49700 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 164 / Friday, August 22, 2008 / Notices 

Authority: 40 CFR 1506.6. 

Tom Warren, 

Acting District Manager. 

[FR Doc. E8–19396 Filed 8–21–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–100–08–1610–DQ] 

Notice of Availability of the Pinedale 

Proposed Resource Management Plan 

and Final Environmental Impact 

Statement, Wyoming 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with of the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 and the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1976, the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) and its 

cooperating agencies, have prepared a 

Proposed Resource Management Plan/ 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

(PRMP/FEIS) for the Pinedale Field 

Office. 

DATES: The BLM Planning regulations 

(43 CFR 1610.5–2) state that any person 

who meets the conditions as described 

in the regulations may protest the BLM’s 

Proposed RMP. A person who meets the 

conditions and files a protest must file 

the protest within 30 days of the date 

that the Environmental Protection 

Agency publishes this notice in the 

Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Pinedale 

PRMP/FEIS have been sent to affected 

Federal, state, and local government 

agencies and to interested parties. 

Copies of the PRMP/FEIS will be 

available for public inspection at the 

following locations: 

• Bureau of Land Management, 

Wyoming State Office, 5353 

Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 

82003. 

• Bureau of Land Management, 

Pinedale Field Office, 1625 W Pine 

Street, Pinedale, Wyoming 82941. 

Interested persons may also review 

the PRMP/FEIS on the Internet at 

http://www.blm.gov/rmp/wy/pinedale. 

All protests must be in writing and 

mailed to the following addresses: 

Regular Mail: Director (210), Attention: 

Brenda Williams, P.O. Box 66538, 

Washington, DC 20035. 

Overnight Mail: Director (210), 

Attention: Brenda Williams, 1620 L 

Street, N.W., Suite 1075, Washington, 

DC 20036. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Chuck Otto, Field Manager, or Kellie 

Roadifer, Pinedale RMP Team Leader, 

1625 W Pine Street, Pinedale, Wyoming 

82941, or by telephone at (307) 367–

5309. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Pinedale Field Office planning area 

includes public land and federal 

mineral ownership in Sublette and 

Lincoln Counties, Wyoming. The area 

includes approximately 923,000 acres of 

BLM-administered surface lands and 

approximately 1,199,000 acres of 

Federal mineral estate under Federal, 

state, and private surface. 

The Draft RMP/Draft EIS was made 

available for public review and 

comment for a 121-day period beginning 

on February 16, 2007. The Draft RMP/ 

Draft EIS described and analyzed four 

alternatives for the management of the 

public lands and resources, including 

the Federal mineral estate administered 

by the BLM Pinedale Field Office: 

Alternative 1 (No Action): Continues 

to balance the use and development of 

resources under current management 

guidance; 

Alternative 2: Provides development 

and use opportunities while minimizing 

adverse impacts to cultural and natural 

resources; 

Alternative 3: Focuses on greater 

conservation of natural and cultural 

resources while providing for 

compatible development and use; and 

Alternative 4 (Agency Preferred 

Alternative): Provides development 

opportunities while protecting sensitive 

resources. 

The key issues addressed by the 

alternatives are: (1) Development of 

energy resources and minerals; (2) 

special management designations; (3) 

public access and transportation 

planning; (4) wildland-urban interface; 

(5) management of special status 

species; (6) water quality; (7) vegetation 

management; (8) recreation activities; 

(9) cultural resources management; (10) 

air quality; and (11) wildlife 

management. 

The Draft RMP/Draft EIS included 

recommendations regarding Areas of 

Critical Environmental Concern 

(ACECs). While the Draft RMP/EIS fully 

documented the ACECs considered, to 

ensure that BLM provided the public 

with the required 60-day review and 

comment period as required by 43 CFR 

1610.7–2, the BLM published a notice of 

supplemental information describing 

the proposed ACECs and associated 

values and use limitations in the 

Federal Register on February 21, 2008. 

There are two ACECs in the existing 

Pinedale Field Office land use plan 

(1988): Rock Creek ACEC (5,300 acres) 

and Beaver Creek ACEC (3,590 acres). 

