[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 159 (Wednesday, August 18, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51107-51110]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-20346]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[LLCON01000 L12200000.PN0000]


Notice of Proposed Supplementary Rules for Public Lands in Routt 
County, CO: Emerald Mountain Special Recreation Management Area

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Supplementary Rules.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Little Snake Field Office 
is proposing supplementary rules to regulate conduct on specific public 
lands within Routt County, Colorado. The rules apply to the Emerald 
Mountain Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA), also known as 
Emerald Mountain. The BLM has determined these rules are necessary to 
protect Emerald Mountain's natural resources and to provide for public 
health and safe public recreation.

DATES: You should submit your comments by September 17, 2010. Comments 
postmarked or received in person after this date may not be considered 
in the development of the final supplementary rules.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by the following methods: Mail or 
hand-delivery: Bureau of Land Management, Little Snake Field Office, 
455 Emerson Street, Craig, Colorado 81625.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Blackstun, Bureau of Land 
Management, 455 Emerson Street, Craig, Colorado 81625, (970) 826-5000. 
Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may 
contact this individual by calling the Federal Information Relay 
Service at (800) 877-8339, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Public Comment Procedures
II. Background
III. Procedural Matters

I. Public Comment Procedures

    You may mail or hand-deliver comments to David Blackstun, Bureau of 
Land Management, Little Snake Field Office, 455 Emerson Street, Craig, 
Colorado 81625. Written comments on the proposed supplementary rules

[[Page 51108]]

should be specific, be confined to issues pertinent to the proposed 
supplementary rules, and explain the reason for any recommended change. 
Where possible, comments should reference the specific section or 
paragraph of the proposal which the comment is addressing. The BLM is 
not obligated to consider or include in the Administrative Record for 
the supplementary rules comments that the BLM receives after the close 
of the comment period (See DATES), unless they are postmarked or 
electronically dated before the deadline, or comments delivered to an 
address other than the address listed above (See ADDRESSES).
    Comments, including names, street addresses, and other contact 
information of respondents, will be available for public review at the 
Little Snake Field Office address listed in ADDRESSES during regular 
business hours (7:45 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., Monday through Friday), except 
Federal holidays. Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 
address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you 
should be aware that your 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.

II. Background

    Emerald Mountain is a 4,139 acre parcel of public land in Routt 
County, Colorado surrounded by private and state land. Cow Creek Road 
(Routt County Road 45) provides legal public access to Emerald 
Mountain. These supplementary rules would apply to Emerald Mountain 
SRMA, identified as follows:

Routt County, Colorado

Sixth Principal Meridian

T. 6 N., R. 85 W.,
    Secs. 13, 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 34, 35, and portions 
thereof.

    A map of the area is available at the Little Snake Field Office.
    Prior to the BLM's ownership on February 22, 2007, the parcel was 
owned by the Colorado State Land Board and closed to the general public 
with the exception of permitted agriculture and hunting. These rules 
are needed for the protection of the SRMA's recreational and 
educational opportunities, wildlife resources, historical agricultural 
use, and to provide for the health and safety of the public and 
neighboring residents.
    Emerald Mountain is managed as two adjoining SRMAs or Zones. Zone 1 
is managed under a destination recreation-tourism market strategy. The 
strategy targets Steamboat Springs area visitors, including local 
residents, wanting to participate in strenuous and challenging mountain 
biking and Nordic skiing on primitive trails that are close to town. 
Zone 2 is managed under a community recreation market strategy, 
primarily for Steamboat Springs area residents to engage in wildlife 
viewing, hiking, and horseback riding in a backcountry setting. Both 
zones are open to hunting. Other recreation activities are allowable to 
the extent they are compatible with the primary targeted activities. 
Both areas are closed to recreational motorized use.
    These proposed supplementary rules implement the management 
decisions made in the Emerald Mountain Land Exchange Environmental 
Assessment/Plan Amendment approved October 2006; the Recreation 
Activity Management Plan and Transportation Management Plan (RAMP/TMP 
Phase 1) approved June 2007; and the Emerald Mountain SRMA 
Implementation Plan Amendment approved December 2008, which further 
defines the proposed supplementary rules. These documents are available 
for review at the Little Snake Field Office. The Emerald Mountain SRMA 
Implementation Plan Amendment included considerable public involvement 
and review, including six public meetings held at three separate 
locations.
    Meetings were announced on the BLM Web site at: http://www.co.blm.gov/lsra/emerald_mtn/em.html. The BLM also sent 74 meeting 
notices to various groups, organizations, and individuals to solicit 
public participation and comments. The Emerald Mountain Land Exchange 
Environmental Assessment/Plan Amendment and the RAMP/TMP Phase 1 also 
received public participation and comments for the management of 
Emerald Mountain.
    The authority for these supplementary rules is set forth at 
Sections 303 and 310 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, 43 
U.S.C. 1733 and 1740, and 43 CFR 8365.1-6. These proposed supplementary 
rules would govern hunting, camping, mechanized transport, motorized 
vehicle travel, possession of glass containers, and fire maintenance at 
the Emerald Mountain SRMA.

