Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 11 / Friday, January 16, 1998 / Notices 2691

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR–050–1110–00:G8–0070]

Prineville District; Shooting Restriction

on Public Lands; Oregon

January 6, 1998.

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice is hereby given that the

area legally described below is

seasonally closed to shooting.

LEGAL DESCRIPTION: This closure order

applies to all areas within Township 15

South, Range 11 East, Section 16, SE of

the SW and SW of the SE; and Section

21, NE of the NW and NW of the NE.

Effective immediately, all areas as

described above are closed to shooting

between January 1 and August 31,

annually. Shooting is defined as ‘‘the

discharge of firearms’’. A firearm is

defined as ‘‘a weapon, by whatever

name know, which is designed to expel

a projectile by the action of powder and

which is readily capable of use as a

weapon’’. The purpose of this closure is

to protect wildlife resources. More

specifically, this closure is ordered to

protect a nesting pair of golden eagles.

Currently, the occurrence of shooting at

this site jeopardizes the persistence and

nesting success of the golden eagles at

this location. Exemptions to this closure

order may be made on a case-by-case

basis by the authorized officer. This

emergency order will be evaluated in

the Urban Interface Amendment to the

Brothers/La Pine Resource Management

Plan of 1989. The authority for this

closure is 43 CFR 8364.1: Closure and

restriction orders.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Sarah Nichols, Wildlife Biologist, BLM

Prineville District Office, P.O. Box 550,

Prineville, Oregon 97754, telephone

(541) 416–6725

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Violation

of this closure order is punishable by a

fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or

imprisonment not to exceed 12 months

as provided in 43 CFR 8360.0–7.

Dated: January 6, 1998.

James G. Kenna,

Deschutes Resource Area Manager, Prineville

District Office.

[FR Doc. 98–1127 Filed 1–15–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–33–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[OR–933–4310–00; GP8–0073]

Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Medford

and Coos Bay Districts and Klamath

Falls Resource Area, Oregon; Intent to

Initiate Third Year Evaluations of

Approved Resource Management

Plans

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to collect and

analyze data as part of third year

evaluations for the Salem, Eugene,

Roseburg, Medford, Coos Bay, Klamath

Falls and Upper Klamath Basin

Resource Management Plans and

invitation for the public to participate.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) Salem, Eugene,

Roseburg, Medford, and Coos Bay

Districts and Klamath Falls Resource

Area (in the Lakeview District) are

initiating the collection of the

supplemental information and analyses

required for simultaneous Resource

Management Plan (RMP) evaluations.

All of the comprehensive land use plans

were completed and approved in 1995

and included a commitment to

evaluations based on three full years of

implementation. The seven plans guide

and control management actions on over

2,560,000 acres of BLM surface

ownership throughout western Oregon.

The public is invited to review the

available annual District program

summary reports and quarterly project

update reports, as well as the approved

plans and their plan monitoring and

evaluation appendices. The public may

contribute by identifying new sources of

information or analyses which may have

a bearing on the continued validity of

the individual or collective plans. The

evaluations will be based on the

implementation actions and plan and

project monitoring from the dates of

approval through September 30, 1998.

BLM staff have already taken actions to

determine if there has been any

significant change in the related plans of

other federal agencies, state or local

governments, or Indian tribes, or

whether there is other new data of

significance to the plan.

EFFECTIVE DATE: There is no specific

legal or regulatory requirement for

public notification or participation in

BLM plan evaluations. This notice,

together with similar notices to

electronic and print media in the local

areas, initiates a 60-day comment period

ending March 17, 1998. During this time

period, local BLM staff will be

scheduling open houses or other forums

where members of the public may visit

field offices and talk directly with key

staff about the annual reports, quarterly

updates, and RMP monitoring and

evaluation schedule. The actual

evaluations will be conducted during

fiscal year 1999 (October 1998 through

September 1999) by BLM staff from the

Oregon State Office. Any supplemental

analyses on regional, provincial,

watershed or other level issues will be

made available for public review as they

are completed and approved. For

example, analyses are expected on

cumulative economic and employment

effects and changes in regional

conditions which may be attributed to

Bureau natural resource product sales

and ecosystem recovery actions, such as

stream restoration and road closure

projects. All of the supplemental

analyses and RMP evaluations are

expected to be completed by the

summer of 1999, when they will be

available for public review, prior to

State Director approval. The State

Director’s findings will indicate whether

or not the plans are individually or

collectively still valid for continued

management direction or require plan

amendments or revisions, together with

the appropriate environmental analyses

and public participation.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO SUBMIT

COMMENTS, CONTACT ANY OF THE

FOLLOWING:

Salem District: Mark Lawrence, Assoc.

District Manager, Bureau of Land

Management, 1717 Fabry Road, SE,

Salem, OR 97306, (503) 375–5646

Eugene District: Denis Williamson,

District Manager, Bureau of Land

Management, 2890 Chad Drive, P.O.

Box 10226, Eugene, OR 97440, (541)

683–6600

Roseburg District: Cary Osterhaus,

District Manager, Bureau of Land

Management, 777 NW Garden Valley

Blvd., Roseburg, OR 97470, (541) 440–

4930

Medford District: Van Manning, Acting

District Manager, Bureau of Land

Management, 3040 Biddle Road,

Medford, OR 97504, (541) 770–2200

Coos Bay District: Neil Middlebrook,

Acting Assoc. District Manager,

Bureau of Land Management, 1300

Airport Lane, North Bend, OR 97459,

(541) 756–0100

Klamath Falls Resource Area: Barron

Bail, Area Manager, 2795 Anderson

Avenue, Bldg. 25, Klamath Falls, OR

97603, (541) 883–6916

Oregon State Office: William Bradley,

Deputy State Director for Resource

Planning, Use, and Protection, Bureau

of Land Management, 1515 SW 5th