Notice of Availability of the Draft Medford District Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment: Table Rocks Area of Critical Environmental Concern Proposed Boundary Change and Supplementary Rules, 35796-35798 [2016-13130]
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35796
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 107 / Friday, June 3, 2016 / Notices
fences, as needed) to protect sites; allow
camping only in designated sites and
areas; prohibit target shooting; close to
rock climbing; issue no Special
Recreation Permits (SRP); NSO for fluid
minerals; NGD for non-fluid mineral
activities.
• Roubideau-Potter-Monitor ACEC,
20,430 acres, Alternative B: ROW
exclusion; recommend for withdrawal
from locatable mineral entry; close to
mineral materials disposal; close to nonenergy solid mineral leasing; VRM Class
II; limit motorized and mechanized
travel to designated routes; provide
adequate protection (signs, use
stipulations, barricades and fences, as
needed) to protect sensitive species and
their habitats; issue no SRP for
competitive events; prohibit target
shooting; close to wood product sales
and/or harvest and Christmas tree
cutting; close to recreational mining;
close to fluid mineral leasing; NGD for
non-fluid mineral activities.
• Roubideau Corridors ACEC, 8,720
acres, Alternative D: ROW avoidance;
recommend for withdrawal from
locatable mineral entry; close to mineral
materials disposal; close to non-energy
solid mineral leasing; VRM Class III;
limit motorized and mechanized travel
to designated routes; provide adequate
protection (signs, use stipulations,
barricades and fences, as needed) to
protect sensitive species and their
habitats; close to wood product sales
and/or harvest and Christmas tree
cutting; NSO for fluid minerals; SSR for
non-fluid mineral activities.
• Salt Desert Shrub Ecosystem ACEC,
34,510 acres, Alternative B: ROW
exclusion; recommend for withdrawal
from locatable mineral entry; close to
mineral materials disposal; close to nonenergy solid mineral leasing; VRM Class
III; limit motorized and mechanized
travel to designated routes; provide such
facilities as informational and
interpretive signs, barricades and
fences, as needed to protect resources;
manage for day use only: Prohibit
camping and open campfires (require
use of stoves or grills); prohibit wood
collecting; close to coal leasing; NSO for
fluid minerals; NGD for non-fluid
mineral activities.
• San Miguel Gunnison Sage-Grouse
ACEC, 470 acres, Alternative B: ROW
exclusion; recommend for withdrawal
from locatable mineral entry; close to
mineral materials disposal; close to nonenergy solid mineral leasing; manage as
VRM Class III; limit motorized and
mechanized travel to designated routes;
close to motorized and mechanized
travel April 1 to July 15 (during sagegrouse strutting, nesting and broodrearing season) to prevent disturbance to
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breeding sage-grouse; follow
recommendations in San Miguel Basin
Gunnison Sage-Grouse Conservation
Plan (San Miguel Basin Gunnison SageGrouse Working Group 2009); manage
vegetation for optimal Gunnison SageGrouse habitat; provide adequate
protection (signs, use stipulations,
barricades and fences, as needed) to
protect sensitive species and their
habitats; close to leasing for fluid
minerals; NGD for non-fluid mineral
activities.
• Sims-Cerro Gunnison Sage-Grouse
ACEC, 25,620 acres, Alternative B: ROW
exclusion; recommend for withdrawal
from locatable mineral entry; close to
mineral materials disposal; close to nonenergy solid mineral leasing; VRM Class
III; manage vegetation for optimal
Gunnison Sage-Grouse habitat; limit
motorized and mechanized travel to
designated routes; close to motorized
and mechanized travel April 1 to July 15
(during sage-grouse strutting, nesting
and brood-rearing season); provide
adequate protection (signs, use
stipulations, barricades and fences, as
needed) to protect sensitive species and
their habitats; develop a Sims-Cerro
Gunnison Sage-Grouse Conservation
Plan; close to leasing for fluid minerals;
NGD for non-fluid mineral activities.
• Tabeguache Pueblos and
Tabeguache Caves ACEC, 26,400 acres,
Alternative B: ROW exclusion;
recommend for withdrawal from
locatable mineral entry; close to mineral
materials disposal; close to non-energy
solid mineral leasing; VRM Class I
(5,260 acres),VRM Class II (21,140
acres); limit motorized and mechanized
travel to designated routes; provide
adequate protection (signs, use
stipulations, barricades and fences, as
needed) to protect sensitive sites; NSO
for fluid minerals; NGD for non-fluid
mineral activities.
