30256 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 116 / Friday, June 14, 1996 / Notices

Parties (currently 132 countries), as well

as international non-governmental

organizations. In addition, ERM is

meeting in person with several

governments, in order to obtain more

detailed responses to the questionnaire

and in order to assist ERM in preparing

its report on the effectiveness of the

Convention. Each country that is visited

has been asked by ERM to

independently decide how to consult

with neighboring countries, as well as

with non-governmental organizations;

the questionnaire sent to the Parties

recommends broad consultation. The

United States supports an exceedingly

broad, transparent, and consultative

process, with active input from all nongovernmental organizations interested

in the effectiveness of CITES and the

conservation of species subject to

international trade. ERM has stated that

it is limited in the countries it plans to

visit, based on limited time and funds.

The Monitoring Committee mentioned

above worked with ERM to plan the

country visits. ERM plans to consult

with the following CITES regions and

countries during June and July 1996;

those consultations will either involve a

personal delegation (an ERM

representative) or a consultation incountry by ERM’s regional office staff:

Europe (delegation to Brussels for

meetings with the European

Commission and European CITES

Committee), Asia (Japan and Thailand

for the delegation, China and India for

consultations); Oceania (Australia and

Papua New Guinea for consultations);

North America (delegation to the United

States); Africa (delegation to Zimbabwe,

consultations in Cameroon, Egypt,

Kenya, South Africa, and Senegal), and

Central and South America and the

Caribbean (consultations in Argentina,

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and

possibly Trinidad and Tobago). The

United States will make every effort to

include representatives of Canada and

Mexico in the meetings and

consultations in the United States.

The United States will review

comments received from national and

international non-governmental

organizations based in the United

States, in the formulation of its response

to the questionnaire. Representatives of

the Service, as CITES Management and

Scientific Authority, along with other

federal agencies, will meet with the

ERM delegation to provide input on the

U.S. responses to the questionnaire and

the U.S. views on how to improve the

effectiveness of the Convention. The

public meeting with non-governmental

organizations that is announced in this

Notice will provide those organizations

with an opportunity to provide input

directly to ERM. ERM will use that

information in the preparation of its

report to the Standing Committee.

Author: This notice was prepared by Mark

Phillips and Dr. Susan S. Lieberman, Office

of Management Authority, U.S. Fish and

Wildlife Service (703/358–2095; fax 703/

358–2280).

Dated: June 6, 1996.

J.L. Gerst,

Acting Director.

[FR Doc. 96–15201 Filed 6–13–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P

Bureau of Land Management

[CA–065–06–1990–01]

Environmental Impact Statement for

the California Desert Conservation

Area, CA

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management,

Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to close the

public scoping period regarding the

preparation of an Environmental Impact

Statement for an open pit, heap leach

gold mine on portions of public lands in

the California Desert Conservation Area,

Kern County, CA. Comments will be

accepted until June 30, 1996.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, the Bureau of Land

Management (BLM) will be closing the

scoping comment.

ADDRESSES: Scoping comments may be

sent to: BLM Ridgecrest Resource Area

Manager, 300 S. Richmond, Ridgecrest,

CA 93555, ATTN: Ahmed Mohsen, EIS

Coordinator.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Golden

Queen is proposing to construct and

operate the Soledad Mountain Project,

an open pit precious metals (gold and

silver) mining and cyanide leaching

processing operation at the Soledad

Mountain project area located

approximately five miles southwest of

the town of Mojave in Kern County,

California.

The proposed action includes:

construction of facilities; mining and

processing of precious metals ores at the

rate of three to four million tons per

year for a period of ten to sixteen years;

stockpiling of overburden materials;

sales of overburden materials as

aggregate and construction materials;

and reclamation of the project site.

The project area is approximately

1,228 acres, of which 959 acres are

private land and 269 acres are

unpatented mining claims on public

lands administered by BLM. The

proposed surface disturbance is

approximately 782 acres on private

lands and 153 acres on public lands.

The proposed mining operation

includes twelve interconnected open pit

mining areas within the ultimate pit

boundary of the proposed open pit.

A March 28, 1996 Notice invited

comments and suggestions on the scope

of the analysis and notified the public

of upcoming meetings.

Two public meetings were held on:

Date: April 16, 1996, Tuesday

Time: 6:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m.

Place: Rosamond High School, 2925

Rosamond Blvd., Rosamond, CA

93560, Glennan Gymnasium

Date: April 17, 1996, Wednesday

Time: 6:30 p.m.–10:00 p.m.

Place: Mojave High School, 15732 ‘‘O’’

St., Mojave, CA 93501, Mustang

Gymnasium.

Comments were received from the

attendees during the public meetings

and by mail. Comments will be accepted

until June 30, 1996.

BLM has set up a WEB PAGE for

sharing information on the process and

the project. It can be accessed by

reaching http://www.ca.blm.gov/

GoldenQueen

For further information contact:

Ahmed Mohsen, BLM EIS Coordinator

at (619) 384–5421.

Dated: May 24, 1996.

Lee Delaney,

Area Manager.

[FR Doc. 96–15081 Filed 6–13–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–40–M

National Park Service

Final General Management Plan, SaintGaudens National Historic Site, New

Hampshire; Notice of Availability

Pursuant to Council on

Environmental Quality regulations and

National Park Service policy, the

National Park Service (NPS) announces

the release of the Saint-Gaudens

National Historic Site General

Management Plan/Final Environmental

Impact Statement, New Hampshire.

In accordance with section 102(2)(C)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, the National Park Service

has prepared and announces the release

of the Final Saint-Gaudens National

Historic Site General Management Plan

and Environmental Impact Statement,

New Hampshire. An environmental

impact statement is required to assess

the impacts of implementing the

General Management Plan. The National