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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 6 (Friday, January 10, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2018-2019]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-30542]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[BLM_OR_FRN_MO4500181460]

Notice of Availability of the Bridge Creek Area Allotment 
Management Plans Draft Environmental Impact Statement in the Andrews 
Field Office, Burns District, Oregon

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

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 (FLPMA), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces 
the availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for 
the Bridge Creek Area Allotment Management Plans.

DATES: To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider comments in the 
Draft EIS, please ensure that the BLM receives your comments within 45 
days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
publishes its Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft EIS in the 
Federal Register. The EPA usually publishes its NOAs on Fridays.

ADDRESSES: Written comments related to the Bridge Creek Area Allotment 
Management Plans Draft EIS may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2013546/510.
     Email: [email protected].
     Fax: (541) 573-4411.
     Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Burns District, ATTN: Don 
Rotell BCA Draft EIS, 28910 Hwy. 20 West, Hines, OR 97738.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined at the Burns 
District Office, 28910 Hwy. 20 West, Hines, OR 97738, or online at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2013546/510.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: District Manager, Donald Rotell, BLM 
Burns District Office, 28910 Highway 20 West, Hines, Oregon 97738; 
telephone: (541) 573-4422; email: [email protected]. 
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. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered

[[Page 2019]]

within their country to make international calls to the point-of-
contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bridge Creek Area consists of 
approximately 39,062 acres in southeastern Oregon within the Hammond, 
Mud Creek, Hardie Summer, and Hammond Fenced Federal Range (FFR) 
Allotments, located approximately 60 miles south of Burns, Oregon, near 
the town of Frenchglen. The allotments are located within the Andrews 
Field Office and partially within the Steens Mountain Cooperative 
Management and Protection Area.
    There is currently no grazing preference or grazing authorization 
associated with the four allotments in the project area. Through the 
alternatives in the EIS, the BLM will consider whether to issue 10-year 
grazing permits and approve 4 Allotment Management Plans that outline 
seasonal grazing systems, grazing utilization thresholds, monitoring, 
and range developments. Following issuance of the Final EIS, BLM would 
sign a Record of Decision (ROD). If the ROD selects livestock grazing 
as an action, the BLM will issue a separate decision allocating forage 
and grazing permits by following the grazing regulations applying to 
conflicting applications at 43 CFR 4130.1-2. The BLM received multiple 
applications for grazing permits following a Notice of Available Forage 
issued in 2020.
    In 2023, the BLM assessed these four allotments for conformance to 
Standards and Guidelines (S&Gs) for achieving rangeland health as part 
of the 2023 Bridge Creek Area Land Health Assessment and determined 
that not all applicable standards within these four allotments were 
achieved. Causal factors included shrub cover reduction through fire 
and historic sagebrush removal, crested wheatgrass seeding and 
maintenance, annual grass increases following fire, juniper 
encroachment, drought, upstream impacts, channel incisions caused by 
grazing practices prior to 1984, and current unauthorized grazing.
    The purpose of the action is to: (1) respond to external requests 
to consider issuing 10-year term livestock grazing permit(s) for the 
Hammond, Mud Creek, Hardie Summer, and Hammond FFR allotments; (2) 
consider assigning grazing preference to one or more base properties; 
(3) respond to requests to adjust pasture and allotment boundaries and 
animal unit months (AUMs); (4) respond to an external request to 
increase active use AUMs in the Hammond Allotment to manage its higher 
crested wheatgrass production; (5) implement allotment management plans 
for the Hammond, Hardie Summer, Mud Creek, and Hammond FFR allotments; 
and (6) reduce standing fine fuel biomass through biological thinning 
of forage in the Hammond, Hardie Summer, and Mud Creek allotments.
    The BLM need for the action is to: (1) respond to external requests 
for issuance of grazing permit(s) and modification of grazing 
management related activities; (2) ensure that grazing management 
practices occurring on public land meet the Standards of Rangeland 
Health and conform with the Guidelines for Livestock Grazing 
Management; (3) ensure any authorized livestock grazing is consistent 
with applicable Resource Management Plans; (4) ensure proper active use 
of AUM levels, season of use, and livestock management to maintain or 
improve the land health, vigor, and ecological processes within the 
allotments; and (5) reduce fine fuel biomass accumulation to maintain 
plant vigor.
    The BLM is analyzing five alternatives. Across all of the action 
alternatives, a common objective is to strive to meet or make 
significant progress toward meeting Oregon/Washington Standards for 
Rangeland Health & Guidelines for Livestock Grazing (BLM 1997), to 
comply with 2015 Oregon Greater Sage-Grouse (GRSG) Resource Management 
Plan Amendment (Greater Sage-Grouse ARMPA; BLM 2015b) objectives, and 
comply with the statutory and regulatory requirements of FLPMA and the 
Taylor Grazing Act of 1934.
    Alternative 1 would include issuing grazing permit(s) for the 
allotments with terms and conditions identical to the previously issued 
permit, which expired in 2014. This alternative would not include any 
range developments.
    Alternative 2 is the Agency Developed Alternative and would include 
issuance of an allotment management plan and grazing permit(s) with 
site specific terms and conditions, range developments, and revised 
allotment and/or pasture boundaries to provide periodic growing season 
rest, flexibility, and adaptive management to all allotments. This 
alternative would increase permitted AUMs within the Hammond Allotment 
and authorize limited non-renewable grazing, construction of 6.5 miles 
of new fences, and removal of 8.7 miles of fencing.
    Alternative 3 would include issuance of grazing permit(s) with site 
specific terms and conditions, range developments, changes to allotment 
and pasture boundaries, a modified season of use for each allotment to 
ensure periodic growing season rest in all pastures and authorize 
limited non-renewable grazing. This alternative would increase AUMs 
permitted within all allotments, and authorize construction of 1 new 
corral, up to 2.7 miles of water pipelines, 3 troughs, 7.6 miles of new 
fences, and removal of 5.6 miles of fencing.
    Alternative 4 would include issuing grazing permit(s) with reduced 
AUMs, a restricted season of use, and would not include any boundary 
adjustments or constructing or removing any range developments. 
Alternative 5 is the No Action Alternative; no livestock grazing 
permits would be issued, and no new developments would be authorized or 
constructed. Should the BLM determine to hold public meetings, the 
specific date(s) and location(s) of any meeting will be announced in 
advance through local media press releases and the project's ePlanning 
page shown in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.
    Comments on the draft EIS must be submitted in accordance with the 
DATES section of this notice to the contacts listed in the ADDRESSES 
section of this notice. To assist the BLM in identifying issues and 
concerns related to this project, comments should be as specific as 
possible.
    Public Disclosure of Comments: Before including your address, phone 
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in 
your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment--including 
your personal identifying information--may be made publicly available 
at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your 
personal identifying information from public review, we cannot 
guarantee that we will be able to do so.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6, 40 CFR 1506.10) (2023).)

Donald Rotell,
District Manager, Burns District.
[FR Doc. 2024-30542 Filed 1-8-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-24-P
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