Notice2024-26049
Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands; Baca, Las Animas, and Otero Counties, Colorado; Morton and Stevens Counties, Kansas; Land Management Plan Revision
Primary source
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Published
November 8, 2024
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentForest Service
Abstract
The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is initiating the land management plan (plan) revision process, pursuant to the 2012 Planning Rule and as directed by the National Forest Management Act, for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands located in Southeast Colorado and Southwest Kansas. Currently, the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands receive management direction from the 1984 Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Comanche and Cimarron National Grasslands Land and Resource Management Plan. Ultimately, this process will result in a new, separate plan for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and will guide all resource management activities on the grasslands for approximately fifteen years, while the remaining portion of the existing 1984 plan for the Pike and San Isabel National Forests will remain unchanged. This notice announces the initiation of the assessment phase, which is the preliminary stage of the plan revision process. The assessment will identify and consider relevant and readily accessible material about ecological, social, and economic conditions and trends in the planning area, including best available scientific information. Findings will be documented in an assessment report. Trends and conditions identified in the assessment will help describe the need to change the plan and inform revision of the plan.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88716-88717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26049]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands; Baca, Las Animas, and
Otero Counties, Colorado; Morton and Stevens Counties, Kansas; Land
Management Plan Revision
AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture (USDA).
ACTION: Notice of intent to initiate the assessment phase of the land
management plan revision for the Cimarron and Comanche National
Grasslands.
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SUMMARY: The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is
initiating the land management plan (plan) revision process, pursuant
to the 2012 Planning Rule and as directed by the National Forest
Management Act, for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands
located in Southeast Colorado and Southwest Kansas. Currently, the
Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands receive management direction
from the 1984 Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Comanche and
Cimarron National Grasslands Land and Resource Management Plan.
Ultimately, this process will result in a new, separate plan for the
Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and will guide all resource
management activities on the grasslands for approximately fifteen
years, while the remaining portion of the existing 1984 plan for the
Pike and San Isabel National Forests will remain unchanged. This notice
announces the initiation of the assessment phase, which is the
preliminary stage of the plan revision process. The assessment will
identify and consider relevant and readily accessible material about
ecological, social, and economic conditions and trends in the planning
area, including best available scientific information. Findings will be
documented in an assessment report. Trends and conditions identified in
the assessment will help describe the need to change the plan and
inform revision of the plan.
DATES: In spring 2024, the Forest Supervisor of the Pike-San Isabel
National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and
staff initiated engagement with Tribes followed by additional outreach
to county, state, and other Federal agencies. In April 2024, the Forest
Supervisor sent Tribes formal government-to-government invitations to
consult on the plan. In addition, in September 2024, the Forest
Supervisor sent Tribes invitations to serve as cooperating agencies for
the plan revision process. Counties and other local governments will
also be given the opportunity to serve as cooperating agencies in the
planning process. Extensive engagement with stakeholders, Tribes,
Federal government agencies, local governments, and non-profits groups
is planned throughout the assessment phase. Interested parties can
learn more about dates and formats of planned public engagement
opportunities to be held throughout the plan revision process by
visiting the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Plan Revision
website: <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/landmanagement/planning/?cid=FSEPRD1169904">https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/landmanagement/planning/?cid=FSEPRD1169904</a>.
A draft assessment for public review and comment is anticipated in
summer 2025. The Forest Service will review and incorporate public
comments and additional information from tribal consultation on the
draft assessment and produce a final assessment and need to change the
plan that will inform subsequent phases of the plan revision process.
The Forest Service may then initiate procedures pursuant to the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to prepare a revised land
management plan in compliance with the National Forest System land
management planning rule (36 CFR part 219).
