61900 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 202 / Friday, October 17, 2008 / Notices 

time. While you can ask us in your 

comment to withhold your personal 

identifying information from public 

view, we cannot guarantee that we will 

be able to do so. If you wish us to 

withhold your name and address, you 

must state this prominently at the 

beginning of your comments. We will 

not, however, consider anonymous 

comments. We will make all 

submissions from organizations or 

businesses, and from individuals 

identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, available 

for public inspection in their entirety. 

The area encompassed under the ITP 

totals 1.35 acres along the beachfront of 

the Gulf of Mexico. The Project is 

located on the western portion of 

Perdido Key, a 16.9 mile barrier island. 

Perdido Key constitutes the entire 

historic range of the Perdido Key beach 

mouse. The Perdido Key beach mouse 

was listed as an endangered species 

under the Act in 1985 (June 6, 1985, 50 

FR 23872). The mouse is also listed as 

an endangered species by the State of 

Florida. Critical habitat was designated 

for the Perdido Key beach mouse at the 

time of listing (50 FR 23872) and revised 

on October 12, 2006 (71 FR 60238). 

We will evaluate the HCP and 

comments submitted thereon to 

determine whether the application 

meets the requirements of section 10(a) 

of the Act. If it is determined that those 

requirements are met, the ITP will be 

issued for the incidental take of the 

Perdido Key beach mouse. We will also 

evaluate whether issuance of the section 

10(a)(1)(B) ITP complies with section 7 

of the Act by conducting an intraService section 7 consultation. The 

results of this consultation, in 

combination with the above findings, 

will be used in the final analysis to 

determine whether or not to issue the 

ITP. 

Dated: September 26, 2008. 

Sam D. Hamilton, 

Regional Director, Southeast Region. 

[FR Doc. E8–24820 Filed 10–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[WY–930–09–1610–DO–015F] 

Notice of Intent To Prepare Resource 

Management Plans and Associated 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

Initiate Public Scoping, and Call for 

Coal and Other Resource Information 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent and Call for 

Coal and Other Resource Information 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that 

the Wyoming Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM) intends to prepare 

(1) a Resource Management Plan (RMP) 

for the Cody Field Office and (2) a RMP 

for the Worland Field Office. These two 

actions will require a single 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). 

These two RMPs and the associated EIS 

will be called the Bighorn Basin 

Resource Management Plan Revision 

Project. The resulting RMPs will replace 

the Washakie and Grass Creek RMPs, in 

Worland, and the Cody RMP. The BLM 

is also soliciting resource information 

for coal and other resources for the 

planning area. 

DATES: The BLM will announce public 

scoping meetings to identify relevant 

issues through local news media, a 

project newsletter, and the project Web 

site http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/ 

programs/Planning/RMPs/bighorn at 

least 15 days prior to the first meeting. 

The BLM will provide formal 

opportunities for public participation 

upon publication of the Draft RMP/EIS, 

currently scheduled for 2010. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit written 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 

Web Site: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/ 

en/programs/Planning/RMPs/bighorn. 

E-mail: BBRMP_WYMail@blm.gov . 

Mail: Worland Field Office, Attn: 

RMP Project Manager, 101 South 23rd, 

P.O. Box 119, Worland, WY 82401. 

In order to reduce the use of paper 

and control costs, we strongly encourage 

the public to submit comments 

electronically at the project Web site. 

Comments submitted to BLM for use in 

this planning effort, including names 

and home addresses of individuals 

submitting comments, are subject to 

disclosure under the Freedom of 

Information Act (FOIA) (5 U.S.C. 522). 

