78104 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLNML0000 L16100000.DQ0000 

14XL1109AF] 

Notice of Availability of the Proposed 

Prehistoric Trackways National 

Monument Resource Management Plan 

and Final Environmental Impact 

Statement, New Mexico 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA), as amended, and the 

Federal Land Policy and Management 

Act of 1976, as amended, the Bureau of 

Land Management (BLM) has prepared 

a proposed Resource Management Plan 

(RMP)/final Environmental Impact 

Statement (EIS) for the Prehistoric 

Trackways National Monument and by 

this notice is announcing its 

availability. 

DATES: BLM planning regulations 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 must file their protest within 

30 days of the date that the 

Environmental Protection Agency 

publishes its Notice of Availability in 

the Federal Register. 

ADDRESSES: Copies of the proposed 

RMP/final EIS have been sent to affected 

Federal, tribal, State, and local 

government agencies and to other 

stakeholders. Copies of the proposed 

RMP/final EIS are available for public 

inspection at the Las Cruces District 

Office, 1800 Marquess St., Las Cruces, 

NM 88005, and the New Mexico State 

Office, 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, 

NM 87502. Interested persons may also 

review the proposed RMP/final EIS at: 

http://www.blm.gov/nm/trackwaysrmp. 

All protests must be in writing and 

mailed to one of the following 

addresses: 

Regular Mail: BLM Director (210); 

Attention: Protest Coordinator; P.O. 

Box 71383, Washington, DC 20024– 

1383. 

Overnight Mail: BLM Director (210); 

Attention: Protest Coordinator; 20 M 

Street SE., Room 2134LM, 

Washington, DC 20003. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Jennifer Montoya, Planning and 

Environmental Coordinator, Las Cruces 

District Office; telephone 575–525– 

4316; address 1800 Marquess St., Las 

Cruces, NM 88005; email jamontoy@

blm.gov. Persons who use a 

telecommunications device for the deaf 

(TDD) may call the Federal Information 

Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 

to contact Ms. Montoya during normal 

business hours. The FIRS is available 24 

hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a 

message or question for Ms. Montoya. 

You will receive a reply during normal 

business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

proposed RMP/final EIS analyzes the 

environmental consequences of four 

alternatives under consideration by the 

BLM for managing the Prehistoric 

Trackways National Monument, which 

consists of approximately 5,280 acres in 

southern New Mexico. The RMP will 

provide a comprehensive management 

plan for the long-term protection and 

management of the Prehistoric 

Trackways National Monument. The 

plan is needed to prescribe the 

appropriate uses and management of the 

Prehistoric Trackways National 

Monument, consistent with the 

provisions of its designating legislation 

(Omnibus Public Lands Management 

Act of 2009), and would replace the 

1993 Mimbres RMP for this specific 

location. The proposed RMP/final EIS 

includes decisions for all BLM-managed 

surface estate and subsurface mineral 

estate within the National Monument’s 

boundary. 

The four alternatives analyzed in 

detail in the proposed RMP/final EIS are 

Alternative A (No Action Alternative), 

which is a continuation of the existing 

management decisions and the 

legislation; Alternative B, which 

emphasizes resource conservation and 

protection; Alternative C, which strives 

to balance resource uses with 

protections; and Alternative D, which 

allows greater opportunity for resource 

use and development. Alternative C was 

selected as the Proposed RMP because 

it protects and enhances the Prehistoric 

Trackways National Monument objects, 

resources, and values, while allowing 

uses such as scientific research, 

recreation, and livestock grazing. In 

Alternative C, the impacts of uses are 

limited in sensitive areas and 

management decisions for monitoring 

and mitigation are included. As 

required by the legislation, the existing 

designations of the Wilderness Study 

Area and Area of Critical Environmental 

Concern would remain within the 

Prehistoric Trackways National 

Monument. These designations overlap 

about 789 acres of the Prehistoric 

Trackways National Monument. The 

designating legislation withdraws the 

Prehistoric Trackways National 

Monument from the following, subject 

to valid existing rights: (1) Entry, 

appropriation, or disposal under the 

public land laws; (2) Location, entry, 

and patent under the mining laws; and 

(3) Operation of the mineral leasing 

laws, geothermal leasing laws, and 

minerals materials laws. 

