Caliente Management Framework Plan Desert Tortoise Amendment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[NV-055-1150-00, 5-0151-LM]

Caliente Management Framework Plan Desert Tortoise Amendment

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent and scoping period.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) intends to amend the

Caliente Management Framework Plan to implement the Desert Tortoise

(Mojave Population) Recovery Plan, issued June 1994. The purpose of the

plan amendment is to outline the specific objectives and planned

actions needed for desert tortoise recovery and for eventual removal of

the desert tortoise from the federal list of threatened and endangered

animals. The amendment will delineate Desert Wildlife Management Areas

in desert tortoise habitat in accordance with provisions in the

recovery plan and prescribe management actions inside and outside these

areas. These areas will [[Page 5695]] be evaluated for potential

designation as Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. These Desert

Wildlife Management Areas include lands in Coyote Springs, Mormon Mesa

and Beaver Dam Slope areas, and would encompass approximately 281,500

acres in the southern portion of the BLM's Caliente Resource Area,

Lincoln County, Nevada. Final determination of boundaries for these

Desert Wildlife Management Areas will be a focus of this plan

amendment.

Consistent with the Desert Tortoise Recovery Plan, certain

activities have been determined to be incompatible with desert tortoise

recovery. Planned actions called for in the recovery plan for

implementation inside Desert Wildlife Management Areas include

restrictions or elimination of the following activities: (1) Vehicle

activity off of designated roads and all competitive and organized

events; (2) habitat-destructive military maneuvers, clearing for

agriculture, landfills, and other surface disturbance that diminishes

the capacity of the land to support desert tortoises, other wildlife,

and native vegetation; (3) domestic livestock grazing; (4) grazing by

wild horses and burros; (5) vegetation harvest, except by permit; (6)

collection of biological specimens, except by permit; (7) dumping and

littering; (8) deposition of captive or displaced desert tortoises,

except under authorized translocation research projects; (9)

uncontrolled dogs out of vehicles; (10) discharge of firearms, except

for hunting of big game or upland game birds from September through

February.

The following decisions contained in the Caliente Management

Framework Plan may change by restricting or eliminating existing land

uses as a result of the desert tortoise amendment: Issue 1--vehicle

uses under Recreation decision 3.1; Issue 2--surface disturbing

activities under Lands Objective 5.0--decisions 1.1 and 5.4; Issue 3--

livestock grazing under decisions 1.1 and 1.2; Issue 4--wild horse and

burro grazing under decision 1.1; Issue 5--vegetation harvest under

Forestry decisions 2.1 and 2.2; and Issue 10--discharge of firearms

under Wildlife Objective 2.0.

An environmental assessment will be prepared for this plan

amendment.

DATES: There will be a 30-day scoping period to solicit for public

comment on the desert tortoise amendment. Written comments must be

submitted and postmarked no later than Friday, February 17, 1995.

Two public meetings will be held to exchange information about the

process and purpose of the project, identify pertinent information and

data available, identify issues relevant to the scope of the project,

and develop boundary alternatives for meeting the Desert Wildlife

Management Areas requirements of the recovery plan. These public

meetings will be held in Caliente, Nevada on February 21, 1995, from 7

p.m. to 10 p.m. and in North Las Vegas on February 22, 1995 from 7 p.m.

to 10 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be addressed to: Curtis G. Tucker,

Area Manager, Caliente Resource Area, P.O. Box 237, Caliente, Nevada

89126.

The public meeting on February 21, 1995 will be held at: Caliente

Youth Center, Highway 93, Caliente, Nevada.

The public meeting on February 22, 1995 will be held at: North Las

Vegas Air Terminal, 2772 North Rancho Drive, North Las Vegas, Nevada.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Kyle Teel, Wildlife Biologist, at the above Caliente Resource Area

Office address or telephone (702) 726-8100.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Desert Wildlife Management Areas

outlined in the recovery plan that fall within the Caliente Resource

Area are described below. The boundaries of these areas may be modified

based on public comments. The Mormon Mesa area extends into the

Stateline Resource Area to the south and is discussed in the Supplement

to the Draft Stateline Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental

Impact Statement.

Coyote Spring Desert Wildlife Management Area

Mount Diablo Meridian

T. 9 S., R. 62 E.,

Secs. 13 and 14, all,

Sec. 15, E\1/2\,

Sec. 22, E\1/2\,

Secs. 23-26, inclusive,

Sec. 27, E\1/2\,

Sec. 34, E\1/2\,

Secs. 35 and 36, all.

T. 9 S., R. 63 E.,

Secs. 18, 19, 30 and 31, all.

T. 10, S., R. 62 E.,

Secs. 1 and 2, all,

Secs. 11-13, inclusive,

Sec. 14, E\1/2\, NE\1/4\NW\1/4\,

Sec. 23, NE\1/4\, E\1/2\SE\1/4\

Secs 24 and 25, all,

Sec. 36, E\1/2\, E\1/2\W\1/2\.

T. 10 S., R. 63 E.,

Secs. 6 and 7, all,

Secs. 13-15, inclusive,

Secs. 18-20, inclusive and,

Secs. 22-36, inclusive.

T. 10 S., R. 64 E.,

Secs. 13-24, inclusive and,

Secs. 26-34, inclusive.

T. 10 S., R. 65 E.,

Secs. 18 and 19, all.

T. 11 S., R. 62 E.,

Sec. 1, E\1/2\, E\1/2\W\1/2\

T. 11 S., R. 63 E.,

Secs. 1-12, inclusive,

Secs. 13, N\1/2\,

Secs. 14-18, inclusive,

Secs. 30 and 31, west of the Highway 93 right-of-way,

Sec. 36, E\1/2\.