Written comments received during the 

public scoping process may be 

published as part of the environmental 

analysis process. After the close of the 

public scoping period, public comments 

submitted, including names, e-mail 

addresses, and street addresses of 

respondents, will be available for public 

review at the BLM Worland Office 

during regular business hours (7:45 a.m. 

to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday 

(except federal holidays). 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: For further 

information and/or to have your name 

added to the project mailing list, contact 

Caleb Hiner, RMP Project Manager, at 

the Worland Field Office (307) 347– 

5171. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

purpose of the public scoping process is 

to identify issues and planning criteria 

that should be considered in the RMP/ 

EIS and to initiate public participation 

in the planning process. BLM personnel 

will be present at scoping meetings to 

explain the planning process and other 

requirements for preparing a RMP/EIS. 

The Planning Area for the project 

includes lands within the BLM Worland 

and Cody Field Offices’ administrative 

boundaries, in all of Big Horn, Park, and 

Washakie Counties, and most of Hot 

Springs County in north-central 

Wyoming. The Planning Area includes 

all lands, regardless of jurisdiction, 

totaling 5.6 million acres; however, the 

BLM will only make decisions on lands 

that fall under the BLM’s jurisdiction. 

Lands within the Planning Area under 

the BLM’s jurisdiction make up the 

Decision Area. The Decision Area 

consists of BLM-administered surface, 

totaling 3.2 million acres, and mineral 

estate, totaling 4.2 million acres. The 

Planning Area includes 12 Wilderness 

Study Areas (WSAs), nine Areas of 

Critical Environmental Concern 

(ACECs), two areas of Special 

Designation, and seven Special 

Recreation Management Areas. 

This planning process will fulfill the 

needs and obligations set forth by the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act (FLPMA), and BLM 

management policies. The BLM will 

work collaboratively with interested 

parties to identify the management 

decisions that are best suited to local, 

regional, and national needs and 

concerns. 

The purpose of the public scoping 

process is to determine relevant issues 

that will influence the scope of the 

environmental analysis and EIS 

alternatives. These issues also guide the 

planning process. You may submit 

comments on issues and planning 

criteria in writing to the BLM at any 

public scoping meeting, or you may 

submit them to the BLM using one of 

the methods listed in the ADDRESSES

section above. To be most helpful, you 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 202 / Friday, October 17, 2008 / Notices 61901 

should submit formal scoping 

comments during the comment period. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. All submissions from 

organizations or businesses, and from 

individuals identifying themselves as 

representatives or officials of 

organizations or businesses, are 

available for public inspection in their 

entirety. The comments and list of 

attendees for each scoping meeting will 

be available to the public for 30 days 

after the scoping period to clarify the 

views expressed. 

Preliminary issues and management 

concerns have been identified by BLM 

personnel, other agencies, and in 

meetings with individuals and user 

groups. They represent the BLM’s 

knowledge to date regarding the existing 

issues and concerns with current land 

management. The major issues that will 

be addressed in this planning effort 

include: Energy and minerals 

management; climate change and 

greenhouse gas emissions; management 

of riparian areas and water quality 

concerns; livestock grazing 

management; recreation/visitor use and 

safety management; travel management, 

including Off Highway Vehicle use; 

management of wildlife habitat 

including protection of sensitive species 

habitat; land tenure adjustments, realty 

leases, and utility corridor rights-ofway; management of areas with special 

values, such as ACECs; and visual 

resource management. 

Comments received during scoping 

will be placed in one of three categories: 

(1) Issues to be resolved in the plan; (2) 

Issues to be resolved through policy or 

administrative action; or (3) Issues 

beyond the scope of this plan. 

The BLM will provide a rationale for 

the categorization of comments. In 

addition to these major issues, a number 

of management questions and concerns 

will be addressed in the RMPs. The 

public is encouraged to help identify 

these questions and concerns during the 

scoping phase. Planning criteria are the 

constraints or ground rules that are 

developed to guide and direct the 

revision of the RMPs. The planning 

criteria serve to: ensure the planning 

effort is consistent with and 

incorporates legal requirements; provide 

for management of all resource uses in 

the planning area; focus on the issues; 

identify the scope and parameters of the 

planning effort; inform the public of 

what to expect from the planning effort; 

and help ensure the RMP revision 

process is accomplished efficiently. 