The RMP process began with a Notice 

of Intent published in the Federal 

Register on January 5, 2010 (75 FR 431). 

This announced a 30-day public 

comment period. During that time, a 

public meeting was held in Las Cruces 

in order to introduce the planning 

process to the public and solicit 

comments. On September 22, 2010, the 

BLM held a public workshop to get 

feedback on preliminary RMP 

alternatives. A Notice of Availability of 

the Draft RMP/EIS was published in the 

Federal Register on July 20, 2012 (77 FR 

42758) to announce a 90-day public 

review and comment period of the draft 

document. During this period, the BLM 

held one public open-house meeting in 

Las Cruces for the purpose of assisting 

the public in its review and to solicit 

their comments. The draft RMP/EIS was 

sent to multiple Federal, tribal, State, 

and local government agencies and 

interested parties and was made 

available for viewing at the Las Cruces 

District Office, the New Mexico State 

Office, and on the Internet. During the 

comment period, the Las Cruces District 

Office received about 45 comment 

letters, emails, or comment forms. Each 

submission was carefully reviewed to 

identify substantive comments in 

accordance with regulations on the 

implementation of NEPA (40 CFR 

1503.4). Comments on the draft RMP/

EIS received from the public and 

internal BLM reviews were considered 

and incorporated as appropriate into the 

proposed RMP/final EIS. Public 

comments resulted in the addition of 

data and clarifying text, but did not 

significantly change proposed land use 

plan decisions. 

Instructions for filing a protest with 

the Director of the BLM regarding the 

proposed plan may be found in the 

‘‘Dear Reader Letter’’ of the proposed 

RMP/final EIS and at 43 CFR 1610.5–2. 

All protests must be in writing and 

mailed to the appropriate address, as set 

forth in the ADDRESSES section above. 

Emailed 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 these conditions, the 

BLM will consider the emailed protest 

as an advance copy and it will receive 

full consideration. If you wish to 

provide the BLM with such advance 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 248 / Monday, December 29, 2014 / Notices 78105 

notification, please direct emails to 

protest@blm.gov. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, email 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. 

Authority: (40 CFR 1506.6; 40 CFR 

1506.10; 43 CFR 1610.2; 43 CFR 1610.5–2) 

Sheila Mallory, 

Acting, State Director. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30169 Filed 12–24–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–FB–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Bureau of Land Management 

[LLCAD06800.L17110000.FM0000] 

Notice of Availability of a Draft 

Environmental Impact Statement for 

the Proposed Land Exchange Between 

the Bureau of Land Management and 

the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla 

Indians, California 

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended, the Bureau of Land 

Management (BLM), Palm SpringsSouth Coast Field Office, has prepared 

a Draft Environmental Impact Statement 

(EIS) for the Proposed Land Exchange 

between the BLM and the Agua Caliente 

Band of Cahuilla Indians (Tribe) and by 

this notice is announcing the opening of 

the comment period. 

DATES: To ensure comments will be 

considered, the BLM must receive 

written comments on the Draft EIS for 

the Proposed Land Exchange between 

the BLM and the Tribe within 90 days 

following the date the Environmental 

Protection Agency publishes its Notice 

of Availability in the Federal Register. 

The BLM will announce future meetings 

or hearings and any other public 

involvement activities at least 15 days 

in advance through public notices, 

media releases, and/or mailings. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments 

related to the Draft EIS for the Proposed 

Land Exchange between the BLM and 

the Tribe by any of the following 

methods: 

• Email: 

AguaCalienteExchange@blm.gov. 

• Fax: 760–833–7199. 

• Mail: National Monument Manager, 

BLM Palm Springs-South Coast Field 

Office, 1201 Bird Center Dr., Palm 

Springs, CA 92262. 