• Tabeguache Creek ACEC, 560 acres,
Alternative A: VRM Class II; close to
Off-Road Vehicle use; NSO for fluid
minerals.
• West Paradox ACEC, 5,190 acres,
Alternative B: ROW exclusion;
recommend for withdrawal from
locatable mineral entry; close to mineral
materials disposal; close to non-energy
solid mineral leasing; VRM Class III;
limit motorized and mechanized travel
to designated routes; close to rock
climbing during peregrine falcon
breeding season (March 1 to August 15)
if birds are present; provide facilities
(e.g., informational and interpretive
signs, designated trail systems, camping
areas and restrooms, as needed) for
resource protection; provide adequate
protection (signs, use stipulations,
barricades and fences, as needed) to
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protect sensitive species and their
habitats; allow camping only in
designated sites and areas; NSO for fluid
minerals; NGD for non-fluid mineral
activities.
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.
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.
Ruth Welch,
BLM Colorado State Director.
[FR Doc. 2016–13131 Filed 6–2–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–JB–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLORM05000.L63340000.DU0000.
16XL1116AF; HAG 16–0047]
Notice of Availability of the Draft
Medford District Resource
Management Plan Amendment and
Environmental Assessment: Table
Rocks Area of Critical Environmental
Concern Proposed Boundary Change
and Supplementary Rules
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
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 (RMP)
Amendment and Draft Environmental
Assessment (EA) titled Medford District
RMP Amendment and EA: Table Rocks
Area of Critical Environmental Concern
(ACEC) Proposed Boundary Change and
Supplementary Rules and, by this
notice, is announcing the opening of the
comment period.
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 107 / Friday, June 3, 2016 / Notices
To ensure that comments will be
considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft RMP
Amendment/Draft EA within 60 days
following the date the BLM publishes its
notice of the Draft RMP Amendment/
Draft EA in the Federal Register. The
BLM will announce future meetings or
hearings and any other public
participation activities at least 15 days
in advance through public notices,
media releases, and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
related to the Medford District RMP
Amendment and EA: Table Rocks ACEC
Proposed Boundary Change and
Supplementary Rules by any of the
following methods:
• Web site: https://eplanning.blm.
gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/nepa/
nepa_register.do.
• Email: BLM_OR_MD_Mail@blm.gov.
• Fax: (541) 618–2400.
• Mail: 3040 Biddle Road, Medford,
OR 97504.
Copies of the Medford District RMP
Amendment and EA: Table Rocks ACEC
Proposed Boundary Change and
Supplementary Rules are available in
the Medford District Office at the above
address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Anthony Kerwin, District Planning and
Environmental Coordinator; telephone
(541) 618–2402; address 3040 Biddle
Road, Medford, OR 97504; email BLM_
OR_MD_Mail@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
proposed action includes the following:
• Add to Table Rocks ACEC
designation 863 acres the BLM has
acquired since the original 1986 ACEC
designation. The parcels include 40
acres on Lower Table Rock in Township
36 South, Range 2 West, Section 4; 557
acres on Upper Table Rock in Township
35 South, Range 2 West, Sections 25, 26,
35, & 36; and 266 acres on Upper Table
Rock in Township 36 South, Range 2
West, Section 2.
• Remove from ACEC designation 0.9
acres located in Township 36 South,
Range 2 West, Section 1, located across
Modoc Road from the Upper Table Rock
trailhead parking lot (Map 2 inset).
• Establish the ACEC boundary
around an area totaling 4,864 acres
which would encompass contiguous
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DATES:
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BLM and TNC lands and lands under
conservation easement. The
establishment of the larger ACEC
boundary would not establish an ACEC
or authorize any BLM decisions or
actions on non-BLM lands (including
existing TNC lands).
• In the future, incorporate lands
acquired within or adjacent to the
expanded ACEC boundary if they meet
the relevance and importance criteria
for the Table Rocks ACEC and require
special management attention.
