[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 215 (Monday, November 6, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66553-66554]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-28365]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NM-910-00-1020-PB]


New Mexico Resource Advisory Council Meeting

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Council Meeting.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
and the Federal Advisory Committee Act of 1972 (FACA), 5 U.S.C. 
appendix 1, The Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management 
(BLM), announces a meeting of the New Mexico Resource Advisory Council 
(RAC). The meeting will be held on January 25 and 26, 2001, at the 
Holiday Inn Express Conference Center, in the Neptune Room, 1100 
California N.E., Socorro, New Mexico 87801. There will be an optional 
all day field trip on Wednesday, January 24, 2001. Transportation will 
be provided for RAC members. The optional field trip will be organized 
by the Socorro Field Office of the BLM. The Field Tour will leave from 
the Holiday Inn Express at 8:00 a.m. The first stop will be The Box 
Special Management Area to visit the renowned rock climbing recreation 
area. Significant use has led the Socorro Field Office to enter into an 
extensive contracted cultural survey that will test, record, and 
mitigate significant cultural properties that are currently threatened 
by recreational users. There will follow a stop at Datil Well 
Campground before seeing the Horse Mountain urban interface hazardous 
fuels reduction project. Socorro Field Office is dedicated to 
protecting the sensitive natural resources within the Wildlife Study 
Area, and to protecting the rural homeowners in the area from potential 
catastrophic wildfire. The tour will proceed to Pelona Mountain to see 
how prescribed fire projects over the last seven or eight years 
minimized potentially catastrophic effects that were likely to have 
been evident during this summer's 32,000 acre Chance wildfire. Land 
exchange consolidation efforts and easement acquisitions will also be 
viewed along the way as will issues relative to access along a current 
powerline. The last stop will be at the Kellogg Canyon watershed 
project in which BLM and the USFS have worked cooperatively to complete 
fire and watershed restoration projects. Those interested may continue 
on to the proposed site of the Camino Real International Heritage 
Center and the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to see the birds 
return at dusk. In case of bad weather, there is an alternate plan for 
the tour. The meeting on Thursday, January 25, 2001, will start at 8:00 
a.m. and will end about 5:00 p.m. The draft agenda for the RAC meeting 
includes agreement on the meeting agenda, any RAC comments on the draft 
minutes of the last RAC meeting on October 11 through 13, 2001, in 
Silver City, New Mexico, and a check-in from the RAC members. The focus 
of the meeting will be on all aspects of wildfire. Presentations will 
include discussion. Invited speakers are: Dr. Carl Edminster of the 
Rocky Mountain Research Station in Flagstaff, Arizona; Doug Boykin, 
District Forester with New Mexico Forestry and Resources Conseration 
Division in Socorro; Brad Vierra, President, New Mexico Archaeological 
Council; Tom Swetnam of the Tree Ring Laboratory at the University of 
Arizona; Bob Lee, Fire Management Officer, of the New Mexico State 
Office of the BLM, and Dave Heft, Wildlife Biologist and Dan Huisjen, 
Fire Management Officer, of the Socorro BLM Field Office.
    The three established RAC Subcommittees may have late afternoon or 
evening meetings on Wednesday, January 24, after the optional field 
trip, or on Thursday, January 25, after the meeting. The exact time and 
location of possible Subcommittee meetings will be established by the 
Chairperson of each Subcommittee and be available to the public 
following the field trip on Wednesday, January 24, and during the RAC 
meeting on Thursday, January 25, for that evening. That information 
will also be available at the desk of the Holiday Inn Express on those 
two days.

[[Page 66554]]

On Friday, January 26, the meeting starts at 8:00 a.m. and will end 
about 3:00 pm. The ending time of 3:00 p.m. may be changed depending on 
the work remaining for the RAC. The meeting is open to the public, and 
starting at 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, 2001, there will be an 
additional 15 minute Public Comment Period for members of the public 
who are not able to be present for the regular Public Comment Period on 
Friday, January 26, to address the RAC. The meeting on Friday, January 
26, will start at 8:00 a.m. with a review of the agenda thus far. At 
8:15 a.m. are scheduled RAC Subcommittee Reports from the Urban and 
Open Space Subcommittee, the Roads and Trails Subcommittee, and the Oil 
and Gas Subcommittee. The regular Public Comment Period for the Public 
to address the RAC is on Friday, January 26, 2001, from 10:00 a.m. to 
12:00 noon. The RAC may reduce or extend the end time of 12:00 noon 
depending on the number of people wishing to address the RAC. Anyone 
wishing to address the RAC should be present at the 10:00 a.m. starting 
time. The length of time available for each person to address the RAC 
will be established at the start of the public comment period and will 
depend on how many people wish to address the RAC, but usually not more 
than 15 minutes. At the completion of public comments, the RAC may 
continue discussion on its agenda items. Scheduled at 1:00 p.m. are the 
BLM State of the Field Office Reports, presented by the Field Office 
Managers.
    These reports are followed by RAC discussions and any RAC 
recommendations, development of draft agenda items, selection of a 
location for the next RAC meeting and a RAC assessment of the current 
meeting.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary White, New Mexico State Office, 
Office of External Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, 1474 Rodeo Road, 
P.O. Box 27115, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502-0115, telephone (505) 438-
7404.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Resource Advisory Council 
is to advise the Secretary of the Interior, through the BLM, on a 
variety of planning and management issues associated with the 
management of public lands. The Council's responsibilities include 
providing advice on long-range planning, establishing resource 
management priorities and assisting the BLM to identify State and 
regional standards for rangeland health and guidelines for grazing 
management.

    Dated: October 31, 2000.
M.J. Chavez,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 00-28365 Filed 11-3-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-FB-M