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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 2 (Friday, January 3, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 333-334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-31574]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[PO #4820000251]

Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision and Approved 
Resource Management Plan for the Rio Puerco Field Office in 
Albuquerque, NM

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability 
of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the Approved Resource Management 
Plan (RMP) for the Rio Puerco Field Office located in central and 
northwestern New Mexico. The BLM Director signed the ROD on December 
23, 2024, which constitutes the decision of the BLM and makes the 
Approved RMP effective immediately.

DATES: The BLM Director signed the ROD on December 23, 2024.

ADDRESSES: The ROD/Approved RMP is available online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/64954/510. Printed copies of the 
ROD/Approved RMP are available for public inspection at Rio Puerco 
Field Office, 100 Sun Avenue, Suite 330, Albuquerque, NM 87109, or can 
be provided upon request by contacting BLM Planning Coordinator Matt 
Caire at [email protected].
    A copy of the Protest Resolution Report is available at: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/public-participation/protest-resolution-reports.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: BLM Planning Coordinator Matt Caire, 
telephone: 505-761-8918; address: 100 Sun Avenue, Suite 330, 
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87109; 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 for contacting Mr. Caire. Individuals 
outside the United States should use the relay services offered within 
their country to make

[[Page 334]]

international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Approved RMP/ROD replaces the current 
Rio Puerco RMP (approved in 1986 and amended in 1992). The Rio Puerco 
Field Office administers approximately 731,600 acres of surface estate 
and approximately 3.6 million acres of subsurface mineral estate known 
as the decision area. These lands are within the Rio Puerco planning 
area and encompass Bernalillo, Cibola, McKinley, Sandoval, Torrance, 
and Valencia counties in central and northwestern New Mexico. The Rio 
Puerco planning area includes approximately 9.5 million acres, and 
within this area there are a mix of lands that are unaffected by this 
plan, such as national forest, national monument, Tribal land, State 
land, and private land. The planning area also includes valuable 
mineral resources and the largest population center in the State of New 
Mexico.
    The Approved RMP balances resource use and conservation, and 
addresses land-tenure adjustments, land-use authorizations, recreation, 
areas with special designations, lands with wilderness characteristics, 
livestock grazing, transportation access, renewable energy, visual 
resources, wildland/urban interface, and mineral resources.
    The Approved RMP was deveopled through a collaborative planning 
effort and describes the management actions that will be applied to 
meet desired resource conditions. The Proposed RMP was carried forward 
into the Approved RMP with minor modifications. Notably, this includes 
acknowledgement of the ancestral lands of all affiliated Tribal Nations 
within the planning area and emphasis on management direction for 
cultural consultation and continual coordination with Tribal Nations.
    The BLM provided the Proposed RMP/Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (EIS) on August 9, 2024, for a 30-day protest period and 
received 24 protest letters. The BLM resolved all protests. Responses 
to protest issues are compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution 
Report (see ADDRESSES). The BLM entered into a protest resolution 
agreement with the Pueblo of San Felipe to address protest comments 
raised during the protest period. Changes made to the Approved RMP as a 
result of protest resolution are summarized in the Approved RMP ROD.
    The BLM provided the Proposed RMP/Final EIS to the Governor of New 
Mexico for a 60-day Governor's consistency review. No inconsistencies 
with State plans, policies, or programs were identified during the 
Governor's consistency review of the RMP.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6; 43 CFR 1610.5-1)

Melanie G. Barnes,
New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-31574 Filed 1-2-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-23-P
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