There are 6 potential new ACECs 

proposed in the Draft RMP/EIS. The 

ACECs are: 

• Trapper’s Point ACEC (550 acres 

[Alternative 2], 4,000 acres [Alternative 

4], or 9,540 acres [Alternative 3]): 

Values of concern are big game 

migration corridors, cultural and 

historic properties, and livestock 

trailing. Within this ACEC, fence 

construction and surface disturbing 

activities would be prohibited with the 

exception of activities designed to 

increase big game migration viability. 

The ACEC would be unavailable for oil 

and gas leasing. Off-road vehicle use 

would be restricted to designated roads 

and trails and subject to a seasonal 

closure from November 15 through 

April 30 annually. 

• New Fork Potholes ACEC (1,800 

acres [Alternatives 3 and 4] ): Values of 

concern are waterfowl, trumpeter swan, 

and riparian habitats. With the 

exception of those that would benefit 

wildlife habitat, surface disturbing 

activities would be prohibited. The 

ACEC would be unavailable for oil and 

gas leasing. Off-road vehicle use would 

be restricted to designated roads and 

trails. 

• Upper Green River ACEC (12,270 

acres [Alternative 3]): Values of concern 

are big game migration routes and 

migration bottlenecks, and high scenic 

and recreational values. The ACEC 

would be unavailable for oil and gas 

leasing. Off-road vehicle use would be 

restricted to designated roads and trails, 

and no net increase in miles of roads 

would be allowed. 

• White-Tailed Prairie Dog ACEC (no 

acreage estimate available [Alternative 

3]): The White-Tailed Prairie Dog 

(WTPD) ACEC would not have a 

specific area but would involve a 

number of townships where WTPD 

habitat might be found in future 

surveys. The value of concern is habitat 

for the WTPD. Surveys for prairie dog 

presence would be required prior to 

authorizing any activities. Anti-raptor 

perching devices would be required on 

any above-ground facilities located 

within 1/4 mile of WTPD towns greater 

than 12.5 acres in size, and surfacedisturbing activities would be 

prohibited in these towns. Off-road 

vehicle use would be limited to 

designated roads and trails, and 

poisoning of prairie dogs would be 

prohibited except in cases of health and 

safety emergencies. 

• Ross Butte ACEC (35,670 acres 

[Alternative 3]): Values of concern are 

significant cultural resources, 

archeological landscapes and Native 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 164 / Friday, August 22, 2008 / Notices 49701 

American sacred sites; a unique 

community of Wyoming sensitive plant 

species; high-quality paleontological 

resources; open space and dispersed 

recreation opportunities; and unique 

geology and unstable soils. The ACEC 

would be unavailable for oil and gas 

leasing and closed to the placement of 

new communication sites. Off-road 

vehicle use would be limited to 

designated roads and trails. Surface 

occupancy and disturbance would be 

prohibited on erosive soils, sensitive 

plant species habitats, and on slopes 

greater than 10 percent. 

• CCC Ponds ACEC (5,530 acres 

[Alternative 3]): Values of concern are a 

wildlife migration bottleneck on a welldefined mule deer migration route and 

recreational values including a 

developed, non-motorized trail system, 

fishing ponds, and interpretive 

facilities. The ACEC would be 

unavailable for oil and gas leasing and 

would be closed to mineral location and 

land disposal. Off-road vehicle use 

would be limited to designated roads 

and trails. 

Alternative 1 proposes to maintain the 

status of the two existing ACECs 

identified in the 1988 Pinedale RMP. 

Alternative 2 proposes to eliminate the 

two existing ACECs, and establish a new 

ACEC at Trapper’s Point (550 acres). 

Alternative 3 proposes to maintain the 

existing Rock Creek and Beaver Creek 

ACECs, and establish all of the new 

ACECs listed above (6), for a total of 

eight ACECs. 

As a result of public scoping and the 

alternative development process, 

Alternative 4 (Agency Preferred 

Alternative) proposes the following 

ACECs: Maintain the status of one 

existing ACEC (Beaver Creek); maintain 

and reduce slightly in size one existing 

ACEC (Rock Creek); and establish two 

new ACECs: Trapper’s Point (4,000 

acres) and New Fork Potholes (1,800 

acres). 

Comments received on the Draft RMP/ 

EIS from the public and internal BLM 

review comments were incorporated 

into the proposed plan. Public 

comments resulted in the addition of 

clarifying text but did not significantly 

change proposed land use decisions. 