• Establish the following
supplemental rules:
a. No discharge of firearms, or
discharge of gas or air powered
weapons, including paintball and
paintball-like weapons.
b. No motorized vehicles or nonmotorized mechanized vehicles that are
propelled or powered by any means.
c. No dogs or other domestic animals
outside of trailhead parking areas,
except on trails signed as allowing
leashed dogs in the Camp White zone.
d. No metal detectors or digging,
scraping, disturbing, or removing
natural land features for any purpose.
e. No campfires or overnight camping.
The ACEC boundary and designation
changes would amend the 1995
Medford RMP. The adoption of the
supplementary rules is an
implementation-level action.
The supplementary rules would make
permanent the Temporary Restrictions
that were implemented in 2014 to
protect the resource values of the 1,243
acres of ACEC lands and the 852 acres
of acquired BLM lands. Those
restrictions were published in the
Federal Register on March 26, 2014,
and prohibited the above-mentioned
activities in the Table Rocks ACEC and
associated, acquired lands.
The Table Rocks ACEC was
designated in 1986 by an amendment to
the Medford District Management
Framework Plan. The area, which
includes 1,003 acres on Upper Table
Rock and 240 acres on Lower Table
Rock, was designated an ACEC to
recognize and protect botanical and
geological features, threatened and
endangered and special status species,
and natural systems. The vernal pools,
ecology, Limnanthes pumila ssp. pumila
(plant species: Dwarf woolly
meadowfoam), and geology met the
criteria for relevance and importance to
qualify the area as an ACEC.
Between 1979 and 2009, TNC
acquired several parcels on the Table
Rocks which they have managed as the
Table Rocks Preserve. In 1980, TNC was
granted a perpetual conservation
easement on 795 acres of private land
on Lower Table Rock. In 2009, TNC
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35797
purchased a parcel with funds provided
in part by the Oregon Watershed
Enhancement Board (OWEB). As a
condition of the OWEB grant, TNC
granted OWEB a perpetual easement on
898 acres of the purchased lands on
both Table Rocks. The Nature
Conservancy’s management objectives
are to protect ecological diversity and to
provide scenic and biologic continuity
between the Table Rocks and the Rogue
River while protecting the area from
potential development.
As of 2012, the BLM and TNC own all
vernal pool habitats on the summits and
most of the flanks of the Table Rocks,
totaling 4,864 acres. Since the 1986
ACEC designation, the BLM has
acquired three parcels from TNC—40
acres on Lower Table Rock to develop
trailhead facilities and 823 acres in two
separate parcels on Upper Table Rock.
The BLM anticipates acquiring a fourth
acquisition from TNC in 2016 consisting
of five parcels totaling 221 acres. These
parcels were evaluated in 2013 in an
ACEC review and were determined to
contain ecological, historical, cultural
and scenic resources, and potential
recreational values similar and
supplemental to the original ACEC.
They meet the criteria for relevance and
importance for an ACEC and are under
temporary management consistent with
management of the rest of the Table
Rocks ACEC until they are officially
designated as part of the ACEC. While
these lands are within the proposed
ACEC boundary, they will not be part of
the ACEC; however, this allows the
BLM to incorporate lands we expect to
acquire in the future within this
boundary into the ACEC without having
to prepare another RMP Amendment.
The BLM issued a Notice of Intent to
Prepare an RMP Amendment on
September 8, 2014. Publication of the
Notice of Intent initiated the public
scoping process, with public comments
accepted until October 8, 2014. The
BLM also sent 366 letters to various
agencies, organizations, and landowners
located within the planning area. Over
70 responses were received, and many
requested a public meeting. On October
16, approximately 50 people attended
an evening open house held at the BLM
Medford District Office. Because of the
interest in the project, the public
comment period was extended to
November 25, 2015. Another 26
comments were received. The main
issue raised by the public during
scoping was opposition to the scale and
scope of the proposed 13,556-acre ACEC
and concern over what the proposed
ACEC boundary would mean to private
property rights within the boundary. In
response, the BLM decreased the size of
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35798
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 107 / Friday, June 3, 2016 / Notices
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the proposed boundary in the current
proposed action to only include BLMand TNC-administered lands. No other
unresolved issues were identified
during scoping.
