[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 20, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 38299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15492]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NMNM 94897]


Public Land Order No. 7457; Partial Modification of Two Executive 
Orders and Transfer of Jurisdiction; New Mexico

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Public Land Order.

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SUMMARY: This order modifies two Executive orders insofar as they 
affect approximately 4,526 acres of land by changing the reservation of 
the land for military purposes to a reservation of the land for Bureau 
of Indian Affairs programs and establishing a 20-year term. The Army 
Corps of Engineers has filed a partial relinquishment of their 
reservation under these executive orders. Jurisdiction of the land is 
transferred from the Secretary of the Army to the Secretary of the 
Interior for management by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The land will 
remain closed to surface entry and mining to protect an area having 
cultural, historical, religious, geological, and archeological 
significance to the Navajo Nation and the Pueblo of Zuni.

EFFECTIVE DATE: June 20, 2000.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Debby Lucero, BLM Albuquerque Field 
Office, 435 Montano Road NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87107, 505-761-
8787.
    By virtue of the authority vested in the Secretary of the Interior 
by Section 204 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 
43 U.S.C. 1714 (1994), it is ordered as follows:
    1. The Executive Orders dated February 18, 1870 and March 26, 1881, 
which withdrew public land and reserved the land for use by the 
Department of the Army, are hereby modified to establish a 20-year term 
and to transfer jurisdiction to the Secretary of the Interior and 
reserve the land for use and administration by the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs. The land is described as follows:

New Mexico Principle Meridian

T. 13 N., R. 16 W.,
    Sec. 6, lot 6.
T. 13 N., R. 17 W.,
    Sec. 1, lots 1 to 4, inclusive;
    Sec. 2, lots 1 to 4, inclusive;
    Sec. 3, lots 9 to 11, inclusive.
T. 14 N., R. 16 W.,
    Sec. 19, lots 1 to 4, inclusive;
    Sec. 30, lots 1 to 4, inclusive;
    Sec. 31, lots 1 to 4, inclusive.
T. 14 N., R. 17 W.,
    Secs. 24, 25, and 26;
    Sec. 27, lots 5 to 8, inclusive, and E\1/2\;
    Sec. 34, lots 5 to 10, inclusive, NE\1/4\, and N\1/2\SE\1/4\;
    Sec. 35, lots 1 to 4, inclusive, N\1/2\, and N\1/2\S\1/2\;
    Sec. 36, lots 1 to 4, inclusive, N\1/2\, and N\1/2\S\1/2\.

    The area described contains approximately 4,526 acres in 
McKinley County.

    2. The land described in paragraph 1 continues to be withdrawn from 
settlement, sale, location, or entry under the general land laws, 
including the United States mining laws (30 U.S.C. Ch.2 (1994)), but 
not from leasing under the mineral leasing laws, to protect an area 
having cultural, historical, religious, geological and archeological 
significance to the Navajo Nation and the Pueblo of Zuni. The withdrawn 
land is to be managed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for these values, 
as well as, other compatible uses. This withdrawal will expire 20 years 
from the effective date of this order unless, as a result of a review 
conducted before the expiration date pursuant to Section 204(f) of the 
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. 1714(f) 
(1994), the Secretary determines that the withdrawal shall be extended.
    3. The land and resources shall be managed by the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs, its successors or assignees, in accordance with the Memorandum 
of Agreement between the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and the 
Department of the Interior. The Memorandum of Agreement shall be 
incorporated into any future land transfers for the life of the 
Memorandum of Agreement. The Memorandum of Agreement may be reviewed 
and amended by the agencies as necessary.
    4. The Army and its officers, agents, employees, contractors, and 
subcontractors will have the right of access, upon reasonable notice, 
to enter the land described in this order for the purposes of 
activities related to the Fort Wingate Depot Activity Installation 
Restoration Program and other environmentally related compliance 
programs and to construct, operate, maintain or undertake response and 
remedial actions to implement this program.
    5. The Army represents that, to the best of its knowledge, no 
unexploded ordnance are currently present on the land described in this 
order. Due to the former use of the land as an active military 
installation, there is a possibility that unexploded ordnance may exist 
on the land. Upon due notice, the Army agrees to remove any such 
remaining unexploded ordnance discovered on the land, as required under 
applicable law and regulations, as expeditiously as is reasonable and 
practicable, subject to the availability of funds.

    Dated: June 7, 2000.
Sylvia V. Baca,
Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 00-15492 Filed 6-19-00; 8:45 am]
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