Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and an Associated Environmental Impact Statement, 52992-52995 [2022-18693]

Agencies

• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
• Bureau of Land Management

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 167 (Tuesday, August 30, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52992-52995]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18693]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[223.LLUTY02000.L16100000.DQ0000.LXLUBENM0000]


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Resource Management Plan for the 
Bears Ears National Monument in Utah and an Associated Environmental 
Impact Statement

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior. USDA Forest Service, 
Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 
1969, as amended (NEPA), the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976, as amended (FLPMA), the National Forest Management Act of 1976 
(NFMA), and Presidential Proclamation 10285, the Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM) Utah State Director and the U.S. Department of 
Agriculture Forest Service (USDA Forest Service) Manti-La Sal National 
Forest Supervisor intend to revise a resource management plan (RMP) 
with an associated environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Bears 
Ears National Monument (BENM) and by this notice announce the beginning 
of the scoping period to solicit public comments and identify issues, 
provide the planning criteria for public review, and issue a call for 
nominations for areas of critical environmental concern (ACECs) on 
lands managed by the BLM. The BLM is leading the NEPA process in 
partnership with the USDA Forest Service, which will make a decision 
for the USDA Forest Service-managed lands based on the analysis in the 
EIS. The Bears Ears Commission will play an integral role in the 
development of the EIS and RMP. The RMP revision would replace the BLM 
Indian Creek and Shash J[aacute]a Monument Management Plans (2020) and 
the Approved Plan Amendment for the Manti-La Sal National Forest Bears 
Ears National Monument Shash J[aacute]a Unit (2020). The RMP revision 
would also replace the applicable portions of the BLM's Monticello RMP 
(2008) and Moab RMP (2008) and Manti-La Sal National Forest's Land and 
Resource Management Plan (1986).

DATES: The BLM requests the public submit comments concerning the scope 
of the analysis, potential alternatives and identification of relevant 
information, studies, and ACEC nominations by October 31, 2022. To 
afford the BLM the opportunity to consider this information and ACEC 
nominations raised by commenters in the Draft RMP/EIS, please ensure 
your comments are received prior to the close of the 60-day scoping 
period or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever is later.
    The BLM also requests the public submit comments on the planning 
criteria by the same date identified above. The planning criteria will 
be made available to the public within the first 30 days of the 60-day 
comment period to ensure the public has at least 30 days to comment on 
the planning criteria as required by the planning regulations listed in 
43 CFR 1610.2(e). To afford the BLM the opportunity to consider 
comments on the planning criteria in the Draft RMP/EIS, please ensure 
your comments are received prior to the close of the 60-day scoping 
period or 15 days after the last public meeting, whichever is later.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments on issues and planning criteria 
related to the BENM RMP and nominations of new ACECs by any of the 
following methods:
     Website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020347/510.
     Mail: ATTN: Monument Planning, BLM Monticello Field 
Office, 365 North Main, Monticello, UT 84535.
    Documents pertinent to this proposal may be examined online at 
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2020347/510 and at the 
BLM Monticello Field Office, 365 North Main, Monticello, UT 84535.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott M. Whitesides, Project Manager, 
telephone (801) 539-4054; address Bureau of Land Management Utah, 440 
West 200 South Suite 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101; email 
[email protected]. Contact Mr. Whitesides to have your name added to 
our mailing list. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, 
deafblind, hard of hearing or have

[[Page 52993]]

a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access 
telecommunications relay services. Individuals outside the United 
States should use the relay services offered within their country to 
make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This document provides notice that the BLM 
Utah State Director and USDA Forest Service Manti-La Sal National 
Forest Supervisor intend to prepare an RMP with an associated EIS for 
the BENM, announces the beginning of the scoping process, seeks public 
input on issues and relevant planning criteria, and invites the public 
to nominate ACECs on lands administered by the BLM. The planning area 
is located in San Juan County, Utah, and encompasses approximately 1.36 
million acres of Federally administered lands between the BLM 
(1,074,908 acres) and the USDA Forest Service (289,040 acres). While 
most of the BLM-adminstered lands are within the BLM Monticello Field 
Office planning area, approximately 8,835 acres are located within the 
BLM Moab Field Office planning area. Within the exterior boundary of 
the BENM, there are private inholdings, land owned by the State of Utah 
School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), and the 
entirety of Natural Bridges National Monument of the National Park 
Service. These lands are not part of the Bears Ears National Monument 
and are not included in the planning effort.