Scoping conducted for the Table
Rocks Temporary Restrictions EA in
2013 was also considered during
development of the Draft Plan
Amendment and EA. Scoping for the
temporary restrictions included visitor
surveys conducted at the Table Rocks in
2011 by the Southern Oregon Research
Center at Southern Oregon University;
discussing hunting issues with
representatives from Oregon Department
of Fish and Wildlife, Rocky Mountain
Elk Foundation, and Oregon Hunters
Association; and meeting with the
Jackson County Commissioners, who
submitted a comment that generated
local newspaper and television interest.
One comment on the EA was received
from the Jackson County Office of
County Council which proposed that
the BLM should consider implementing
temporary restrictions only on the BLM
lands that were previously owned by
TNC.
This notice begins the 30-day
comment period for the Draft Medford
District RMP Amendment and EA: Table
Rocks Area of Critical Environmental
Concern (ACEC) Proposed Boundary
Change and Supplementary Rules.
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 aboveaddress during regular business hours
(8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.), Monday
through Friday, except holidays.
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
Jamie E. Connell,
Acting State Director, Oregon/Washington.
[FR Doc. 2016–13130 Filed 6–2–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–33–P
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21:20 Jun 02, 2016
Jkt 238001
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Safety and Environmental
Enforcement
[Docket ID: BSEE–2016–0007; OMB Control
Number 1014–0006; 16XE1700DX
EX1SF0000.DAQ000 EEEE500000]
Information Collection Activities:
Sulphur Operations, Proposed
Collection; Comment Request
Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement, Interior.
ACTION: 60-day Notice.
AGENCY:
To comply with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(PRA), BSEE is inviting comments on a
collection of information that we will
submit to the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) for review and approval.
The information collection request (ICR)
concerns a renewal to the paperwork
requirements in the regulations under,
Subpart P, Sulphur Operations.
DATES: You must submit comments by
August 2, 2016.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by either of the following methods listed
below.
• Electronically: Go to
www.regulations.gov and search for
BSEE–2016–0007. Follow the
instructions to submit public comments
and view all related materials. We will
post all comments.
• Email: regs@bsee.gov. Mail or handcarry comments to the Department of
the Interior; BSEE; Regulations and
Standards Branch; Attention: Kelly
Odom; 45600 Woodland Road, Suite
105, Sterling, VA 20166. Please
reference ICR 1014–0006 in your
comment and include your name and
return address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Kelly Odom, Regulations and Standards
Branch at (703) 787–1775 to request
additional information about this ICR.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Title: 30 CFR 250, Subpart P, Sulphur
Operations.
OMB Control Number: 1014–0006.
Abstract: The Outer Continental Shelf
(OCS) Lands Act, as amended (43 U.S.C.
1331 et seq. and 43 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.),
authorizes the Secretary of the Interior
to prescribe rules and regulations
necessary for the administration of the
leasing provisions of that Act related to
mineral resources on the OCS. Such
rules and regulations will apply to all
operations conducted under a lease.
Operations on the OCS must preserve,
protect, and develop mineral resources
in a manner that is consistent with the
need to make such resources available
SUMMARY:
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to meet the Nation’s energy needs as
rapidly as possible; to balance orderly
energy resource development with
protection of human, marine, and
coastal environments; to ensure the
public a fair and equitable return on the
resources of the OCS; and to preserve
and maintain free enterprise
competition.
Section 5(a) of the OCS Lands Act
requires the Secretary to prescribe rules
and regulations ‘‘to provide for the
prevention of waste, and conservation of
the natural resources of the Outer
Continental Shelf, and the protection of
correlative rights therein’’ and to
include provisions ‘‘for the prompt and
efficient exploration and development
of a lease area.’’ These authorities and
responsibilities are among those
delegated to BSEE to ensure that
operations in the OCS will meet
statutory requirements; provide for
safety and protection of the
environment; and result in diligent
exploration, development, and
production of OCS leases.
In addition to the general rulemaking
authority of the OCSLA at 43 U.S.C.
1334, section 301(a) of the Federal Oil
and Gas Royalty Management Act
(FOGRMA), 30 U.S.C. 1751(a), grants
authority to the Secretary to prescribe
such rules and regulations as are
reasonably necessary to carry out
FOGRMA’s provisions. While the
majority of FOGRMA is directed to
royalty collection and enforcement,
some provisions apply to offshore
operations. For example, section 108 of
FOGRMA, 30 U.S.C. 1718, grants the
Secretary broad authority to inspect
lease sites for the purpose of
determining whether there is
compliance with the mineral leasing
laws. Section 109(c)(2) and (d)(1), 30
U.S.C. 1719(c)(2) and (d)(1), impose
substantial civil penalties for failure to
permit lawful inspections and for
knowing or willful preparation or
submission of false, inaccurate, or
misleading reports, records, or other
information. Because the Secretary has
delegated some of the authority under
FOGRMA to BSEE, 30 U.S.C. 1751 is
included as additional authority for
these requirements.