After careful consideration of both 

public and internal comments received 

on the Draft RMP/EIS, adjustments and 

clarifications have been made to 

Alternative 4, the Preferred Alternative. 

As modified, Alternative 4 is now 

presented as the Pinedale Proposed 

RMP in the Final EIS. 

Instructions for filing a protest with 

the Director of the BLM regarding the 

PRMP/FEIS may be found in the Dear 

Reader Letter of the Pinedale PRMP/ 

FEIS and at 43 CFR 1610.5. E-mail and 

faxed protests will not be accepted as 

valid protests unless the protesting 

party also provides the original letter by 

either regular or overnight mail 

postmarked by the close of the protest 

period. Under those conditions, the 

BLM will consider the e-mail or faxed 

protests as an advance copy and it will 

receive full consideration. If you wish to 

provide the BLM with such advance 

notification, please direct faxed protests 

to the attention of the BLM protest 

coordinator at (202) 557–3599, and emails to Brenda_HudgensWilliams@blm.gov. All protests, 

including the follow-up letter (if emailing or faxing) must be in writing 

and mailed to the appropriate address, 

as set forth in the ADDRESSES section 

above. Before including your phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

protest, you should be aware that your 

entire protest—including your personal 

identifying information—may be made 

publicly availability at any time. While 

you can ask us in your protest to 

withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Jamie E. Connell, 

Acting Associate State Director. 

[FR Doc. E8–19534 Filed 8–21–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[UT–080–1610–010J] 

Notice of Availability of Vernal Field 

Office Proposed Resource 

Management Plan and Final 

Environmental Impact Statement 

(PRMP/FEIS) 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 and the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1976, the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) has prepared 

a Proposed Resource Management Plan/ 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

(PRMP/FEIS) for the Vernal Field Office. 

DATES: The BLM planning regulations 

(43 CFR 1610.5–2) state that any person 

who meets the conditions as described 

in the regulations may protest the BLM’s 

PRMP/FEIS. A person who meets the 

conditions and files a protest must file 

the protest within 30 days of the date 

that the Environmental Protection 

Agency publishes this notice in the 

Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Vernal Field 

Office PRMP/FEIS were sent to affected 

Federal, state, and local government 

agencies and to interested parties. 

Copies of the PRMP/FEIS are available 

for public inspection at: 

Vernal Field Office, 170 South 500 East, 

Vernal, UT 84078 

Utah State Office, 440 West 200 South, 

Salt Lake City, UT 84145 

Interested persons may also review 

the PRMP/FEIS on the Internet at 

http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/ 

planning.html. All protests must be in 

writing and mailed to the following 

addresses: 

Regular Mail: BLM Director (210), 

Attention: Brenda Hudgens-Williams, 

P.O. Box 66538, Washington, DC 

20035 

Overnight Mail: BLM Director (210), 

Attention: Brenda Hudgens-Williams, 

1620 L Street, NW., Suite 1075, 

Washington, DC 20036. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: 

Kelly Buckner, Vernal Field Office, 170 

South 500 East, Vernal, UT 84078; 

phone: (435) 781–4400; or e-mail at: 

Kelly_Buckner@blm.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Vernal RMP planning area is located in 

northeast Utah. The BLM administers 

approximately 1.7 million acres of 

surface estate and 2.8 million acres of 

Federal mineral estate within the 

planning area. 

The Vernal RMP will provide future 

broad-scale management direction for 

land use allocations and allowable uses 

on public lands within the planning 

area. Implementation of the decisions of 

the PRMP/FEIS would apply only to 

BLM-administered public lands and 

Federal mineral estate. In the Vernal 

Field Office Draft RMP/EIS (DRMP/ 

DEIS), which was released for a 90-day 

public review and comment period in 

January 2005, four alternatives were 

analyzed, including a No Action 

alternative. These alternatives were 

developed through issue identification 

during the scoping process. Such issues 

included: special designations (ACECs 

and WSRs), minerals and energy 

development, and recreational (OHV) 

use. In October 2007 a Supplemental 

DEIS was issued which considered an 

additional alternative emphasizing the 

protection of non-WSA lands with 

Wilderness Characteristics. 

The PRMP/FEIS would designate no 

new Areas of Critical Environmental 

Concern (ACECs), and the continuation 

of six existing ACECs, totaling 123,227 


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