[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 180 (Friday, September 17, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 57056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-23330]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLWYP07000; L16100000.DU0000]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Buffalo Resource Management
Plan Amendment for the Fortification Creek Planning Area and
Environmental Assessment, Wyoming
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969, as amended, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976, as amended, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a
Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment
(RMPA/EA) for the Buffalo Field Office (BFO) and by this notice is
announcing the opening of the comment period. The RMPA/EA will amend
the 1985 Buffalo Resource Management Plan. The BLM also announces the
availability of information regarding a proposed Area of Critical
Environmental Concern (ACEC) considered in the Draft RMPA/EA.
DATES: The BLM must receive written comments on the Draft RMPA/EA and
on the proposed ACEC information within 60 days following the date that
this Notice of Availability appears in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Draft RMPA/EA by any
of the following methods:
Web site: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/bfodocs/fortification_creek.html.
E-mail: [email protected].
Fax: (307) 684-1122.
Mail: Buffalo RMP Amendment/Fortification Creek EA, BLM
Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, Wyoming 82834.
Copies of the Draft RMPA/EA are available in the Buffalo Field Office
at the above address and at the following location:
Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, 5353
Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information contact Thomas
Bills, Buffalo RMPA Team Leader, telephone at 307-684-1133; mailing
address at BLM Buffalo Field Office, 1425 Fort Street, Buffalo, Wyoming
82834; e-mail at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Fortification Creek Planning Area (FCPA)
is described as requiring ``special management'' in the Powder River
Basin Oil and Gas Project Environmental Impact Statement (PRB EIS). The
FCPA also contains an isolated elk herd, a Wilderness Study Area (WSA)
and a citizen-proposed ACEC. The FCPA is 100,655 acres in size and
located in the center of the Powder River Basin in parts of Campbell,
Johnson, and Sheridan Counties, Wyoming.
An RMP amendment has been initiated to simplify, consolidate and
unify overlapping planning decisions in the FCPA while ensuring the
viability of the existing elk herd and maintaining other management
activities in the planning area.
The Draft RMPA/EA documents the direct, indirect, and cumulative
environmental impacts of three alternatives for management of BLM-
administered public lands and mineral resources within the
Fortification Creek Area of the BFO. The alternatives incorporate best
management practices for oil and gas development and other measures
necessary to address impacts to transportation, public safety, cultural
resources, recreational opportunities, wildlife, threatened and
endangered species, visual resources, air quality, wilderness
characteristics, and other relevant issues. The following descriptions
of alternatives considered in the Draft RMPA/EA have been included to
provide context for reviewers. Three alternatives are analyzed in
detail:
Alternative 1 (No Action Alternative): Continues the existing
management direction in conformance with the current RMP and would not
designate an ACEC in the FCPA;
Alternative 2: Amends the existing RMP to allow overhead power
lines on BLM surface within pre-defined corridors, applies elk security
habitat standards as recommended by the Wyoming Game and Fish
Department (WGFD), prescribes acceptable mitigation measures, and would
designate an ACEC based on citizen proposed boundaries (33,757 acres;
primarily public surface); and
Alternative 3 (Agency Preferred Alternative): Amends the existing
RMP by allowing overhead power lines along roads on BLM surface,
applies elk security habitat standards developed jointly by the BLM and
WGFD, establishes standards for performance based mitigation, and does
not designate any area as an ACEC.
There are no ACECs in the existing BFO land use plan. As proposed
in the Draft RMPA/EA, there is potential for designation of a
Fortification Creek ACEC. Values of concern include steep slopes,
erosive soils, elk habitat, cultural resources, and visual resources.
When commenting, please include reference to either the page or
section in the Draft RMPA/EA to which the comment applies. To
facilitate analysis of comments and information submitted, the BLM
encourages those individuals submitting comments to submit them in
electronic format.
Please note that public comments and information submitted
including names, street addresses, and e-il addresses of respondents
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.
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 may
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.
Donald A. Simpson,
State Director.
[FR Doc. 2010-23330 Filed 9-16-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P