Planning criteria are based on laws and 

regulations, guidance provided by the 

BLM Wyoming State Director, results of 

consultation and coordination with the 

public, input from other agencies and 

governmental entities, and Indian tribes, 

analysis of information pertinent to the 

planning area, public input, and 

professional judgment. 

Preliminary planning criteria are: (1) 

This planning effort will recognize valid 

existing rights; (2) management actions 

must comply with laws, executive 

orders, policy, and regulations; (3) lands 

covered in the RMP/EIS for the planning 

effort include lands that may affect, or 

be affected by, the management 

occurring on the BLM-administered 

public lands in the planning area; (4) 

within the planning area, there will be 

no RMP decisions made on non-federal 

land surface or mineral estate, on 

Federal lands administered by other 

Federal agencies, or the Federal mineral 

estate underlying Federal lands 

administered by other Federal agencies; 

(5) a collaborative and multijurisdictional approach will be used, 

where possible, to jointly determine the 

desired future condition and 

management direction for the public 

lands; (6) to the extent possible and 

within legal and regulatory parameters, 

BLM management and planning 

decisions will complement the planning 

and management decisions of other 

agencies, State and local governments, 

and Native American tribes, with 

jurisdictions intermingled with and 

adjacent to the planning area; (7) 

planning and management direction 

will be focused on the relative values of 

resources and not the combination of 

uses that will give the greatest economic 

return or economic output; (8) where 

practicable and timely for the planning 

effort, current scientific information, 

research, and new technologies will be 

considered; (9) Reasonably Foreseeable 

Action or Activity (RFA) scenarios for 

all land and resource uses (including 

minerals) will be developed and 

portrayed based on historical, existing, 

and projected levels for all programs; 

(10) existing endangered species 

recovery plans, including plans for 

reintroduction of endangered and other 

species, will be considered. The BLM 

will use an interdisciplinary approach 

to develop the RMPs to ensure 

consideration of the variety of resource 

issues and concerns identified. 

Specialists with expertise in the 

following disciplines will be involved 

in the planning process: rangeland 

management, minerals and geology, 

renewable energy, forestry, outdoor 

recreation, archaeology, paleontology, 

caves and karsts, wildlife and fisheries, 

lands and realty, hydrology, soils, 

sociology, special management areas, 

hazardous materials, wild horses, and 

economics. 

Parties interested in leasing and 

development of Federal coal in the 

planning area should provide coal 

resource data for their area(s) of interest. 

Specifically, information is requested on 

the location, quality, and quantity of 

Federal coal with development 

potential, and on surface resource 

values related to the 20 coal 

unsuitability criteria described in 43 

CFR part 3461. This information will be 

used for any necessary updating of coal 

screening determination (43 CFR 

3420.1–4) in the Decision Area and in 

the environmental analysis. In addition 

to coal resource data, the BLM seeks 

resource information and data for other 

public land values (e.g., air quality, 

cultural and historic resources, fire/ 

fuels, fisheries, forestry, lands and 

realty, non-energy minerals and geology, 

oil and gas (including coal-bed natural 

gas), paleontology, rangeland 

management, recreation, soil, water, and 

wildlife) in the planning area. The 

purpose of this request is to assure that 

the planning effort has sufficient 

information and data to consider a 

reasonable range of resource uses, 

management options, and alternatives 

for the public lands. 

Proprietary data marked as 

confidential may be submitted in 

response to this call for coal and other 

resource information. Please submit all 

proprietary information submissions to 

the address listed above. The BLM will 

treat submissions marked as 

‘‘Confidential’’ in accordance with 

applicable laws and regulations 

governing the confidentiality of such 

information. 

Authority: 43 CFR 1610.2(c) and 3420.1–2. 

Dated: September 29, 2008. 

Donald A. Simpson, 

Acting State Director. 

[FR Doc. E8–23536 Filed 10–16–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–22–P 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES