Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 26 / Monday, February 9, 2004 / Notices 6001

approximately 881⁄2 miles of public 

lands administered by BLM. The 

highway also passes through 13 parcels 

of land administered by the State of 

Utah, School and Institutional Trust 

Lands Administration (aggregating 

approximately 10 miles) and three 

private land parcels (aggregating 

approximately 1⁄2 mile). The Weiss 

Highway is an improved (graded) 

highway with a native dirt/gravel travel 

surface throughout its entire length, 

with the exception of a paved segment 

approximately six miles long on the 

eastern end. The recordable disclaimer 

of interest application pertains only to 

the highway segments which pass 

through BLM administered public 

lands. Details of the application are 

provided in the SUPPLEMENTARY

INFORMATION section below.

DATES: On or before April 9, 2004, all 

interested parties may submit comments 

on the State’s and County’s application 

as follows. Comments on the 

application should reference BLM Case 

File Serial Number UTU–81100. Public 

comment will be accepted if received by 

BLM or postmarked no later than 60 

days following the date of publication of 

this notice. BLM will review all timely 

comments received on the application, 

and will address all relevant, 

substantive issues raised in the 

comments. A final decision on the 

merits of the application will not be 

made until at least 90 days has elapsed 

from the date of publication of this 

notice.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties and the 

public are encouraged to access the 

RS2477 Disclaimer Process public Web 

site at http://www.ut.blm.gov/rs2477 to 

review the application materials and 

provide comments on the application. 

For those without access to the public 

Web site, written comments may be 

provided to the Chief, Branch of Lands 

and Realty, BLM Utah State Office (UT–

921), P.O. Box 45155, Salt Lake City, 

Utah 84145–0155.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mike DeKeyrel, Realty Specialist, BLM 

Utah State Office Branch of Lands and 

Realty (UT–921) at the above address or 

Phone (801) 539–4105 and Fax (801) 

539–4260.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On 

January 14, 2004, the State of Utah filed 

an application for a Recordable 

Disclaimer of Interest for the public 

highway right-of-way identified as 

Weiss Highway which passes through 

public lands administered by the 

Bureau of Land Management in Juab 

County. The State of Utah and Juab 

County assert that they hold a joint and 

undivided property interest in the Weiss 

Highway right-of-way as granted 

pursuant to the authority provided by 

Revised Statute 2477 (43 U.S.C. 932, 

repealed October 21, 1976) over public 

lands administered by the Bureau of 

Land Management. The State submitted 

the following information with the 

application in both paper copy and in 

electronic form (Compact Disk): 

1. Narrative description of the 

location, characteristics and attributes of 

the Weiss Highway which have been 

summarized above. The claimed rightof-way width ranges from 40 to 60 feet. 

2. Centerline description of the road 

based on Global Positioning System 

(GPS) data. 

3. Detailed descriptions of the rightof-way on 17 identified segments 

passing through public lands including 

beginning and end points, surface type, 

and disturbed width. The application 

identifies the disturbed right-of-way 

width as 40 feet wide on eight segments 

(43.3 miles) and 60 feet wide on nine 

segments (45.4 miles). 

4. Legal description by aliquot part 

(e.g., 1⁄41⁄4 section) of the land parcels 

through which the road passes. 

5. Maps showing location of the Weiss 

Highway and the location and dates of 

water diversion points and mining 

locations to which the highway 

provides access. 

6. Aerial photography dated 1976 and 

1990. 

7. Signed and notarized affidavits by 

seven persons attesting to the road 

location; its establishment as a highway 

prior to October 21, 1976; familiarity 

with the road character and attributes 

including type of travel surface, 

disturbed width, associated 

improvements and ancillary features 

such as bridges, cattleguards, etc.; 

current public usage of the road; the 

historic and current purposes for which 

the road is used; and evidence of 

periodic maintenance. 

8. Recent photographs of the highway 

at various points along its alignment. 

The State of Utah did not identify any 

known adverse claimants of the 

identified public highway rights-of-way. 

If approved, the recordable disclaimer 

document would confirm that the 

United States has no property interest in 

the public highway right-of-way as it is 

identified in the official records of the 

Bureau of Land Management as of the 

date of the disclaimer document. 

Comments, including names and 

street addresses of commenters, will be 

available for public review at the Utah 

State Office (see address above), during 

regular business hours 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

local time, Monday through Friday, 

except holidays. Individual respondents 

may request confidentiality. If you wish 

to hold your name or address from 

public review or from disclosure under 

the Freedom of Information Act, you 

must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comments. Such 

requests will be honored to the extent 

allowed by law. All submissions from 

organizations or business will be made 

available for public inspection in their 

entirety. Anonymous comments will not 

be accepted.

Dated: January 27, 2004. 

Don Banks, 

Acting State Director.

[FR Doc. 04–2651 Filed 2–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–DQ–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[CO–200–1610–DU] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare the South 

Park Land Tenure Adjustment Plan and 

Amend the Royal Gorge Resource 

Management Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

SUMMARY: This document provides 

notice that the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) will initiate a 

comprehensive planning effort to 

address land tenure adjustments for a 

portion of the Royal Gorge Field Office. 

The plan, entitled the South Park Land 

Tenure Adjustment Plan, will focus on 

72,000 acres of BLM administered lands 

that lie in the South Park planning unit 

and the northern end of the Badger 

Creek planning unit in Park County, 

Colorado. The land tenure plan would 

potentially amend the Royal Gorge 

RMP, that currently states that BLM 

would dispose of all BLM-administered 

lands in Park County. The land tenure 

plan and plan amendment would 

reevaluate these decisions by examining 

other possible land tenure scenarios. 

The amendment process will be used to 

identify those lands to be retained in 

public ownership and those that can 

still be disposed of. The amendment 

process will attempt to reconcile the 

needs of the public while protecting the 

cultural and natural resources of the 

BLM-managed lands. The EA will 

analyze and compare the impacts of any 

changes in land tenure adjustment 

status with the continuation of current 

management, and other alternatives that 

may be identified. 

The BLM will prepare the amendment 

and associated EA pursuant to the BLM 

planning regulations in 43 CFR 1600. 

6002 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 26 / Monday, February 9, 2004 / Notices 

The plan will fulfill the needs and 

obligations set forth by the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act (FLPMA), and BLM management 

policies. The BLM will ask the Park 

County Commissioners and the 

Colorado Division of Wildlife to be 

cooperators on the plan amendment. 

BLM will work with interested parties 

to identify the management decisions 

that are best suited to local, regional, 

and national needs. The public scoping 

process will identify planning issues 

and develop planning criteria. The BLM 

will prepare the land tenure plan 

through coordination with other federal, 

state and local agencies, and affected 

users of BLM-administered lands.

ADDRESSES: Please send written 

comments to Bureau of Land 

Management, Royal Gorge Field Office, 

ATTN: South Park Land Tenure Plan, 

3170 East Main Street, Canon City, CO 

81212; FAX 719–269–8599.

DATES: This notice initiates the public 

scoping process. Comments on issues 

and concerns can be submitted in 

writing to the address listed above and 

will be accepted throughout the creation 

of the Draft RMP amendment/EA. All 

public meetings will be announced 

through the local news media, 

newsletters, and the BLM Web site at: 

http://www.co.blm.gov/ccdo/canon.htm,

at least 15 days prior to the event. The 

minutes and list of attendees for each 

meeting will be available in the Field 

Office and at the Web site, and they will 

be open for 30 days to any participant 

who wishes to clarify the views they 

expressed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

further information and/or to have your 

name added to the mailing list, contact 

Pete Zwaneveld, Co-Team Leader, at the 

Royal Gorge Field Office address listed 

above or by calling (719) 269–8559, or 

e-mail at rgfo_comments@blm.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM 

will hold public meetings during the 

plan scoping period. Early participation 

is encouraged and will help determine 

the future land tenure status of the 

BLM-administered lands involved in 

this amendment. In addition to the 

ongoing public participation process, 

the BLM will provide formal 

opportunities for public participation by 

requesting comments upon BLM’s 

publication of the draft RMP 

amendment, the EA, and the (unsigned) 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

