[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 217 (Friday, November 8, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88716-88717]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-26049]


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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands; Baca, Las Animas, and 
Otero Counties, Colorado; Morton and Stevens Counties, Kansas; Land 
Management Plan Revision

AGENCY: Forest Service, Agriculture (USDA).

ACTION: Notice of intent to initiate the assessment phase of the land 
management plan revision for the Cimarron and Comanche National 
Grasslands.

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SUMMARY: The Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, is 
initiating the land management plan (plan) revision process, pursuant 
to the 2012 Planning Rule and as directed by the National Forest 
Management Act, for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands 
located in Southeast Colorado and Southwest Kansas. Currently, the 
Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands receive management direction 
from the 1984 Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Comanche and 
Cimarron National Grasslands Land and Resource Management Plan. 
Ultimately, this process will result in a new, separate plan for the 
Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and will guide all resource 
management activities on the grasslands for approximately fifteen 
years, while the remaining portion of the existing 1984 plan for the 
Pike and San Isabel National Forests will remain unchanged. This notice 
announces the initiation of the assessment phase, which is the 
preliminary stage of the plan revision process. The assessment will 
identify and consider relevant and readily accessible material about 
ecological, social, and economic conditions and trends in the planning 
area, including best available scientific information. Findings will be 
documented in an assessment report. Trends and conditions identified in 
the assessment will help describe the need to change the plan and 
inform revision of the plan.

DATES: In spring 2024, the Forest Supervisor of the Pike-San Isabel 
National Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands and 
staff initiated engagement with Tribes followed by additional outreach 
to county, state, and other Federal agencies. In April 2024, the Forest 
Supervisor sent Tribes formal government-to-government invitations to 
consult on the plan. In addition, in September 2024, the Forest 
Supervisor sent Tribes invitations to serve as cooperating agencies for 
the plan revision process. Counties and other local governments will 
also be given the opportunity to serve as cooperating agencies in the 
planning process. Extensive engagement with stakeholders, Tribes, 
Federal government agencies, local governments, and non-profits groups 
is planned throughout the assessment phase. Interested parties can 
learn more about dates and formats of planned public engagement 
opportunities to be held throughout the plan revision process by 
visiting the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands Plan Revision 
website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/landmanagement/planning/?cid=FSEPRD1169904.
    A draft assessment for public review and comment is anticipated in 
summer 2025. The Forest Service will review and incorporate public 
comments and additional information from tribal consultation on the 
draft assessment and produce a final assessment and need to change the 
plan that will inform subsequent phases of the plan revision process. 
The Forest Service may then initiate procedures pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to prepare a revised land 
management plan in compliance with the National Forest System land 
management planning rule (36 CFR part 219).

ADDRESSES: Send written questions to: Pike-San Isabel National Forests 
and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands, Attn: Grassland Plan 
Revision, 5575 Cleora Road, Salida, CO 81201. Questions may also be 
sent electronically to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#394a54175f4a177a7a777e6b5c4f504a505657794c4a5d58175e564f"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6417094a02174a27272a233601120d170d0b0a24111700054a030b12">[email protected]</span></a>. All 
correspondence, including names and addresses, will be part of the 
public record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Beth Davis, Forest Planner, 719-429-
1385, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#b4d9d5c6cd9ad0d5c2ddc7f4c1c7d0d59ad3dbc2"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="fd909c8f84d3999c8b948ebd888e999cd39a928b">[email protected]</span></a>; or Shawna Graves, Public Affairs Officer, 
719-466-9122, <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ea99828b9d848bc48d988b9c8f99aa9f998e8bc48d859c"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e3908b82948d82cd849182958690a396908782cd848c95">[email protected]</span></a>. Individuals who use 
telecommunications devices for the hearing impaired may call 711 to 
reach the Telecommunications Relay Service, 24 hours a day, every day 
of the year, including holidays.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Forest Management Act of 1976 
requires that the Forest Service develop a land management plan for 
every national forest and grassland. Land management plans provide the 
strategic direction for management of forest or grassland resources and 
are amendable as conditions change over time. The Pike and San Isabel 
National Forests and Comanche and Cimarron National Grasslands Land and 
Resource Management Plan was adopted in 1984. The Cimarron and Comanche 
National Grasslands (CCNGs) are currently included and managed under 
the 1984 plan. This planning process will result in a standalone 
management plan for the CCNGs. The CCNGs include two national 
grasslands (the Cimarron, 108,621 acres, located in Kansas, and the 
Comanche, 443,642 acres, located in Colorado) encompassing a total of 
552,263 acres of public land. The CCNGs largely consist of isolated and 
checkerboard parcels with minimal consolidated and contiguous Federal 
land ownership. The three largest community hubs within the planning 
area are La Junta and Springfield, Colorado, and Elkhart, Kansas.
    The planning rule requires that the Responsible Official complete 
an assessment for the development of a

[[Page 88717]]

plan revision (36 CFR 219.6). The assessment rapidly evaluates existing 
information about relevant ecological, economic, and social conditions, 
trends, and sustainability and their relationship to the land 
management plan within the context of the broader landscape (36 CFR 
219.5). The assessment must identify and evaluate existing information 
relevant to the plan area for the following: (1) Terrestrial 
ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, and watersheds; (2) Air, soil, and 
water resources and quality; (3) System drivers, including dominant 
ecological processes, disturbance regimes, and stressors, such as 
natural succession, wildland fire, invasive species, and climate 
change, and the ability of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the 
plan area to adapt to change; (4) Baseline assessment of carbon stocks; 
(5) Threatened, endangered, proposed, and candidate species, and 
potential species of conservation concern present in the plan area; (6) 
Social, cultural, and economic conditions; (7) Benefits people obtain 
from the national forest system planning area (ecosystem services); (8) 
Multiple uses and their contributions to local, regional, and national 
economies; (9) Recreation settings, opportunities and access, and 
scenic character; (10); Renewable and nonrenewable energy and mineral 
resources; (11) Infrastructure, such as recreational facilities and 
transportation and utility corridors; (12) Areas of tribal importance; 
(13) Cultural and historic resources and uses; (14) Land status and 
ownership and access patterns; and (15) Existing designated areas 
located in the plan area including wilderness and wild and scenic 
rivers and potential need and opportunity for additional designated 
areas.
    During this assessment phase, the Forest Service invites other 
government agencies, Tribes, non-governmental parties, and the public 
to share information about social, economic, and environmental 
conditions of the CCNGs and the broader landscape. Existing information 
about conditions on the CCNGs, supplemented with information gathered 
through public engagement, from cooperating agencies, and Tribal 
consultation, will be integrated into the assessment. The Forest 
Service will host public outreach forums to share progress and gather 
additional information. Information on upcoming engagement 
opportunities will be posted on the Cimarron and Comanche National 
Grasslands Plan Revision website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/landmanagement/planning/?cid=FSEPRD1169904.
    Based on knowledge of the planning area, the following will likely 
be topics of interest and will be discussed in the assessment and 
subsequent plan development phases: areas of tribal importance; at-risk 
species and species of conservation concern; livestock grazing; oil and 
gas development; watersheds and ecological integrity; fragmentation; 
land ownership patterns; habitat connectivity; paleontological 
resources; fire management; and renewable energy. The wilderness 
evaluation and the identification of eligible wild and scenic rivers 
are also potential topics of interest. Separate evaluations of both 
will be released concurrently with the assessment and will be included 
in the plan development phases.
    The 1984 Pike and San Isabel National Forests and Comanche and 
Cimarron National Grasslands Land and Resource Management Plan will 
remain in effect for the Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands 
until the plan revision process is complete and a record of decision is 
signed.
    Responsible Official: The responsible official for the revision of 
the land management plan for the Cimarron and Commanche National 
Grasslands is Ryan Nehl, Forest Supervisor, Pike-San Isabel National 
Forests and Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands.

Keith Lannom,
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest System.
[FR Doc. 2024-26049 Filed 11-7-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3411-15-P


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