[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 99 (Tuesday, May 22, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28196-28197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-12801]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-10000-1610-00]


Zion National Park; Availability of Final General Management Plan 
and Final Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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[[Page 28197]]

SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Parks and Recreation Act of 
1978; section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA); section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (FLPMA) and 43 CFR part 1610, the Final General Management Plan 
(FGMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for Zion 
National Park has been prepared. The FGMP/FEIS incorporates a land use 
plan amendment for BLM's St. George Field Office (formerly called the 
Dixie Resource Area) Resource Management Plan (RMP), approved March 
1999, prepared under a joint planning effort with Zion National Park. 
This notice announces the availability of the FGMP/FEIS and describes 
the protest process for the proposed plan amendment to the BLM RMP.

DATES: Those portions of the FGMP/FEIS that concern wild and scenic 
rivers recommendations on public lands administered by BLM may be 
protested for a 30 day period to the Director of BLM. The protest 
period will commence with the date of publication of the Notice of 
Availability. Protests must be submitted to the Director of the Bureau 
of Land Management on or before June 21, 2001.
    Only those persons or organizations that participated in the 
scoping or comment periods during the planning process for the Draft 
Zion General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement leading to 
this Final General Management Plan/ Final Environmental Impact 
Statement may protest. If BLM's administrative records do not indicate 
standing in this planning process, any protest will be dismissed 
without further review. A protesting party may only raise those issues 
that he/she submitted for the record during the planning process. The 
period for filing a protest begins with publication of BLM's Notice of 
Availability for the FGMP/FEIS. The protest should include the specific 
information described in Appendix J of the FGMP. To be considered 
timely, a protest must be postmarked no later than the last day of the 
protest period. At the end of the 30-day protest period, and after the 
Governor's 60-day consistency review, the BLM's proposed land use plan 
amendment, excluding any portions under protest, will become final. 
Approval will be withheld on any portion of the BLM's land use plan 
amendment under protest until final action has been completed on such 
protest.
    BLM will prepare its own Record of Decision regarding stream 
segments and adjacent public lands that are managed by BLM. Such 
decision will constitute a plan amendment to the approved St. George 
Field Office RMP.

ADDRESSES: Protests must be in writing to the Director, Bureau of Land 
Management, Attn: Brenda Williams (LS-1050), Protests Coordinator, 1849 
C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240. Overnight Mail Address: Director, 
Bureau of Land Management; 1620 L Street NW., Suite 1075, Washington, 
DC 20036; Telephone: (202) 452-5110.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dawna Ferris-Rowley, Assistant Field 
Office Manager, St. George Field Office, Telephone: (435) 688-3216. 
Public reading copies of the FGMP/FEIS will be available for review at 
the following locations: Office of the Superintendent, Zion National 
Park, Springdale, UT 84767-1099; Telephone: (435) 772-0211; Planning 
and Environmental Quality, Intermountain Support Office-Denver, 
National Park Service, PO Box 25287, Telephone: (303) 969-2377; Office 
of Public Affairs, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, 
18th and C Streets NW., Washington, DC 20240, Telephone: (202) 208-
6843. The FGMP/FEIS is also available for review on the National Park 
Service's Internet site at www.nps.gov/planning.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On February 26, 2001, the National Park 
Service (NPS) released the FGMP/FEIS to the public. A Notice of 
Availability for the FGMP/FEIS was published by the Environmental 
Protection Agency in the Federal Register on March 23, 2001. The Draft 
General Management Plan/Draft EIS was released for public review and 
comments in November, 1999 and was followed by a 90 day comment period. 
Since the release of the Draft GMP/DEIS, public meetings, workshops, 
mailings and briefings have been conducted to solicit comments, new 
information, and ideas for the FGMP/FEIS.
    The FGMP/FEIS contains recommendations concerning the eligibility, 
classification, and suitability of rivers, their tributaries, and 
adjacent lands for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers 
System, under section 5(d)(1) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 
(as amended). These were evaluated through a cooperative NPS-BLM study, 
authorized under two Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) concerning wild 
and scenic river studies in Utah. The first MOU was signed in 1997 by 
the Governor of Utah, the BLM State Director, the Regional Forester of 
the USDA Forest Service, the Regional Director of the NPS, and affected 
local agencies. These entities agreed to cooperatively conduct wild and 
scenic river studies and to make efforts to reach consensus on the Utah 
wild and scenic river recommendations to Congress.
    In 1998, a second MOU was signed between NPS and BLM for the 
cooperative study of river segments within Zion National Park and on 
public lands contiguous to the boundaries of the Park. The 
recommendations from this NPS-BLM study of river segments on BLM-
administered public lands constitute an amendment to the St. George 
Field Office RMP (approved in 1999).
    The following six river segments (totaling 2.3 miles) on BLM-
administered public lands were evaluated as eligible, classified as 
wild, and recommended as suitable for inclusion in the national system: 
Willis Creek (T. 38 S., R. 11 W., Sec. 27: SWSW-40 acres); Beartrap 
Canyon (T. 39 S., R. 11 W., Sec. 3: SWNW-40 acres); Goose Creek (T. 39 
S., R. 10 W., Sec. 31 NESE, S2SE-120 acres); Shunes Creek, Segment A 
(T. 42 S, R. 91/2 W., Sec. 17 N2 (portions thereof); Sec. 18 N2; T. 42 
S., R. 10 W.; Sec. 1: N2N2 (portions thereof--240 acres); the head of 
the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek (T. 38 S., R. 11 W., Sec. 30: SWNW-40 
acres); and the head of Kolob Creek (T. 39 S., R. 10 W., Sec. 30-40 
acres). Although these same river segments were initially found not 
eligible for further study when considered individually in BLM's 
original inventory (except for Shunes Creek, Segment B from the dry 
fall to the Washington County line), they have been found to be both 
eligible and suitable, when considered in conjunction with contiguous 
segments in the Park. Approved land use decisions in BLM's St. George 
RMP will be amended as follows:
    Willis Creek Segment: Closed to Motorized and Non-Motorized Off-
Highway Vehicle Use; Closed to Mineral Materials; Category 3 for Fluid 
Minerals; Plan of Operation required for Locatable Minerals.
    Kolob Narrows Segment: Closed to Motorized and Non-Motorized Off-
Highway Vehicle Use; Category 3 for Fluid Minerals; Plan of Operation 
required for Locatable Minerals.
    Goose Creek Segment: Closed to Motorized and Non-Motorized Off-
Highway Vehicle Use; Category 3 for Fluid Minerals; Plan of Operation 
required for Locatable Minerals.

Robert A. Bennett,
Acting Utah State Director.
[FR Doc. 01-12801 Filed 5-21-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 1610-DQ-$$