Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 165 / Friday, August 26, 2005 / Notices 50401

covered in the RMP amendment will be 

public lands, which include split estate 

lands, managed by BLM. Decisions in 

the RMP amendment will be made only 

on lands managed by BLM; (3) the BLM 

will use a collaborative and multijurisdictional approach, where possible, 

to jointly determine the desired future 

condition of public lands; (4) the BLM 

will make all possible attempts to 

ensure that its management 

prescriptions and amended planning 

actions are as complimentary as 

possible to other planning jurisdictions, 

within the boundaries described by law 

and policy; (5) the BLM will consider 

the management prescriptions on 

adjoining lands to minimize 

inconsistent management. To the extent 

possible, BLM will coordinate 

inventories, planning, and management 

programs with other Federal, state, 

tribal, and local governments and 

agencies; (6) management prescriptions 

will focus on the relative values of 

resources and not necessarily the 

combination of uses that will give the 

greatest economic return or economic 

output; (7) to the extent possible, the 

BLM will use current scientific 

information, research, new technologies 

and the results of resource assessments, 

monitoring and coordination to 

determine appropriate local and 

regional management strategies that will 

enhance or recover impaired 

ecosystems; and (8) the plan 

amendment will be completed in 

compliance with FLPMA, NEPA, and all 

other relevant Federal laws, executive 

orders and management policies of the 

BLM. 

Site-Specific NEPA 

While this EIS is intended to analyze 

site-specific impacts, site-specific NEPA 

analysis and documentation must 

remain adequate and detailed enough to 

identify and support any Conditions of 

Approval or other adaptive management 

actions justified by future site-specific 

considerations. This is necessary so as 

to retain BLM’s full authority at each 

decision stage to manage its lands in 

accordance with land use plans, prevent 

unacceptable impacts, and to support 

appropriate levels of protection and/or 

mitigation against effects on other 

resource values. Accordingly, additional 

site-specific NEPA analysis may be 

required before individual activities are 

approved based on a review of the 

specific conditions and the adequacy of 

the existing NEPA documentation at the 

time activities are proposed.

Patrick Gubbins, 

Price Field Manager.

[FR Doc. 05–16953 Filed 8–25–05; 8:45 am] 

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[OR–027–1610–DR; HAG 05–0050] 

Notice of Availability of Records of 

Decision for the Andrews Management 

Unit and Steens Mountain Cooperative 

Management and Protection Area 

Resource Management Plans (RMPs)/

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

and the Steens Mountain Wilderness 

and Wild and Scenic Rivers Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act (FLPMA), the Steens 

Mountain Cooperative Management and 

Protection Act of 2000 (Steens Act), and 

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 

policies, the BLM announces the 

availability of the RMPs/RODs for the 

Andrews Management Unit (AMU) and 

Steens Mountain Cooperative 

Management and Protection Area 

(CMPA), located primarily in Harney 

County in southeastern Oregon. The 

Oregon/Washington State Director 

approved the RMPs/RODs, which 

become effective immediately. In 

accordance with the Steens Act, BLM is 

also releasing the Final Steens Mountain 

Wilderness and WSRs Plan for pertinent 

lands within the CMPA.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the AMU and 

CMPA RMPs/RODs are available upon 

request from the BLM Burns District 

Office, 28910 Highway 20 West, Hines, 

OR 97738, via e-mail at 

OR_Burns_RMP@or.blm.gov, or via the 

Internet at http://www.or.blm.gov/

Burns/Planning/AndrewsSteensRMP/

RMP.htm.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Information about the plans may be 

obtained by contacting the RMP Project 

Leader, Gary Foulkes, BLM, Burns 

District Office, 29810 Highway 20 West, 

Hines, OR 97738, telephone (541–573–

4400), fax (541–573–4411), or e-mail 

(gfoulkes@or.blm.gov).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The AMU 

and CMPA RMPs/RODs were developed 

with broad public participation over a 

three-year collaborative planning 

process. These RMPs/RODs address 

management on approximately 

1,649,470 acres of public land 

consisting of the 1,221,314-acre AMU 

(public land in the Andrews Resource 

Area outside the CMPA) and public 

land in the 428,156-acre CMPA. In 

addition, 53,436 acres of the Three 

Rivers Resource Area falling within the 

CMPA were also included in this 

planning effort, and the Three Rivers 

RMP is amended as a result. The AMU 

and CMPA RMPs/RODs are designed to 

achieve or maintain desired future 

conditions determined through the 

planning process. The RMPs include a 

series of management actions to meet 

the desired resource conditions for 

upland and riparian vegetation, wildlife 

habitats, cultural and visual resources, 

livestock grazing and recreation, 

wilderness, and WSRs, as well as other 

resources. The Steens Mountain 

Wilderness and WSRs Plan addresses 

management issues associated with the 

170,084-acre wilderness area and the 

105 miles of WSRs in the CMPA. 

Management activities in the 

approved AMU and CMPA RMPs/RODs 

are essentially the same as those 

described in Alternative D for each area 

in the AMU/CMPA Proposed RMP/Final 

EIS, which was published in August 

2004. BLM received five protests on the 

Proposed RMP/Final EIS and three 

comment letters on the Steens Mountain 

Wilderness and WSRs Plan. The 

protests were resolved without changes 

to the RMPs. No inconsistencies with 

State or local plans, policies, or 

programs were identified during the 

Governor’s consistency review of the 

Proposed RMP/Final EIS. As a result, 

except for separating the text for the two 

plans, only minor editorial 

modifications were made in the RMPs/

RODs. These modifications corrected 

errors that were noted during review of 

the Proposed RMP/Final EIS and 

provide further clarification for some of 

the decisions. The Comments received 

on the Steens Mountain Wilderness and 

WSRs Plan were considered during 

development of the Final Steens 

Mountain Wilderness and WSRs Plan.

James G. Kenna, 

Associate State Director, Oregon/Washington.

[FR Doc. 05–16949 Filed 8–25–05; 8:45 am] 

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