[Federal Register: January 8, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 5)]
[Notices]
[Page 828-829]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr08ja09-45]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[WY-930-1610-DR]
Notice of Availability of Record of Decision for the Pinedale
Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability
of the Record of Decision (ROD)/Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP)
for the Pinedale Field Office Planning Area located in Sublette and
Lincoln Counties, Wyoming. The Wyoming State Director signed the ROD on
November 27, 2008, which constitutes the final decision of the BLM and
makes the Approved RMP effective immediately. The Pinedale RMP provides
the management direction for the Federal lands and resources in the
Pinedale Field Office Planning Area. The Approved Pinedale RMP revises
and replaces the 1988 Pinedale RMP.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the ROD/Approved RMP are available upon request
from the following locations:
Bureau of Land Management, Pinedale Field Office, 1625 W.
Pine Street, Pinedale, Wyoming 82941
Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming State Office, 5353
Yellowstone Road, Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003
or via the Internet at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.blm.gov/rmp/wy/pinedale/documents.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information, contact Chuck
Otto, Field Manager, or Kellie Roadifer, Pinedale RMP team leader, at
the Pinedale Field Office, 1625 W. Pine Street, P.O. Box 768, Pinedale,
Wyoming 82941, or by telephone at (307) 367-5300.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
The Pinedale RMP was revised collaboratively with the State of
Wyoming, county and municipal governments and agencies, and Tribal
Governments. The Pinedale RMP Planning Area includes approximately
[[Page 829]]
922,880 acres of BLM-administered public lands and 1,199,280 acres of
Federal mineral estate under Federal, State, and Private surface
ownership.
The Approved Pinedale RMP describes the goals, objectives, and
management actions to meet desired resource conditions for upland and
riparian vegetation, recreation, grazing management, cultural and
visual resources, and wildlife habitat, including habitat for
threatened and endangered species. The Approved RMP also describes the
actions and anticipated levels of development for fluid minerals
resources, and locatable minerals in the Pinedale Field Office Planning
Area.
The agency-preferred alternative (Alternative 4, in the Proposed
RMP/Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), with minor
modifications) is the selected alternative for the Approved RMP. After
the publication of the Proposed RMP and Final EIS on August 22, 2008,
13 protests were received. The Governor of Wyoming also identified
issues during the governor's consistency review. As the result of
protest and consistency review, minor modifications were made to the
Proposed RMP to address these issues.
The description of land use restrictions in Visual Resource
Management (VRM) classes was clarified to indicate the application of
land use restrictions based on VRM class is not made at the RMP level;
the application of mitigation guidelines and operating standards, which
are included in Appendix 3, was clarified to have possible application
to exploratory oil and gas drilling; Appendix 3 was updated to include
an operating standard regarding the control of water pits to limit the
spread of West Nile virus; a cultural resource management action was
removed to clarify that contributing segments of the National Historic
Trails within the Pinedale Planning Area were identified; a statement
included in Table 2-25 was corrected to present the appropriate
management action regarding restrictions on high-profile structures
near sage-grouse leks; the maps showing special designations and
management areas were reprinted on a larger scale to improve
readability; and typographical errors were corrected in Appendix 3 and
the Glossary.
No inconsistencies were identified between the RMP and State or
local plans. The governor's consistency review identified four issues
that are further clarified in the ROD: (1) Revision of the definition
of ``avoidance area'' in the Glossary in order to clarify that right-
of-way applications would be allowed in and through the Pinedale Field
Office Planning Area; (2) elaboration on the Section 390 Categorical
Exclusions (CX) under the Energy Policy Act of 2005; (3) elucidation of
the potential need for future air quality monitoring and modeling; and
(4) inclusion of a reference to the Wyoming Executive Order 2008-2
regarding greater sage-grouse core area protection.
Jamie E. Connell,
Acting Associate State Director.
[FR Doc. E9-99 Filed 1-7-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-22-P