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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 7 (Monday, January 13, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2739-2740]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-00364]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[PO #4820000251]

Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan for the 
Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico

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 Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument 
(Monument) located in Do[ntilde]a Ana County, New Mexico. The BLM New 
Mexico State Director signed the ROD on January 8, 2025, which 
constitutes the decision of the BLM and makes the Approved RMP 
effective immediately.

DATES: The New Mexico State Director signed the ROD on January 8, 2025.

ADDRESSES: The ROD/Approved RMP are available online at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/92170/510. Printed copies of the 
ROD/Approved RMP are available for public inspection at the BLM Las 
Cruces District Office, 1800 Marquess Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico 
88005, telephone: (575) 525-4464, or can be provided upon request by 
contacting Monument Manager Lane Hauser, BLM Las Cruces District 
Office; telephone: (575) 525-4464, email [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: Monument Manager Lane Hauser, BLM Las 
Cruces District Office; telephone: (575) 525-4464; address: 1800 
Marquess Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88005; email: [email protected]. 
Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deaf-blind, hard of 
hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or Tele 
Braille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting Mr. 
Lane Houser. 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 Approved RMP replaces previous land use 
management guidance found in the 1993 Mimbres RMP, as amended, for all 
Monument objects, lands, resources, resource values, and wildlife 
habitat. The Approved RMP provides long-term management for 
approximately 496,330-acres of BLM-administered public lands in 
Do[ntilde]a Ana County, New Mexico. In accordance with Presidential 
Proclamation 9131 (79 FR 30431); Section 2 of the Antiquities Act of 
1906 (Pub. L. 59-206); the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, 
Management, and Recreation Act of 2019 (Pub. L. 116-9) (Dingell Act); 
and the Wilderness Act of 1964 (16 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), the Approved 
RMP employs protection, preservation, and conservation principles as a 
management framework to administer the Monument while providing the 
public with opportunities to observe, study, and enjoy Monument lands. 
The Approved RMP identifies land use allocations and resource 
management goals, objectives, and direction for the protection of 
objects of scientific and historic interest, preservation of wilderness 
character, and conservation of natural and cultural resources, resource 
values, and wildlife habitat.
    The Approved RMP is consistent with appropriate laws, regulations, 
executive orders and proclamations, and agency policy, including, but 
not limited to, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, the 
National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and 
section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Through the 
planning process, the BLM considered reasonably foreseeable impacts 
associated with the land use allocations and resource management 
decisions. The BLM assessed five alternatives in the Draft and Final 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and selected Alternative E as the 
Proposed RMP, now Approved RMP.
    In order to meet the purpose and need of the planning effort and 
the mandate of Presidential Proclamation 9131, the BLM developed 
decisions of allowable and prohibited uses of public lands within the 
Monument. As with all decisions in the Approved RMP, the BLM considered 
input from Tribal Nations, cooperating State and Federal agencies, the 
public, and the Office of the Governor of New Mexico.
    All clarifications and modifications made between the publication 
of the Proposed RMP and the Approved RMP are summarized in the ROD. One 
update relates to the analysis of the social cost of greenhouse gases 
in the Approved RMP. The Proposed RMP and the Final EIS relied on the 
2021 Interagency Working Group estimates to calculate the social cost 
of greenhouse gases. The ROD and Approved RMP adopt the 2023 
Environmental Protection Agency calculations for analyzing the social 
cost of greenhouse gases. The BLM also clarified the wilderness 
management goals in the Approved RMP to be consistent with the 
Wilderness Act. In addition, new management direction was added for the 
development of a travel management plan. The specific language is 
below:
     Goal: Subject to valid existing rights, exceptions or 
special provisions specifically authorized by appropriate legal 
authority, the BLM shall be responsible for preserving the Wilderness 
character of the area and so administer such area for the purpose it 
was designated by Congress. In doing so, the BLM shall not designate a 
permanent or temporary road within a designated Wilderness area for 
motorized vehicle use or mechanical transport, nor shall the BLM allow 
the

[[Page 2740]]

use of motorized equipment, motorboats, the landing of aircraft, or the 
establishment of a structure or installation within any such area.
     Management Direction: The BLM shall develop a Travel and 
Transportation Management Plan during implementation of this RMP that 
incorporates guidance, direction, restrictions, exceptions, and special 
provisions provided for in the 2019 John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, 
Management and Recreation Act, as amended; the 2009 Omnibus Public Land 
Management Act, as amended; the Federal Land Policy and Management Act 
of 1976, as amended; the Wilderness Act of 1964, as amended; or other 
applicable legal authorities, as appropriate.
    These modifications do not constitute substantial changes from the 
Proposed RMP to the Approved RMP.
    The BLM provided announcement of the availability of the Proposed 
RMP and Final EIS on October 11, 2024, (89 FR 82622) for a 30-day 
public protest period and received seven protest letters. Upon careful 
review of the issues identified in each of the seven protest letters, 
the BLM Director resolved all protests. No changes to the ROD or 
Approved RMP were necessary to address valid protests. Responses to 
protest issues were compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution 
Report (see ADDRESSES).
    The BLM provided the Proposed RMP and Final EIS to the Governor of 
New Mexico for a 60-day Governor's consistency review on October 11, 
2024. The Office of the Governor of New Mexico did not identify any 
concerns or potential inconsistencies between the Proposed RMP and 
State and local plans, policies, and programs.

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

Melanie G. Barnes,
BLM New Mexico State Director.
[FR Doc. 2025-00364 Filed 1-10-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4331-23-P
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