Purpose and Need for the Resource Management Plan

    This Resource Management Plan will provide a management framework, 
including goals, objectives, and management direction, to guide 
Monument management. Purposes and needs serve to frame issue 
identification, alternatives development, and effects analyses. The 
following purposes and desired outcomes are set forward explicitly in 
Presidential Proclamation 10285 or have been identified based on key 
present and historical BENM management challenges. Planning for these 
desired outcomes will be crucial for development of an RMP that 
provides direction for addressing critical management challenges. 
Associated needs and challenges that the RMP will address are also 
summarized.
    1. Protect, restore, and enhance the Monument's objects and values 
in large, remote, rugged, and connected landscapes. This includes the 
entire landscape within the Monument and the objects and values 
Proclamations 10285 and 9558 established the Monument to protect.
    Needs and challenges: BENM is a place that holds deep cultural and 
spiritual connections for many communities. BENM includes a diversity 
of ecotypes, geological and paleontological resources, vegetation, and 
wildlife. During the last century, uranium mining activities and 
livestock grazing have been common activities in this part of Southeast 
Utah. Mining activity within BENM is rare today, but livestock grazing 
remains an important local economic use of the landscape.
    Recreational visitation is an important driver of the local 
economy, with the Indian Creek area becoming world-famous for rock 
climbing and the increased popularity of off-highway vehicle use, 
cultural tourism, and other forms of recreation. The increased demand 
on BENM's resources, and subsequently, the Monument's objects and 
values, poses a challenge to balance the wide variety of uses of the 
landscape with the protection of the Monument's objects and values. 
Planning decisions can define resource uses and land designations to 
help resolve conflicts between various uses and resource protection.
    2. Protect and/or restore the historical and cultural significance 
of this landscape. This includes objects identified in the 
Proclamations such as numerous archaeological sites, modern tribal 
uses, other traditional descendant community uses, historic routes and 
trails, historic inscriptions, and historic sites.
    Needs and challenges: Public visitation, permitted activities, and 
climate change have the potential to impact cultural resources. 
Traditional knowledge, interpretation, and management guidance to help 
inform the public and protect various cultural resources and 
traditional uses are needed. Planning decisions can help provide 
management direction to protect cultural resources and traditional uses 
and provide direction for a lasting and effective partnership with 
Tribal Nations and the Bears Ears Commission.
    3. Protect and/or restore the unique and varied natural and 
scientific resources of these lands. This includes objects identified 
in the Proclamations such as biological resources including various 
plant communities, relic and endemic plants, diverse wildlife including 
unique species, and habitat for Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed 
species.
    Needs and challenges: Increasing uses of the landscape such as rock 
climbing, off-highway vehicle use, and cultural tourism, whether 
through an organized or commercial event with a special recreation 
permit or by the public in general, can impact various plant and 
wildlife communities and habitats. Planning decisions can help 
reevaluate and balance the trade-offs for the desired uses of the 
landscape with the need to protect the Monument's biological resources 
identified as objects.
    4. Protect and/or restore scenic qualities including night skies; 
natural soundscapes; diverse, visible geology; and unique areas and 
features.
    Needs and challenges: Bears Ears National Monument is surrounded by 
various National Park Service and Utah State Park units designated as 
Dark Sky Parks, and the region is recognized for its uniquely dark 
night sky. Additionally, the remoteness of the region provides the 
opportunity for a quiet, natural soundscape and the varied geologic 
features provide incredibly unique scenic qualities. Planning decisions 
should reflect the need to protect these visual and scenic qualities 
identified as objects and values for Bears Ears National Monument.
    5. Protect and/or restore important paleontological resources.
    Needs and challenges: Bears Ears National Monument is becoming an 
increasingly important region for the study of paleontological 
resources. These resources also have ties to the stories and cultures 
of Tribal Nations. To protect these important resources, planning 
decisions should be made to support appropriate access, use, and 
protection of paleontological resources.
    6. Ensure that management of these lands will incorporate 
traditional and historical knowledge related to the use and 
significance of the landscape.
    Needs and challenges: Tribal Nations and descendant communities not 
only care about and learn from the cultural resources found in Bears 
Ears National Monument, but many of them still use portions of the 
landscape for traditional cultural and spiritual needs, as well as for 
necessary subsistence purposes. Any BLM or USDA Forest Service action 
has the potential to impact spiritual, traditional, or subsistence uses 
of the BENM landscape; therefore, it is critical that planning 
decisions reflect traditional knowledge and provide a framework to 
incorporate traditional knowledge into any future implementation 
activities. However, some traditional uses, such as the annual 
collection of firewood for personal use, may in some cases cause 
negative impacts to cultural resources, sensitive soils, and the 
woodland

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resource itself. Firewood collection is an important traditional use, 
and the planning decisions should consider how to address the potential 
negative impacts, while also balancing the positive aspects like fuel 
load reduction and subsistence needs.
    7. Provide for a variety of uses on Monument lands, so long as 
those uses are consistent with the protection of the BENM's identified 
objects and values.
    Needs and challenges: Public land uses within BENM, such as 
livestock grazing and recreation, are important to the economic 
opportunities and quality of life of the local communities surrounding 
BENM. These two uses account for the majority of visitation to BENM. 
Although these two uses are not identified in Presidential Proclamation 
10285 as objects or values, these are discussed as important land uses 
in the area. Planning decisions should consider how to protect Monument 
objects and values with consideration of other uses of the landscape, 
such as livestock grazing and recreation.