III. Procedural Matters

Executive Order 12866, Regulatory Planning and Review

    These supplementary rules are not a significant regulatory action 
and are not subject to review by Office of Management and Budget under 
Executive Order 12866. These supplementary rules will not have an 
annual effect of $100 million or more on the economy. They will not 
adversely affect in a material way the economy, productivity, 
competition, jobs, the environment, public health or safety, or state, 
local, or tribal governments or communities. These supplementary rules 
would not create a serious inconsistency or otherwise interfere with an 
action taken or planned by another agency. These supplementary rules 
would not materially alter the budgetary effects of entitlements, 
grants, user fees, or loan programs or the rights or obligations of 
their recipients; nor do they raise novel legal or policy issues. These 
rules would merely establish rules of conduct for public use of a 
limited area of public lands in order to protect natural resources and 
public health and safety.

Clarity of the Supplementary Rules

    Executive Order 12866 requires each agency to write regulations 
that are simple and easy to understand. The BLM invites your comments 
on how to make these supplementary rules easier to understand, 
including answers to questions such as the following:
    (1) Are the requirements in the supplementary rules clearly stated?
    (2) Do the supplementary rules contain technical language or jargon 
that interferes with their clarity?
    (3) Does the format of the supplementary rules (grouping and order 
or sections, use of headings, paragraphing, etc.) aid or reduce their 
clarity?
    (4) Would the supplementary rules be easier to understand if they 
were divided into more (but shorter) sections?
    (5) Is the description of the supplementary rules in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this preamble helpful to your 
understanding of the supplementary rules? How could this description be 
more helpful in making the supplementary rules easier to understand?
    Please send any comments you have on the clarity of the 
supplementary rules to the address specified in the ADDRESSES section.

[[Page 51109]]

National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)

    The BLM prepared two environmental assessments (EA CO-100-2006-089 
and EA CO-100-2007-057) and has determined that these supplementary 
rules would not constitute a major Federal action significantly 
affecting the quality of the human environment under Section 102(2)(C) 
of NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C). The supplementary rules would merely 
establish rules of conduct for public use of a limited area of public 
lands in order to protect natural resources and the health and safety 
of the public. Although the area would be open to recreational uses, 
such as permitted hunting, camping would be prohibited for consistency 
with the management objectives identified through the scoping process 
for the Emerald Mountain Land Exchange EA/Plan Amendment and preferred 
Alternative 2--Modified Use. The BLM has placed both EAs and Findings 
of No Significant Impact on file in the BLM Administrative Record at 
the address specified in the ADDRESSES section. These EAs constitute 
the BLM's compliance with the requirements of NEPA.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    Congress enacted the Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (RFA), as 
amended, 5 U.S.C. 601-612, to ensure that government regulations do not 
unnecessarily or proportionately burden small entities. The RFA 
requires a regulatory flexibility analysis if a rule would have a 
significant economic impact, either detrimental or beneficial, on a 
substantial number of small entities. These rules would establish rules 
of conduct for public use of a limited area of public lands. Therefore, 
the BLM has determined under the RFA that these rules would not have a 
significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities.

Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act

    These supplementary rules are not a ``major rule'' as defined at 5 
U.S.C. 804(2). These rules establish rules of conduct for public use of 
a limited area of public lands and do not affect commercial or business 
activities of any kind. These rules would not result in an annual 
effect on the economy of $100 million or more, in a major increase in 
costs or prices, or in significant adverse effects on competition, 
employment, investment, productivity, innovation, or on the ability of 
United States-based enterprises to compete with foreign-based 
enterprises in domestic and export markets. They would impose 
restrictions on certain recreational activities on certain public lands 
to protect natural resources, the environment, human health, and 
safety.

Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

    These supplementary rules would not impose an unfunded mandate on 
state, local, or tribal governments, in the aggregate, or the private 
sector, of more than $100 million per year; nor would these 
supplementary rules have a significant or unique effect on state, 
local, or tribal governments, or the private sector. The supplementary 
rules would have no effect on state, local, or tribal governments and 
do not impose any requirements on any of these entities. Therefore, the 
BLM is not required to prepare a statement containing the information 
required by the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (2 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.).

Executive Order 12630, Governmental Actions and Interference With 
Constitutionally Protected Property Rights (Takings)

    The supplementary rules would not represent a government action 
capable of interfering with constitutionally protected property rights. 
The supplementary rules would not address property rights in any form, 
and do not cause the impairment of one's property rights. Therefore, 
the BLM has determined that the supplementary rules would not cause a 
``taking'' of private property or require further discussion of takings 
implications under this Executive Order.

Executive Order 13132, Federalism

    The supplementary rules would not have a substantial direct effect 
on the states, on the relationship between the national government and 
the states, or on the distribution of power and responsibilities among 
the various levels of government. The shooting restrictions in the 
supplementary rules do not apply to hunting with a state hunting 
license. Therefore, in accordance with Executive Order 13132, the BLM 
has determined that the supplementary rules do not have sufficient 
Federalism implications to warrant preparation of a Federalism 
Assessment.

Executive Order 12988, Civil Justice Reform

    Under Executive Order 12988, the Colorado State Office of the BLM 
has determined that these supplementary rules would not unduly burden 
the judicial system and the requirements of sections 3(a) and 3(b)(2) 
of the Order.

Executive Order 13175, Consultation and Coordination With Indian Tribal 
Governments

    In accordance with Executive Order 13175, the BLM initiated 
consultation with the following Native American tribes regarding the 
proposed Emerald Mountain Land Exchange project in September 2004: 
Southern Ute Tribe, Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council, Colorado 
Commission of Indian Affairs, and the Uintah and Ouray Tribal Council. 
The tribes did not identify any concerns regarding traditional or 
religious cultural properties in the Emerald Mountain Special 
Recreation Management Area. These supplementary rules would not affect 
Indian land, resources, or religious rights.

Executive Order 13211, Actions Concerning Regulations That 
Significantly Affect Energy Supply, Distribution, or Use

    These proposed supplementary rules do not comprise a significant 
energy action. The rules would not have a significant adverse effect on 
energy supplies, production, or consumption.

Paperwork Reduction Act

    These supplementary rules would not contain information collection 
requirements that the Office of Management and Budget must approve 
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.

Author

    The principal author of these proposed supplementary rules is David 
E. Blackstun, Acting Field Manager, Little Snake Field Office, Bureau 
of Land Management.
    For the reasons stated in the Preamble, and under the authority of 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), 43 U.S.C. 1733 and 
1740, and 43 CFR 8365.1-6, the Colorado State Director, Bureau of Land 
Management, proposes the following supplementary rules for public lands 
within the Emerald Mountain Special Recreation Management Area:

Supplementary Rules for the Emerald Mountain Special Recreation 
Management Area

Definitions

    Camping means the erecting of a tent or shelter of natural or 
synthetic material, preparing a sleeping bag or other bedding material 
for use, parking a motor vehicle, motor home or trailer, or mooring of 
a vessel for the apparent purpose of overnight occupancy.