This ICR addresses the regulations at
30 CFR 250, Subpart P, Sulphur
Operations, and any associated
supplementary Notices to Lessees and
Operators (NTLs) intended to provide
clarification, description, or explanation
of these regulations.
Currently, there are no active sulphur
lease operations on the OCS. Therefore,
this ICR and its relevant hours represent
one potential respondent.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 107 (Friday, June 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35796-35798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-13130]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLORM05000.L63340000.DU0000.16XL1116AF; HAG 16-0047]
Notice of Availability of the Draft Medford District Resource
Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment: Table Rocks
Area of Critical Environmental Concern Proposed Boundary Change and
Supplementary Rules
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 (RMP) Amendment and Draft Environmental
Assessment (EA) titled Medford District RMP Amendment and EA: Table
Rocks Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) Proposed Boundary
Change and Supplementary Rules and, by this notice, is announcing the
opening of the comment period.
[[Page 35797]]
DATES: To ensure that comments will be considered, the BLM must receive
written comments on the Draft RMP Amendment/Draft EA within 60 days
following the date the BLM publishes its notice of the Draft RMP
Amendment/Draft EA in the Federal Register. The BLM will announce
future meetings or hearings and any other public participation
activities at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media
releases, and/or mailings.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments related to the Medford District RMP
Amendment and EA: Table Rocks ACEC Proposed Boundary Change and
Supplementary Rules by any of the following methods:
Web site: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/nepa/nepa_register.do.
Email: BLM_OR_MD_Mail@blm.gov.
Fax: (541) 618-2400.
Mail: 3040 Biddle Road, Medford, OR 97504.
Copies of the Medford District RMP Amendment and EA: Table Rocks
ACEC Proposed Boundary Change and Supplementary Rules are available in
the Medford District Office at the above address.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony Kerwin, District Planning and
Environmental Coordinator; telephone (541) 618-2402; address 3040
Biddle Road, Medford, OR 97504; email BLM_OR_MD_Mail@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 proposed action includes the following:
Add to Table Rocks ACEC designation 863 acres the BLM has
acquired since the original 1986 ACEC designation. The parcels include
40 acres on Lower Table Rock in Township 36 South, Range 2 West,
Section 4; 557 acres on Upper Table Rock in Township 35 South, Range 2
West, Sections 25, 26, 35, & 36; and 266 acres on Upper Table Rock in
Township 36 South, Range 2 West, Section 2.
Remove from ACEC designation 0.9 acres located in Township
36 South, Range 2 West, Section 1, located across Modoc Road from the
Upper Table Rock trailhead parking lot (Map 2 inset).
Establish the ACEC boundary around an area totaling 4,864
acres which would encompass contiguous BLM and TNC lands and lands
under conservation easement. The establishment of the larger ACEC
boundary would not establish an ACEC or authorize any BLM decisions or
actions on non-BLM lands (including existing TNC lands).
In the future, incorporate lands acquired within or
adjacent to the expanded ACEC boundary if they meet the relevance and
importance criteria for the Table Rocks ACEC and require special
management attention.
Establish the following supplemental rules:
a. No discharge of firearms, or discharge of gas or air powered
weapons, including paintball and paintball-like weapons.
b. No motorized vehicles or non-motorized mechanized vehicles that
are propelled or powered by any means.
c. No dogs or other domestic animals outside of trailhead parking
areas, except on trails signed as allowing leashed dogs in the Camp
White zone.
d. No metal detectors or digging, scraping, disturbing, or removing
natural land features for any purpose.
e. No campfires or overnight camping.
The ACEC boundary and designation changes would amend the 1995
Medford RMP. The adoption of the supplementary rules is an
implementation-level action.