Preliminary Alternatives

    The BLM and USDA Forest Service will analyze alternatives that 
explore and evaluate different ways of achieving the purpose and need 
listed above. The alternatives will explore different outcomes to be 
addressed during this planning effort to understand the trade-offs of 
different land management approaches. The BLM and USDA Forest Service 
welcome comments on all preliminary alternatives, as well as 
suggestions for additional alternatives.

Planning Criteria

    The planning criteria guide the planning effort and lay the 
groundwork for effects analysis by identifying the preliminary issues 
and their analytical frameworks. Preliminary issues for the planning 
area have been identified by BLM and USDA Forest Service personnel and 
from early engagement conducted for this planning effort with Federal, 
State, and local agencies, Tribal Nations, and stakeholders. The BLM 
and USDA Forest Service have identified several preliminary issues for 
this planning effort's analysis and will provide them for public review 
as part of the planning criteria within the timeframe identified in 
DATES above. The planning criteria are available for public review and 
comment at the ePlanning website (see ADDRESSES).

Summary of Expected Impacts

    Consistent with protection of BENM objects and values identified in 
Proclamation 10285, implementation of a new RMP may impact--either 
beneficially or adversely--resources and uses within the BENM, 
including recreation, livestock grazing, soils, water, vegetation, 
cultural and historic resources, paleontological resources, visual 
resources, designated areas, social and economic values, and other 
human and environmental resources.

Schedule for the Decision-Making Process

    The BLM and USDA Forest Service will provide additional 
opportunities for public participation consistent with NEPA and BLM and 
USDA Forest Service land use planning processes, including a 90-day 
comment period on the Draft RMP/EIS, then a 30-day public protest 
period, as well as a concurrent 60-day Governor's consistency review, 
on the Proposed RMP. The Draft RMP/EIS is anticipated to be ready for 
public review in spring 2023, and the Proposed RMP/Final EIS is 
anticipated to be available for public protest in winter 2024, with an 
Approved RMP and Record of Decision (ROD) completed in spring 2024.

Public Scoping Process

    This Notice of Intent initiates the scoping period and public 
review of the planning criteria, which guide the development and 
analysis of the Draft RMP/EIS.
    The BLM and USDA Forest Service will hold a total of five scoping 
meetings. Two scoping meetings will be held virtually. Three scoping 
meetings will be conducted in-person: one in Blanding, Utah, one in 
Monument Valley, Navajo Nation, and one in Farmington, New Mexico. 
Details of all meetings will be announced once known. In compliance 
with Department of the Interior public health guidelines, the BLM and 
USDA Forest Service may need to hold public meetings in a virtual 
format if county-level transmission of COVID-19 is ``high'' at the time 
of the public meetings. In that case, the BLM and USDA Forest Service 
will hold five virtual public meetings.
    The specific dates and locations of these scoping meetings will be 
announced at least 15 days in advance through local media, social 
media, newspapers, and the ePlanning website (see ADDRESSES).
    The ePlanning website (see ADDRESSES) also includes, or will 
include, background information on the BENM, planning process overview, 
preliminary planning criteria, and interim management guidance. You may 
submit comments on issues, potential alternatives, relevant information 
and analyses, and the preliminary planning criteria in writing to the 
BLM and USDA Forest Service at any public scoping meeting, or to the 
BLM and USDA Forest Service using one of the methods listed in the 
ADDRESSES section.

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs)

    There are five ACECs within BENM: San Juan, Lavender Mesa, Shay 
Canyon, Indian Creek, and Valley of the Gods.
    This notice invites the public to comment on whether to retain the 
existing ACECs and whether to nominate areas on BLM-administered lands 
for ACEC consideration. To assist the BLM in evaluating nominations for 
consideration in the Draft RMP/EIS, please provide supporting 
descriptive materials, maps, and evidence of the relevance and 
importance of resources or hazards by the close of the public scoping 
period to facilitate timely evaluation (see DATES and ADDRESSES). The 
BLM has identified the anticipated issues related to the consideration 
of ACECs in the planning criteria.

