Document Headings

                    Document headings vary by document type but may contain                    the following:                  
                -                       the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document                    
                -                       the number of the CFR title and the number of each part                      the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly                      related to                    
                -                       the agency docket number / agency internal file number                    
                -                       the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in                      the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory                      Actions                    

                    See the                                          Document Drafting Handbook                                        for more details.                  

###### Department of the Interior

###### National Park Service 

# AGENCY:

National Park Service, Department of the Interior. 

# ACTION:

Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental assessment for the Fire Management Plan at Bandelier National Monument. 

# SUMMARY:

In a Notice of Intent published August 6, 2003 (68 FR 46661), the National Park Service (NPS) announced its intent to prepare an EIS for the Fire Management Plan at Bandelier National Monument (Bandelier). The NPS has since determined that an environmental assessment (EA), rather than an EIS, is the appropriate environmental documentation for the Fire Management Plan. 

# SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

                    The NPS had begun working on the EIS following publication of the Notice of Intent. However, internal discussions and meetings, and comments from public scoping sessions held in the New Mexico cities of Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Albuquerque in August of 2003 resulted in substantial changes to the fire management plan alternatives proposed under the EIS. Based on these                           ( print page 62076)                        changes, the NPS determined that the appropriate National Environmental Policy Act documentation for the update and review of Bandelier's Fire Management Plan is an EA.                 

Through the EA process, Bandelier will revise and update the Fire Management Plan to include the following goals: (1) Provide the means for staff and the public to preserve, protect, understand, and enjoy the natural and cultural resources of Bandelier National Monument through an integrated program where management activities support naturally functioning ecosystems consistent with cultural resource preservation needs. (2) Educate, inform, consult, collaborate, and maintain cooperative fire planning with other land agencies, landowners, and local communities. (3) Achieve ecologically sustainable vegetative conditions across broad vegetation communities by restoring a natural range of variability and bio-diversity. (4) Identify and mitigate hazards related to the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) through coordination and collaboration with neighboring agencies and landowners over time and across boundaries. 

The following fire management objectives support these goals: (1) Protect life, property, and Bandelier's natural and cultural resources from the effects of unwanted fire. (2) Prevent or mitigate impacts due to fire suppression activities. (3) Institute and maintain a comprehensive Fire Information and Education Program. (4) Restore and maintain fire-dependent ecosystems with the appropriate use of fire. (5) Use prescribed fire to meet fire and resource management goals and objectives. (6) Allow natural fires to function in fire dependent ecosystems. The new Fire Management Plan will emphasize the importance of mitigating measures to reduce effects in the Wildland/Urban Interface and maintaining a comprehensive Fire Information and Education Program. 

# FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Jim Whittington, Fire Information Officer, HCR 1, Box 1, Suite 15, Los Alamos, NM 87544. Telephone (505) 672-3861 x512. 

Dated: August 20, 2004. 

Stephen P. Martin, 

Director, Intermountain Region. 

[FR Doc. 04-23743 Filed 10-21-04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312-EW-P