The supplementary rules would make permanent the Temporary
Restrictions that were implemented in 2014 to protect the resource
values of the 1,243 acres of ACEC lands and the 852 acres of acquired
BLM lands. Those restrictions were published in the Federal Register on
March 26, 2014, and prohibited the above-mentioned activities in the
Table Rocks ACEC and associated, acquired lands.
The Table Rocks ACEC was designated in 1986 by an amendment to the
Medford District Management Framework Plan. The area, which includes
1,003 acres on Upper Table Rock and 240 acres on Lower Table Rock, was
designated an ACEC to recognize and protect botanical and geological
features, threatened and endangered and special status species, and
natural systems. The vernal pools, ecology, Limnanthes pumila ssp.
pumila (plant species: Dwarf woolly meadowfoam), and geology met the
criteria for relevance and importance to qualify the area as an ACEC.
Between 1979 and 2009, TNC acquired several parcels on the Table
Rocks which they have managed as the Table Rocks Preserve. In 1980, TNC
was granted a perpetual conservation easement on 795 acres of private
land on Lower Table Rock. In 2009, TNC purchased a parcel with funds
provided in part by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB). As a
condition of the OWEB grant, TNC granted OWEB a perpetual easement on
898 acres of the purchased lands on both Table Rocks. The Nature
Conservancy's management objectives are to protect ecological diversity
and to provide scenic and biologic continuity between the Table Rocks
and the Rogue River while protecting the area from potential
development.
As of 2012, the BLM and TNC own all vernal pool habitats on the
summits and most of the flanks of the Table Rocks, totaling 4,864
acres. Since the 1986 ACEC designation, the BLM has acquired three
parcels from TNC--40 acres on Lower Table Rock to develop trailhead
facilities and 823 acres in two separate parcels on Upper Table Rock.
The BLM anticipates acquiring a fourth acquisition from TNC in 2016
consisting of five parcels totaling 221 acres. These parcels were
evaluated in 2013 in an ACEC review and were determined to contain
ecological, historical, cultural and scenic resources, and potential
recreational values similar and supplemental to the original ACEC. They
meet the criteria for relevance and importance for an ACEC and are
under temporary management consistent with management of the rest of
the Table Rocks ACEC until they are officially designated as part of
the ACEC. While these lands are within the proposed ACEC boundary, they
will not be part of the ACEC; however, this allows the BLM to
incorporate lands we expect to acquire in the future within this
boundary into the ACEC without having to prepare another RMP Amendment.
The BLM issued a Notice of Intent to Prepare an RMP Amendment on
September 8, 2014. Publication of the Notice of Intent initiated the
public scoping process, with public comments accepted until October 8,
2014. The BLM also sent 366 letters to various agencies, organizations,
and landowners located within the planning area. Over 70 responses were
received, and many requested a public meeting. On October 16,
approximately 50 people attended an evening open house held at the BLM
Medford District Office. Because of the interest in the project, the
public comment period was extended to November 25, 2015. Another 26
comments were received. The main issue raised by the public during
scoping was opposition to the scale and scope of the proposed 13,556-
acre ACEC and concern over what the proposed ACEC boundary would mean
to private property rights within the boundary. In response, the BLM
decreased the size of
[[Page 35798]]
the proposed boundary in the current proposed action to only include
BLM- and TNC-administered lands. No other unresolved issues were
identified during scoping.
Scoping conducted for the Table Rocks Temporary Restrictions EA in
2013 was also considered during development of the Draft Plan Amendment
and EA. Scoping for the temporary restrictions included visitor surveys
conducted at the Table Rocks in 2011 by the Southern Oregon Research
Center at Southern Oregon University; discussing hunting issues with
representatives from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Rocky
Mountain Elk Foundation, and Oregon Hunters Association; and meeting
with the Jackson County Commissioners, who submitted a comment that
generated local newspaper and television interest. One comment on the
EA was received from the Jackson County Office of County Council which
proposed that the BLM should consider implementing temporary
restrictions only on the BLM lands that were previously owned by TNC.
This notice begins the 30-day comment period for the Draft Medford
District RMP Amendment and EA: Table Rocks Area of Critical
Environmental Concern (ACEC) Proposed Boundary Change and Supplementary
Rules. 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 (8:00 a.m. to 4:00
p.m.), Monday through Friday, except holidays.
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
Jamie E. Connell,
Acting State Director, Oregon/Washington.
[FR Doc. 2016-13130 Filed 6-2-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P