Tribal Coordination

    The Monument planning process will provide Tribal Nations multiple 
ways to engage, including, but not limited to, through government-to-
government coordination and consultation, consultation under section 
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) (54 U.S.C. 
306108), participation as cooperating agencies, and through the Bears 
Ears Commission. Presidential Proclamation 10285 reconstituted the 
Bears Ears Commission with the terms, conditions, and obligations 
identified in Presidential Proclamation 9558 to provide guidance and 
recommendations for the development of the management plan and 
incorporate traditional and historical knowledge. The Bears Ears 
Commission is a self-governed commission consisting of one elected 
officer each from the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Ute Mountain Ute 
Tribe, Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, and Pueblo 
of Zuni, designated by the officers' respective Tribes. On June 18, 
2022, the BLM, USDA Forest Service, and the five Tribal Nations of the 
Bears Ears Commission signed an inter-governmental cooperative 
agreement to obtain input from the Commission for the development and 
implementation of the Monument Management Plan. The agreement also 
facilitates coordination and cooperative management of the federal 
lands within the BENM to provide consistent, effective, and 
collaborative management of the lands and resources. The BLM and USDA 
Forest Service anticipate engagement

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with the Bears Ears Commission during each stage of the RMP/EIS process 
consistent with the roles and responsibilities identified in the inter-
governmental cooperative agreement. The Bears Ears Commission may also 
assist with developing a Tribal collaboration framework.

Cooperating Agencies

    Federal, State, and local agencies, along with Tribal Nations, may 
request or be asked by the BLM to participate as cooperating agencies. 
At this time, the BLM has identified the following potential 
cooperating agencies:
     National Park Service,
     U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
     U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
     U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,
     U.S. Department of Energy,
     Utah's Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office,
     SITLA,
     Utah State Historic Preservation Office,
     San Juan County,
     Grand County,
     City of Blanding,
     Town of Bluff,
     City of Monticello, and
     All 32 affiliated Tribal Nations that wish to participate.

Responsible Official

    The Utah State Director and the Manti-La Sal National Forest 
Supervisor are the deciding officials for this planning effort.

Nature of Decision To Be Made

    The nature of the decision to be made will be the State Director's 
and the Forest Supervisor's selection of land use planning decisions 
for managing BLM- and USDA Forest Service-administered lands, 
respectively, within the BENM that protect the objects and values 
identified in Proclamation 10285. Uses on the BENM may be allowed to 
the extent they are consistent with Proclamation 10285 and the 
protection of the objects and values within the BENM.
    The USDA Forest Service gives notice that it intends to use the 
BLM's administrative review procedures, as provided by the USDA Forest 
Service 2012 Planning Rule, at 36 CFR 219.59(b). The review procedures 
would include a joint response from BLM and the USDA Forest Service to 
those who file for administrative review. If any project or site-
specific decision is made in the RMP, such decision would be subject to 
the USDA Forest Service project-level administrative review process at 
36 CFR 218.

Interdisciplinary Team

    The BLM and USDA Forest Service will use an interdisciplinary 
approach in developing the RMP/EIS to consider the variety of resource 
issues and concerns identified. Specialists with expertise in various 
disciplines, such as cultural resources, Native American concerns, 
paleontology, minerals, lands/access, recreation, special designations, 
wildlife, livestock grazing, soils, water resources, vegetation, 
rangeland management, fisheries, fire management, woodlands/forestry, 
socioeconomics, environmental justice, visual resources, night sky, 
soundscapes, air quality, and climate change will be involved in the 
planning process.

Additional Information

    The BLM and USDA Forest Service will identify, analyze, and 
consider mitigation to address the reasonably foreseeable impacts to 
resources from the proposed RMP and all analyzed alternatives and, in 
accordance with 40 CFR 1502.14(e), include appropriate mitigation 
measures not already included in the proposed plan or alternatives. 
Mitigation may include avoidance, minimization, rectification, 
reduction or elimination over time, and compensation, and may be 
considered at multiple scales, including the landscape scale.
    The BLM and USDA Forest Service will utilize and coordinate the 
NEPA and land use planning processes for this planning effort to help 
support procedural requirements under the Endangered Species Act (16 
U.S.C. 1536) and section 106 of the NHPA, as provided in 36 CFR 
800.2(d)(3), including the public involvement requirements of section 
106. Information about historic and cultural resources and threatened 
and endangered species within the area potentially affected by the 
proposed plan will assist the BLM and USDA Forest Service in 
identifying and evaluating impacts to such resources.
    The BLM and USDA Forest Service will consult with Tribal Nations on 
a government-to-government basis in accordance with Executive Order 
13175 and applicable Departmental policies. Tribal concerns, including 
impacts on American Indian trust assets and potential impacts on 
cultural resources, will be given due consideration. The BLM and USDA 
Forest Service intend to hold a series of government-to-government 
consultation meetings beginning during the public scoping period. The 
BLM and USDA Forest Service will send invitations to potentially 
affected Tribal Nations at least 30-days prior to the meetings. The BLM 
and USDA Forest Service will provide additional opportunities for 
government-to-government consultation during the NEPA process.
    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 1501.9 and 43 CFR 1610.2)

Gregory Sheehan,
BLM Utah State Director.
[FR Doc. 2022-18693 Filed 8-29-22; 8:45 am]
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