Copies of the Draft EIS for the 

Proposed Land Exchange between the 

BLM and the Tribe are available in the 

Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office 

at the above address, or on the Internet 

at http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ 

palmsprings.html. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim 

Foote, National Monument Manager, 

telephone 760–833–7136; address BLM 

Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office, 

1201 Bird Center Dr., Palm Springs, CA 

92262; email jfoote@blm.gov. Persons 

who use a telecommunications device 

for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal 

Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1– 

800–877–8339 to contact the above 

individual during normal business 

hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a 

day, 7 days a week, to leave a message 

or question with the above individual. 

You will receive a reply during normal 

business hours. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM 

proposes to exchange certain Federal 

lands for properties owned by the Agua 

Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. The 

selected Federal lands and offered tribal 

lands occur within the Santa Rosa and 

San Jacinto Mountains National 

Monument. The exchange would 

transfer all or portions of the following 

described Federal lands to the Agua 

Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians: 

San Bernardino and Base Meridian, 

California 

T.4S. R.4E. 

Section 16, all; 

Section 17, W1/2NW1/4NE1/4, W1/2E1/ 

2NW1/4NE1/4; 

Section 18, W1/2NE1/4, N1/2NE1/4SW1/4, 

S1/2 of lot 1, N1/2 of lot 2; 

Section 36, lots 1–4, W1/2NE1/4, W1/ 

2SE1/4, E1/2SW1/4, SE1/4NW1/4, N1/ 

2SW1/4SW1/4, E1/2NW1/4SW1/4, SW1/ 

4NW1/4SW1/4, S1/2NW1/4NW1/4SW1/ 

4. 

T.5S. R.4E. 

Section 5, lots 1–4, S1/2NE1/4, S1/2NW1/ 

4, S1/2; 

Sections 16, 21, 27, 29, 32, and 36, all. 

The described Federal lands were 

withdrawn from all forms of 

appropriation under the public land 

laws and mining laws under Public Law 

106–351 dated October 24, 2000. 

However, Section 5(i) of Public law 

106–351 specifically allows the 

exchange of Federal lands within the 

monument in certain circumstances. 

The United States would acquire all 

or portions of the following described 

land from the Agua Caliente Band of 

Cahuilla Indians: 

San Bernardino and Base Meridian, 

California 

T.5S. R. 5E. 

Section 7, all; 

Section 19, all; 

Section 20, W1/2W1/2. 

The Draft EIS describes and analyzes 

alternatives based on varying amounts 

of Federal lands to be exchanged for 

tribal lands, as well as the no action 

alternative. The BLM’s preferred 

alternative eliminates certain Federal 

lands from consideration that, if 

exchanged, would be contrary to the 

purpose of the exchange, which is to 

promote effective and efficient 

management of the Federal and tribal 

lands by reducing the extent of 

‘‘checkerboard’’ landownership, thereby 

providing the BLM and the Tribe with 

more logical and consistent land 

management responsibility in the 

Monument. 

Important issues identified by the 

public during scoping address purpose 

and need for the proposed land 

exchange; conformance with statutes, 

regulations, policies, and land use 

plans; development of alternatives and 

mitigation measures; public access to 

trails; protection of threatened and 

endangered species; and potential 

development of exchanged lands. 

Responses to specific questions related 

to these issues are provided in the Draft 

EIS. Lands acquired by the BLM through 

the land exchange would be managed in 

accordance with applicable statutes and 

regulations, as well as the California 

Desert Conservation Area Plan, as 

amended, and the Santa Rosa and San 

Jacinto Mountains National Monument 

Management Plan. Lands acquired by 

the Tribe would be managed in 

accordance with its Land Use 

Ordinance, Indian Canyons Master Plan, 

and Tribal Habitat Conservation Plan. 

Public participation has been sought 

through a comment period provided for 

an Environmental Assessment that 

preceded preparation of the Draft EIS, 

and during the scoping process to 

identify issues to be addressed in the 

Draft EIS for the proposed land 

exchange. Please note that public 

comments and information submitted 

including names, street addresses, and 

email addresses of persons who submit 

comments will be available for public 

review and disclosure at the above 

address during regular business hours (8 

a.m. to 4 p.m.), Monday through Friday, 

except holidays. 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES