Resource Management Plan; Salem District, Salem, OR

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[OR-080-05-6350-00 GP-5-025]

Resource Management Plan; Salem District, Salem, OR

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Proposed Resource Management

Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Salem District,

Salem, Oregon.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1970, section 202(f) of the Federal Land Policy and

Management Act of 1976, and 43 CFR part 1610, a proposed resource

management plan/final environmental impact statement (PRMP/FEIS) for

the Salem District, Oregon, has been prepared and is available for

review and comment. The PRMP/FEIS describes and analyzes future options

for managing approximately 398,100 acres of mostly forested public land

and 27,800 acres of non-Federal surface ownership with federal mineral

estate administered by the Bureau of Land Management in 12 counties in

northwest Oregon.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Copies of the PRMP/FEIS and a summary of it may

be obtained from the Salem District Office. Public reading copies will

be available for review at local public libraries, government document

depository libraries, and at the following BLM locations:

Office of External Affairs, Main Interior Building, Room 5647, 1849 C

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240

Public Room, Oregon State Office, 1515 S.W. Fifth, Portland, OR 97201

Salem District Office, 1717 Fabry Road S.E., Salem, OR 97306

Tillamook Resource Area Office, 4610 Third St., Tillamook, OR 97141

All other BLM offices in western Oregon.

An open house with the opportunity to discuss the PRMP/FEIS will be

held at the Salem District Office. The open house will be held on

December 1, 1994, from 1-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.

There will be a 30-day comment/protest period beginning November

18, 1994, when the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to

publish its Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Anyone can

comment on the PRMP/FEIS, but only those persons or organizations who

participated in the planning process leading to this PRMP/FEIS may

protest. The comment/protest period will close December 19, 1994.

A protesting party may raise only those issues which were submitted

for the record during the planning process. Protests of proposed plan

elements that merely adopt decisions made in the 1994 Record of

Decision for Amendments to Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management

Planning Documents Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl (SEIS

ROD) will be dismissed, as the director has no authority to overrule

those decisions. Details of the protest process can be found in the

PRMP/FEIS.

Comments on the PRMP/FEIS should be sent to: District Manager,

Bureau of Land Management, Salem District Office, 1717 Fabry Road SE,

Salem, Oregon, 97306.

Protests should be sent to the Director (760), Bureau of Land

Management, 1849 C Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240, within the 30-

day protest period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Bob Saunders, RMP Team Leader, Salem

District Office, Phone (503) 375-5634.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The PRMP/FEIS describes and analyzes seven

alternatives which address the following issues/topics:

(1) timber production practices;

(2) old-growth forests and habitat diversity;

(3) threatened and endangered and other special status species

habitat (including habitat for the northern spotted owl);

(4) special areas;

(5) visual resources;

(6) stream, riparian, and water quality;

(7) recreation resources;

(8) wild and scenic rivers;

(9) land tenure; and

(10) rural interface areas.

The PRMP/FEIS also incorporates the land use allocations and

management direction from the 1994 Record of Decision for Amendments to

Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Planning Documents Within

the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl (SEIS ROD).

In the BLM's proposed resource management plan, water quality would

be maintained or improved primarily by a combination of best management

practices and exclusion of selected areas from planned timber harvest.

Particularly important exclusion areas would be riparian zones.

The major land use allocations of the proposed resource management

plan are as follows: Late-Successional Reserves, 211,800 acres;

Riparian Reserves, 221,800 acres (these are included within the other

major land use allocations); Adaptive Management Area, 123,400 acres;

General Forest Management Area, 107,300 acres; Connectivity/Diversity

Blocks, 27,400 acres; and 7,900 acres of wilderness and a District-

Designated Reserve.

In addition to protecting listed or proposed threatened and

endangered species as required by the Endangered Species Act, the BLM

would manage habitats of Federal candidate, State-listed, and Bureau-

sensitive species to maintain their populations at a level that would

avoid contributing to listing of the species. Additional species listed

in the SEIS ROD would also be surveyed and managed.

Management would provide a wide variety of recreation

opportunities, with particular emphasis on developed recreation sites,

areas and trails, and outstanding natural areas.

Two river segments totaling 27.7 miles would be found suitable for

designation by Congress as recreational river areas under the Wild and

Scenic Rivers Act. Some 36.4 other miles of river determined eligible

for designation and studied by the BLM would be found not suitable for

designation.

Most BLM-administered lands with potential for occurrence would

remain available for mineral leasing and location of mining claims, but

6,200 acres would be closed to leasing for oil and gas resources and

22,100 acres would be closed to location of claims.

The PRMP/FEIS proposes continuation of designation of 19 acres of

critical environmental concern (ACEC) and designation of 9 new ACECs.

The proposed resource management plan would redesignate or designate

the following ACECs and one other special area with the noted

restrictions.

Proposed Special Areas

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Off-highway Locatable/

Name Acres vehicle Leasable salable mineral Timber harvest

designation mineral entry entry

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A.J. Dwyer--Scenic Area........ 5 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Carolyn's Crown--ACEC/RNA...... 261 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Crabtree/Shafer Creek--ACEC/RNA/ 961.5 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

ONA.

Elk Creek--ACEC................ 1,577 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No-Primary Zone.

Yes-Secondary

Zone.\1\

Forest Peak--ACEC/RNA.......... 134 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Grass Mtn.--ACEC/RNA........... 726 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

High Pk.-Moon Cr.--ACEC/RNA.... 1,538 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Larch Mtn.--Env. Ed. Site...... 183 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Little Grass Mtn.--ACEC/ONA.... 45 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Little Sink--ACEC/RNA.......... 81 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Lost Prairie--ACEC............. 58 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Marys Peak--ACEC/ONA........... 104 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Middle Santiam--Terrace ACEC... 108 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Nestucca River--ACEC........... 1,062 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

North Santiam--ACEC............ 31 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Rickreall Ridge--ACEC.......... 177 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Saddleback Mtn.--ACEC/RNA...... 151 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Sandy River Gorge--ACEC/ONA.... 400 Closed.......... No............. Closed......... No.

Sheridan Peak--ACEC............ 299 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Open--AR....... Yes.\1\

Soosap Meadows--ACEC........... 343 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

The Butte--ACEC/RNA............ 40 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Valley of the Giants--ACEC/ONA. 51 Closed.......... N/A\2\......... N/A\2\......... No.

Walker Flat--ACEC.............. 10 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

White Rock Fen--ACEC........... 51 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Wilhoit Spring--ACEC........... 170 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No Commercial

Timber.

Willamette River--Parcels...... 76 Closed.......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No Commercial

Timber.

Williams Lake--ACEC............ 98 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Yampo--ACEC.................... 13 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No.

Yaquina Head--ACEC/ONA......... 106 Limited......... Open--NSO...... Closed......... No Commercial

Timber.

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\1\Thinning in timber up to 110 years old.

\2\Mineral resources not federally administered.

ACEC=Area of Critical Environmental Concern

RNA=Research Natural Area

ONA=Outstanding Natural Area

NSO=No Surface Occupancy

AR=Additional restrictions

N/A=Not applicable

There are three potential ACEC areas identified that meet the

Bureau criteria of relevance and importance but are not included in

whole or in part in the PRMP/FEIS described above. One existing ACEC

would not be redesignated because it does not meet ACEC criteria. The

primary values of these areas would be protected by other allocations.

This notice meets the requirements of 43 CFR 1610.7-2 for

designation of ACECs and the requirements of the final revised

Department of the Interior/Department of Agriculture Guidelines for

eligibility, Classification and Management of Rivers FR Vol. 47, No.

173, pg. 39454).

Dated: November 9, 1994.

Van W. Manning,

District Manager.

[FR Doc. 94-28872 Filed 11-22-94; 8:45 am]

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