T.11 S., R. 64 E.,

Secs, 4-9, inclusive,

Secs. 17-20, inclusive,

Secs. 30 and 31, all.

T. 12 S., R. 63 E.,

Sec, 1, E\1/2\,

Secs. 6 and 7, west of the Highway 93 right-of-way,

Sec. 12, E\1/2\, E\1/2\W\1/2\,

Sec. 13, E\1/2\,

Secs. 18 and 19, west of the Highway 93 right-of-way,

Sec. 24, E\1/2\,

Sec. 29-32, west of the Highway 93 right-of-way.

T. 12 S., R. 64 E.,

Secs. 6 and 7, all.

Mormon Mesa Desert Wildlife Management Area

Mount Diablo Meridian

T. 10 S., R. 66 E.,

Secs. 24-26, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 34 and 35, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Sec. 36, all.

T. 10 S., R. 67 E.,

Secs. 1 and 2, all,

Sec. 3, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Sec. 9, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 10-15, inclusive,

Secs. 16-19, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 20-24, inclusive,

Secs. 27-33, inclusive.

T. 10\1/2\ S., R. 66 E.,

Secs. 33 and 34, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 35 and 36, all.

T. 10\1/2\ S., R. 67 E.,

Secs. 31 and 32, all.

T. 11 S., R. 65 E.,

Sec. 36, east of the railroad right-of-way.

T. 11 S., R. 66 E.,

Secs. 1-3, inclusive,

Secs. 4 and 5, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Sec. 8 east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 9-11, inclusive,

Secs. 14-16, inclusive,

Sec. 17, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 19 and 20, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 21-23, inclusive,

Secs. 26-29, inclusive,

Secs. 30 and 31, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 32-36, inclusive.

T. 11 S., R. 67 E.,

Sec. 6, all.

T. 11 S., R. 69 E.,

Sec. 17, south of South Fork Wash,

Secs. 20-27, south of South Fork Wash,

Secs. 28 and 29, all,

Secs. 32-36, inclusive.

T. 11 S., R. 70 E., [[Page 5696]]

Secs. 30 and 31, west of Toquop Wash.

T. 11\1/2\ S., R. 65 E.,

Sec. 36, east side of the railroad right-of-way.

T. 12 S., R. 64 E.,

Secs. 25-30, inclusive,

Sec. 31, E\1/2\, NW\1/4\, E\1/2\SW\1/4\,

Secs. 32-36, inclusive.

T. 12 S., R. 65 E.,

Sec. 1, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 12 and 13, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Sec. 24, east of the railroad right-of-way,

Secs. 25-36, inclusive.

T. 12 S., R. 66 E.

Secs. 1-36, inclusive.

T. 12 S., R. 67 E.,

Secs. 6-8, inclusive.

Secs. 16-22, inclusive,

Secs. 27-33, inclusive.

T. 12 S., R. 68 E.,

Secs. 23-29, inclusive,

Secs. 31-36, inclusive.

T. 12 S., R. 69 E.,

Secs. 1-5, inclusive,

Secs. 8-36, inclusive.

T. 12 S., R. 70 E.,

Secs. 6 and 7, west of Toquop Wash,

Secs. 17 and 18, west of Toquop Wash,

Sec. 19, all,

Sec. 20, west of Toquop Wash,

Sec. 29, west of Toquop Wash,

Secs. 30 and 31, all,

Sec. 32, west of Toquop Wash.

Beaver Dam Slope Desert Wildlife Management Area

Mount Diablo Meridian

T. 9 S., R. 71 E.,

Sec. 15, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 16 and 17, all,

Secs. 20 and 21, all,

Sec. 22, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Sec. 27 W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 28 and 29, all,

Secs. 32 and 33, all,

Sec. 34, W\1/2\W\1/2\.

T. 10 S., R. 70 E.,

Secs. 19-36, inclusive.

T. 10 S., R. 71 E.,

Sec. 3, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 4 and 5, all,

Secs. 7-9, inclusive,

Sec. 10, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Sec. 15, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 16-21, inclusive,

Sec. 22, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Sec. 27, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 28-33, inclusive,

Sec. 34, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

T. 11 S., R. 70 E.,

Secs. 1-29, inclusive,

Sec. 30 and 31, east of Toquop Wash,

Secs. 32-36, inclusive.

T. 11 S., R. 71 E.,

Sec. 3, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 4-9, inclusive,

Sec. 10, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Sec. 15, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 16-21, inclusive,

Sec. 22, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Sec. 27, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 28-33, inclusive,

Sec. 34, W\1/2\W\1/2\.

T. 12 S., R. 70 E.,

Secs. 1-5, inclusive,

Secs. 6 and 7, east of Toquop Wash,

Secs. 8-12, inclusive,

Secs. 14-16, inclusive,

Secs. 17 and 18, east of Toquop Wash,

Sec. 20, east of Toquop Wash,

Secs. 21-23, inclusive,

Sec. 28, all,

Sec. 29, east of Toquop Wash,

Sec. 32, east of Toquop Wash,

Sec. 33, all.

T. 12 S., R. 71 E.,

Sec. 3, W\1/2\W\1/2\,

Secs. 4-9, inclusive,

Sec. 10, W\1/2\W\1/2\.

Federal, state and local agencies, and other individuals or

organizations who are interested in/or affected by aspects of amending

the Caliente Management Framework Plan to implement the desert tortoise

recovery plan, are invited to participate in this planning process.

Comments and recommendations will be accepted only on those subjects

being addressed by this amendment.

Dated: January 18, 1995.

Ann J. Morgan,

State Director, Nevada.

[FR Doc. 95-2172 Filed 1-27-95; 8:45 am]

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