[[Page 51110]]

    Designated Trail means a trail developed, maintained, and 
explicitly identified for public use by the BLM. All designated trails 
will be identified by a combination of trailhead maps and on-site 
signage listing allowable uses.
    Mechanized Transport means any vehicle, device, or contrivance for 
moving people or material in or over land, water, snow, or air that has 
moving parts, including, but not limited to, bicycles, game carriers, 
carts, and wagons. The term does not include wheelchairs, horses or 
other pack stock, skis, or snowshoes.
    Motorized Vehicle means any self-propelled device in, upon, or by 
which any person or property is or may be propelled, moved, or drawn, 
including, but not limited to, cars, trucks, vans, motorcycles, all-
terrain vehicles, motor-driven cycles, motorized scooters, motorized 
skateboards, and snowmobiles. ``Motorized vehicle'' does not include a 
self-propelled wheelchair, invalid tricycle, or motorized quadricycle 
when operated by a person who, by reason of physical disability, is 
otherwise unable to move about as a pedestrian.
    Firearm or Other Projectile Shooting Device means all firearms, air 
rifles, pellet and BB guns, spring guns, bows and arrows, slings, paint 
ball markers, other instruments that can propel a projectile (such as a 
bullet, dart, or pellet by combustion, air pressure, gas pressure, or 
other means), or any instrument that can be loaded with and fire blank 
cartridges.
    Unless otherwise authorized by the Field Manager, the following 
rules apply within the Emerald Mountain SRMA boundary:
    1. Camping and overnight use is prohibited. The area is closed 
between sunset and sunrise, except for lawful hunting licensed periods 
and for retrieval of legally taken game. Hunters are not allowed to 
camp overnight.
    2. No mechanized transport activities are allowed within Zone 2, 
including game carts.
    3. No person or persons shall discharge a firearm or other 
projectile shooting device of any kind, including those used for target 
shooting or paintball, except licensed hunters in pursuit of game 
during the proper season with appropriate firearms, as defined by the 
Colorado Division of Wildlife (CDOW), Section 33-1-102, C.R.S. Article 
IV 004: Manner of Taking Wildlife.
    4. Zone 2 and trails south of Ridge Trail in Zone 1 are closed to 
the public from December 1 to June 30 to protect wintering and calving 
elk.
    5. Non-working dogs must be on a six-foot or less hand-held leash 
at all times. Working dogs are allowed off-leash only during legal 
hunting periods when controlled by someone legally hunting, or when 
working as cattle dogs.
    6. Fires are not allowed except at the trailheads in a mechanical 
stove or other appliance fueled by gas and equipped with a valve that 
allows the operator to turn the flame on and off.
    7. Possession of glass containers is prohibited.
    8. The entire area is designated closed to motorized vehicle 
travel, with the exception of Cow Creek Road (Routt County Road 45). 
The closure excludes:
     Any military, fire, emergency, or law enforcement vehicle 
being used for emergency purposes; and
     Any vehicle whose use is expressly authorized by the 
authorized officer, or otherwise officially approved (e.g., grazing 
permittee, CDOW, Routt County personnel).
    Official use means use by an employee, agent, or designated 
representative of the Federal government or one of its contractors, in 
the course of his employment, agency, or representation.

Exemptions

    The following persons are exempt from these supplementary rules: 
any Federal, state, local, and/or military employee acting within the 
scope of their duties; members of any organized rescue or fire-fighting 
force performing an official duty; and persons, agencies, 
municipalities, or companies holding an existing special-use permit 
inside the SRMA and operating within the scope of their permit.

Penalties

    Under Section 303(a) of FLPMA, 43 U.S.C. 1733(a), if you violate 
any of these supplementary rules on public lands within the boundaries 
established in the rules, you may be tried before a United States 
Magistrate and fined no more than $1,000 or imprisoned for no more than 
12 months, or both. Such violations may also be subject to the enhanced 
fines provided for by 18 U.S.C. 3571.

Helen M. Hankins,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-20346 Filed 8-17-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P