Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Resource Management Plan Amendment for Portions of the Roan Plateau Planning Area Designated as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern Public Lands in Garfield County, CO, 16057 [E8-6105]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management
• Land Management Bureau

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 16057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6105]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO-140-1610-DT-009C]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Resource 
Management Plan Amendment for Portions of the Roan Plateau Planning 
Area Designated as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern Public Lands 
in Garfield County, CO

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announces the availability of the 
Record of Decision (ROD), which documents the BLM's decision to 
designate and manage four (4) Areas of Critical Environmental Concern 
(ACEC) within the Roan Plateau planning area. The Roan Plateau is 
located within Garfield and Rio Blanco Counties and within the 
jurisdiction of the Glenwood Springs Field Office in Colorado. The ROD 
announced today pertains only to approximately 21,034 acres of proposed 
ACEC and does not alter final decisions for the remaining approximately 
52,568 acres within the Roan Plateau planning area, which were 
previously addressed in the Proposed Resource Management Plan 
Amendment/Final Environmental Impact Statement (PRMPA/FEIS) and Record 
of Decision announced in the Federal Register, Volume 72, Number 111, 
on Monday, June 11, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Copies of both RODs for the Roan Plateau planning area and 
the RMPA/FEIS are available upon request from the Glenwood Springs 
Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, 50629 Highways 6 and 24, 
Glenwood Springs, CO 81601, or via the Internet at https://www.blm.gov/
rmp/co/roanplateau.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jamie Connell, Field Manager, Bureau 
of Land Management Glenwood Springs Field Office, 50629 Highways 6 & 
24, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601, or by telephone at (970) 947-2800.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Roan Plateau RMPA was developed with 
broad public participation through a collaborative planning process. 
The ROD announced today addresses the management of approximately 
21,034 acres of public land in the planning area proposed for 
designation as ACEC in the PRMPA/FEIS. Final RMPA decisions for the 
remaining portions of the planning area (approximately 52,568 acres) 
were addressed in a ROD announced in the Federal Register, Volume 72, 
Number 111, on Monday, June 11, 2007. The ROD announced today includes 
management actions to address the values of concern identified within 
the 21,034 acres of proposed ACEC. The ACECs designated in this ROD 
were previously analyzed in the Draft RMPA/Draft EIS (DRMPA/DEIS) and 
the PRMPA/FEIS. No inconsistencies with State or local plans, policies, 
or programs were identified during the Governor's consistency review of 
the PRMPA/FEIS. The Secretary of the Interior offered the State of 
Colorado an additional 120-day period in which to further understand 
the final RMPA decisions before approving this ROD. That period has 
elapsed, and the BLM has considered the State's recommendations in 
preparing the ROD for the ACEC portions of the Roan Plateau planning 
area.
    The BLM accepted and considered input from the public on ACEC 
values and potential designation during scoping for the RMPA/EIS, 
during public comment on alternative development, during the comment 
period on the DRMPA/DEIS, and during a 60-day comment period on ACECs 
announced in the Federal Register, Volume 72, Number 111, on Monday, 
June 11, 2007. The alternatives analyzed in the DRMPA/DEIS varied in 
the number and size of potential ACECs. The BLM received over 500 
separate comments addressing ACEC management during this 60-day public 
comment period. Comment summaries and BLM's responses to comments are 
available at the Glenwood Springs Field Office or on the Web at https://
www.blm.gov/rmp/co/roanplateau/index.htm.
    Input from the public and cooperating agencies was considered in 
developing the PRMPA/FEIS. Approval of the ROD constitutes formal 
designation of the proposed ACECs per 43 CFR 1610.7-2(b). The four 
designated ACECs and their associated relevant and important resource 
values are as follows: (1) Anvil Points (4,955 acres)--visual 
resources/aesthetics, wildlife habitat, botanical/ecological values; 
(2) Magpie Gulch (4,698 acres)--visual resources/aesthetics, wildlife 
habitat, botanical/ecological values; (3) East Fork Parachute Creek 
(6,571 acres)--visual resources/aesthetics, wildlife habitat, fisheries 
habitat, botanical-ecological values; and (4) Trapper/Northwater Creek 
(4,810 acres)--wildlife habitat, fisheries habitat, botanical/
ecological values.
    Under this ROD, surface disturbing activities will be limited to 
protect the relevant and important values within the designated ACECs. 
Such activities include oil and gas development, rights-of-way 
designation, and road construction. Limitations include no ground 
disturbance or no surface occupancy stipulations for activities within 
the ACECs, as well as site-specific relocation or controlled surface 
use stipulations. Further, conditions of approval or permitting level 
requirements may be applied to each drilling permit. Detailed 
discussions of the authorized protective measures for the designated 
ACECs are contained in the ROD and the PRMPA/FEIS.

Anna Marie Burden,
Acting State Director.
 [FR Doc. E8-6105 Filed 3-25-08; 8:45 am]
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