(FONSI). The BLM will notify the 

Governor of Colorado, the Park County 

Commissioners, adjacent landowners, 

and potentially affected members of the 

public on the proposed changes in land 

tenure. Documents pertinent to this 

proposal may be examined at the Royal 

Gorge Field Office. Comments, 

including names and street addresses of 

respondents, will be available for public 

review at the Royal Gorge Field Office 

during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 

4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 

except holidays, and may be published 

as part of the EA. Individual 

respondents may request 

confidentiality. If you wish to withhold 

your name or street address from public 

review or from disclosure under the 

Freedom of Information Act, you must 

state this prominently at the beginning 

of your written comment. Such requests 

will be honored to the extent allowed by 

law. All submissions from organizations 

or businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, will be 

available for public inspection in their 

entirety. 

The BLM-managed lands in Park 

County are scattered and, in many cases, 

difficult to manage and hard for the 

public to access or use. The current 

RMP decisions call for disposal of most 

of these lands. Since approval of the 

RMP in 1996, several new issues have 

arisen that bring into question the 

disposal of some of these lands. These 

issues include an expression by local 

citizens and the Park County 

Commissioners of the value of the BLMadministered lands to the public as a 

whole; the status of the mountain plover 

as a BLM sensitive species; the 

recognition by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife 

Service of the importance of fens 

(wetlands of concern); and the 

completion of a Strategic Master Plan 

for Park County. The plover and fen 

issues restrict BLM in the disposal of 

BLM-administered lands. Consolidation 

of BLM-administered lands to 

accommodate these issues has become a 

more desirable option. To do this, BLM 

would have to amend the Royal Gorge 

RMP with new decisions on land 

tenure. 

Preliminary issues and management 

concerns have been identified by BLM 

personnel, other agencies, and in 

meetings with individuals, the Park 

County Commissioners, and user 

groups. They represent the BLM’s 

knowledge to date on the existing issues 

and concerns with current management. 

The preliminary issues include: impacts 

to users of BLM-administered lands and 

adjacent private landowners; impacts to 

wildlife habitat; and impacts to water 

quality, vegetation, including riparian 

and wetland areas, and soils. These 

issues, along with others that may be 

identified through public participation, 

will be considered in the planning 

process. After gathering public 

comments on what issues the plan 

amendment should address, the 

suggested issues will be placed in one 

of three categories: 

1. Issues to be resolved in the plan 

amendment; 

2. Issues resolved through policy or 

administrative action; or 

3. Issues beyond the scope of this plan 

amendment. 

Rationale will be provided in the plan 

for each issue placed in category two or 

three. In addition to these major issues, 

a number of management questions and 

concerns will be addressed in the plan 

amendment. The public is encouraged 

to help identify these questions and 

concerns during the scoping phase. 

An interdisciplinary approach will be 

used to develop the plan amendment in 

order to consider the variety of resource 

issues and concerns identified. 

Disciplines involved in the planning 

process will include specialists with 

expertise in rangeland management, 

minerals and geology, forestry, outdoor 

recreation, law enforcement, 

archaeology, wildlife and fisheries, 

lands and realty, hydrology, soils, 

vegetation, and fire.

Roy L. Masinton, 

Field Manager.

[FR Doc. 04–2652 Filed 2–6–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–JB–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[NM–910–04–1020–PH] 

New Mexico Resource Advisory 

Council, Notice of Call for Nominations

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of public meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act and the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act of 1972, the U. S. 

Department of the Interior, Bureau of 

Land Management, New Mexico 

Resource Advisory Council (RAC) will 

meet as indicated below.

DATES: The meeting dates are February 

26–27, 2004, has been moved from 

Marbob Energy, 2208 West Main, 

Artesia, New Mexico. The new location 

is the Artesia Country Club, 2701 W. 

Ritchie, Artesia, New Mexico. The 

meeting begins at 8 a.m. on both days 

and will adjourn at approximately 5 

p.m. on Thursday and 11:30 a.m. on 

Friday. The three established RAC