ADDRESSES: Send written questions to: Pike-San Isabel National Forests
and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, Attn: Grassland Plan
Revision, 5575 Cleora Road, Salida, CO 81201. Questions may also be
sent electronically to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#394a54175f4a177a7a777e6b5c4f504a505657794c4a5d58175e564f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6417094a02174a27272a233601120d170d0b0a24111700054a030b12">[email protected]</span></a>. All
correspondence, including names and addresses, will be part of the
public record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beth Davis, Forest Planner, 719-429-
1385, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b4d9d5c6cd9ad0d5c2ddc7f4c1c7d0d59ad3dbc2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fd909c8f84d3999c8b948ebd888e999cd39a928b">[email protected]</span></a>; or Shawna Graves, Public Affairs Officer,
719-466-9122, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ea99828b9d848bc48d988b9c8f99aa9f998e8bc48d859c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e3908b82948d82cd849182958690a396908782cd848c95">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals who use
telecommunications devices for the hearing impaired may call 711 to
reach the Telecommunications Relay Service, 24 hours a day, every day
of the year, including holidays.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Forest Management Act of 1976
requires that the Forest Service develop a land management plan for
every national forest and grassland. Land management plans provide the
strategic direction for management of forest or grassland resources and
are amendable as conditions change over time. The Pike and San Isabel
National Forests and Comanche and Cimarron National Grasslands Land and
Resource Management Plan was adopted in 1984. The Cimarron and Comanche
National Grasslands (CCNGs) are currently included and managed under
the 1984 plan. This planning process will result in a standalone
management plan for the CCNGs. The CCNGs include two national
grasslands (the Cimarron, 108,621 acres, located in Kansas, and the
Comanche, 443,642 acres, located in Colorado) encompassing a total of
552,263 acres of public land. The CCNGs largely consist of isolated and
checkerboard parcels with minimal consolidated and contiguous Federal
land ownership. The three largest community hubs within the planning
area are La Junta and Springfield, Colorado, and Elkhart, Kansas.
The planning rule requires that the Responsible Official complete
an assessment for the development of a
[[Page 88717]]
plan revision (36 CFR 219.6). The assessment rapidly evaluates existing
information about relevant ecological, economic, and social conditions,
trends, and sustainability and their relationship to the land
management plan within the context of the broader landscape (36 CFR
219.5). The assessment must identify and evaluate existing information
relevant to the plan area for the following: (1) Terrestrial
ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, and watersheds; (2) Air, soil, and
water resources and quality; (3) System drivers, including dominant
ecological processes, disturbance regimes, and stressors, such as
natural succession, wildland fire, invasive species, and climate
change, and the ability of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the
plan area to adapt to change; (4) Baseline assessment of carbon stocks;
(5) Threatened, endangered, proposed, and candidate species, and
potential species of conservation concern present in the plan area; (6)
Social, cultural, and economic conditions; (7) Benefits people obtain
from the national forest system planning area (ecosystem services); (8)
Multiple uses and their contributions to local, regional, and national
economies; (9) Recreation settings, opportunities and access, and
scenic character; (10); Renewable and nonrenewable energy and mineral
resources; (11) Infrastructure, such as recreational facilities and
transportation and utility corridors; (12) Areas of tribal importance;
(13) Cultural and historic resources and uses; (14) Land status and
ownership and access patterns; and (15) Existing designated areas
located in the plan area including wilderness and wild and scenic
rivers and potential need and opportunity for additional designated
areas.
During this assessment phase, the Forest Service invites other
government agencies, Tribes, non-governmental parties, and the public
to share information about social, economic, and environmental
conditions of the CCNGs and the broader landscape. Existing information
about conditions on the CCNGs, supplemented with information gathered
through public engagement, from cooperating agencies, and Tribal
consultation, will be integrated into the assessment. The Forest
Service will host public outreach forums to share progress and gather
additional information. Information on upcoming engagement
opportunities will be posted on the Cimarron and Comanche National
Grasslands Plan Revision website: <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/landmanagement/planning/?cid=FSEPRD1169904">https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/landmanagement/planning/?cid=FSEPRD1169904</a>.
Based on knowledge of the planning area, the following will likely
be topics of interest and will be discussed in the assessment and
subsequent plan development phases: areas of tribal importance; at-risk
species and species of conservation concern; livestock grazing; oil and
gas development; watersheds and ecological integrity; fragmentation;
land ownership patterns; habitat connectivity; paleontological
resources; fire management; and renewable energy. The wilderness
evaluation and the identification of eligible wild and scenic rivers
are also potential topics of interest. Separate evaluations of both
will be released concurrently with the assessment and will be included
in the plan development phases.
The 1984 Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Comanche and
Cimarron National Grasslands Land and Resource Management Plan will
remain in effect for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands
until the plan revision process is complete and a record of decision is
signed.
Responsible Official: The responsible official for the revision of
the land management plan for the Cimarron and Commanche National
Grasslands is Ryan Nehl, Forest Supervisor, Pike-San Isabel National
Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands.
Keith Lannom,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2024-26049 Filed 11-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P
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