[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 198 (Friday, October 11, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 82624-82625]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23440]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_OR_FRN_MO4500180774]


Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Cascade-Siskiyou 
National Monument in Oregon/Washington and California

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a 
Proposed Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) and 
by this notice is announcing the start of a 30-day protest period of 
the Proposed RMP.

DATES: This notice announces a 30-day protest period to the BLM on the 
Proposed RMP beginning with the date following the Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA) publication of its Notice of Availability 
(NOA) of the Proposed RMP/Final EIS in the Federal Register. The EPA 
usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays. Protests must be postmarked or 
electronically submitted on the BLM's ePlanning site during the 30-day 
protest period.

ADDRESSES: The Proposed RMP and Final EIS is available on the BLM 
ePlanning project website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2023675/510 and at the BLM Medford District, 3040 Biddle Rd, 
Medford, OR 97504; and the BLM Klamath Falls Field Office, 2795 
Anderson Avenue, Bldg. #25, Klamath Falls, OR 97603.
    Instructions for filing a protest with the BLM for the CSNM can be 
found at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 CFR 1610.5-2. Protests 
must be submitted at the ePlanning website listed above or to: BLM 
Director, Attention: Protest Coordinator (HQ210), P.O. Box 151029, 
Lakewood, CO 80215.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Nikki Haskett, Program Manager, 
telephone (458)-246-8861; address 3040 Biddle Rd, Medford, OR 97504; 
email <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#452729281a26362b281a372835052729286b222a33"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="47252b2a182434292a18352a3707252b2a69202831">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals in the United States who are 
deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 
711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay 
services for contacting Ms. Haskett. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The CSNM boundary, as identified by 
Presidential Proclamation No. 9564, constitutes the planning area for 
this RMP. The planning area is 170,407 acres and includes lands within 
Jackson and Klamath Counties in Oregon, and Siskiyou County in 
California. The CSNM's decision area is the approximately 113,500 acres 
of BLM-administered lands within the planning area. While most of the 
BLM-administered lands are within the BLM Ashland and Klamath Falls 
Field Offices in Oregon, approximately 5,000 acres are located within 
the BLM Redding Field Office in California.
    The BLM's current RMPs for lands in the decision area do not 
address all the legal mandates related to management of the 
congressionally designated National Conservation Lands (i.e., Soda 
Mountain Wilderness; the Jenny Creek and Spring Creek Wild and Scenic 
Rivers; the Applegate Trail, which is part of the California National 
Historic Trail; and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail) and the 
lands included in President Obama's enlargement of the monument 
boundary. In addition, some aspects of the existing RMPs covering the 
planning area need to be updated to be consistent with current BLM 
policies.
    The RMP's underlying purpose (40 CFR 1502.13) is to provide a 
management framework, including objectives and management direction, 
that guides the BLM's management of the decision area to protect and 
restore the resources, objects, and values for which the area was 
designated.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Draft RMP and EIS 90-day 
public comment period began on April 5, 2024, and ended on July 5, 
2024. The BLM held four public meetings during the public comment 
period. The BLM considered and incorporated in the Proposed RMP, as 
appropriate, comments received from the public, consulting Tribes, 
cooperating agencies, and internal BLM review. Public comments resulted 
in the addition of clarifying text, minor changes to the existing 
alternatives, and a Proposed RMP that is within the range of 
alternatives and effects analyzed in the Draft RMP/EIS. In addition to 
the

[[Page 82625]]

Proposed RMP (Alternative E), the Final EIS analyzed Alternative A (the 
no action alternative) and three action alternatives (Alternatives B, 
C, and D) from the Draft EIS.
    Alternative A, the no action alternative, represents current 
management from the 2008 Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Approved 
RMP, the 2016 Southwestern Oregon Approved RMP, and the 1993 Redding 
Approved RMP. In addition to the existing RMPs, there are several non-
discretionary designations established by Congress that apply to lands 
in the planning area and are not reflected in the current RMPs but are 
part of the no action alternative.
    Alternative B emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction, 
promotes intensive, active management to protect monument resources, 
and maximizes the potential for an array of discretionary actions that 
are compatible with the protection of CSNM objects and values.
    Alternative C emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction 
but promotes a moderate level of active management for protection, 
maintenance, and restoration of CSNM resources, and sets some 
limitations on management actions and tools available.
    Alternative D would rely primarily on natural ecosystem processes 
that would allow plant community dynamics to unfold without active 
intervention. Exceptions include the management of young conifer stands 
(plantations) that are a product of past timber harvest and thinning 
around legacy trees and along wildfire evacuation routes.
    Since the publication of the Draft RMP/EIS, the BLM has developed 
Alternative E, the Proposed RMP, based largely on Alternative C, the 
preferred alternative in the Draft RMP/EIS, and to a lesser extent 
components from the other alternatives. Similar to Alternative C, the 
Proposed RMP emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction but 
promotes a moderate level of active management for protection, 
maintenance, and restoration of CSNM resources, and sets some 
limitations on management actions and tools available. The Proposed RMP 
would not carry forward any Areas of Critical Environmental Concern 
(ACEC) or Research Natural Areas. The BLM determined that special 
management attention would be provided by management direction in the 
plan from other designations and management areas that apply monument-
wide and would adequately protect the resource or value. The BLM 
determined that the entire monument holds historic, cultural, fish and 
wildlife, and scenic values that meet the relevance and importance 
criteria for an ACEC. The Proposed RMP/Final EIS are designed to 
protect the monument's objects of scientific and historic interest 
outlined in Presidential Proclamations 7318 and 9564, which would 
safeguard these resources or values.
    The Proposed RMP was developed based on the consideration of public 
comments, cooperating agency input, and Tribal consultation; updates to 
the best available science and information; and by combining elements 
of the alternatives analyzed in the Draft RMP/EIS. Alternative E, the 
Proposed RMP, is within the range of alternatives considered in the 
Draft RMP/EIS.
    In addition to the analysis of Alternative E, the BLM made other 
changes that are summarized in Appendix T: Summary of Notable Changes.

Protest of the Proposed RMP

    The BLM planning regulations state that any person who participated 
in the preparation of the RMP and has an interest that will or might be 
adversely affected by approval of the Proposed RMP may protest its 
approval to the BLM Director. Protest on the Proposed RMP constitutes 
the final opportunity for administrative review of the proposed land 
use planning decisions prior to the BLM adopting an approved RMP. 
Instructions for filing a protest regarding the Proposed RMP with the 
BLM Director may be found online at https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/filing-a-plan-protest and at 43 
CFR 1610.5-2. All protests must be in writing and mailed to the 
appropriate address, as set forth in the ADDRESSES section earlier or 
submitted electronically through the BLM ePlanning project website as 
described previously. Protests submitted electronically by any means 
other than the ePlanning project website will be invalid unless a 
protest is also submitted as a hard copy. The BLM Director will render 
a written decision on each protest. The Director's decision shall be 
the final decision of the Department of the Interior. Responses to 
valid protest issues will be compiled and documented in a Protest 
Resolution Report made available following the protest resolution 
online at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports. Upon resolution of protests, 
the BLM will issue a Record of Decision and Approved RMP.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.9, 40 CFR 1506.9, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 1610.5)

Barry R. Bushue,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-23440 Filed 10-10-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-24-P


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