the area was
designated.
Proposed Action and Alternatives
The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Draft RMP and EIS 90-day
public comment period began on April 5, 2024, and ended on July 5,
2024. The BLM held four public meetings during the public comment
period. The BLM considered and incorporated in the Proposed RMP, as
appropriate, comments received from the public, consulting Tribes,
cooperating agencies, and internal BLM review. Public comments resulted
in the addition of clarifying text, minor changes to the existing
alternatives, and a Proposed RMP that is within the range of
alternatives and effects analyzed in the Draft RMP/EIS. In addition to
the
[[Page 82625]]
Proposed RMP (Alternative E), the Final EIS analyzed Alternative A (the
no action alternative) and three action alternatives (Alternatives B,
C, and D) from the Draft EIS.
Alternative A, the no action alternative, represents current
management from the 2008 Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Approved
RMP, the 2016 Southwestern Oregon Approved RMP, and the 1993 Redding
Approved RMP. In addition to the existing RMPs, there are several non-
discretionary designations established by Congress that apply to lands
in the planning area and are not reflected in the current RMPs but are
part of the no action alternative.
Alternative B emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction,
promotes intensive, active management to protect monument resources,
and maximizes the potential for an array of discretionary actions that
are compatible with the protection of CSNM objects and values.
Alternative C emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction
but promotes a moderate level of active management for protection,
maintenance, and restoration of CSNM resources, and sets some
limitations on management actions and tools available.
Alternative D would rely primarily on natural ecosystem processes
that would allow plant community dynamics to unfold without active
intervention. Exceptions include the management of young conifer stands
(plantations) that are a product of past timber harvest and thinning
around legacy trees and along wildfire evacuation routes.
Since the publication of the Draft RMP/EIS, the BLM has developed
Alternative E, the Proposed RMP, based largely on Alternative C, the
preferred alternative in the Draft RMP/EIS, and to a lesser extent
components from the other alternatives. Similar to Alternative C, the
Proposed RMP emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction but
promotes a moderate level of active management for protection,
maintenance, and restoration of CSNM resources, and sets some
limitations on management actions and tools available. The Proposed RMP
would not carry forward any Areas of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACEC) or Research Natural Areas. The BLM determined that special
management attention would be provided by management direction in the
plan from other designations and management areas that apply monument-
wide and would adequately protect the resource or value. The BLM
determined that the entire monument holds historic, cultural, fish and
wildlife, and scenic values that meet the relevance and importance
criteria for an ACEC. The Proposed RMP/Final EIS are designed to
protect the monument's objects of scientific and historic interest
outlined in Presidential Proclamations 7318 and 9564, which would
safeguard these resources or values.
The Proposed RMP was developed based on the consideration of public
comments, cooperating agency input, and Tribal consultation; updates to
the best available science and information; and by combining elements
of the alternatives analyzed in the Draft RMP/EIS. Alternative E, the
Proposed RMP, is within the range of alternatives considered in the
Draft RMP/EIS.
In addition to the analysis of Alternative E, the BLM made other
changes that are summarized in Appendix T: Summary of Notable Changes.
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 in writing and mailed to the
appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section earlier or
submitted electronically through the BLM ePlanning project website as
described previously. 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 and Approved RMP.
(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.9, 40 CFR 1506.9, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 1610.5)
Barry R. Bushue,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-23440 Filed 10-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-24-P
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