Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Bennett Hills Draft Resource Management Plan and Amendment to the Jarbridge Resource Management Plan, Idaho

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[ID-056-1610-00]

Notice of Intent to Prepare a Supplement to the Draft

Environmental Impact Statement for the Bennett Hills Draft Resource

Management Plan and Amendment to the Jarbridge Resource Management

Plan, Idaho

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management; Interior.

ACTION: The Shoshone District Bureau of Land Management announces the

intent to prepare a supplement to the Bennett Hills Draft Resource

Management Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement, and Amendment to

the Jarbridge Resource Management Plan.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 40 CFR 1502.9(c) implementing the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Bureau of Land Management's Idaho

State Director has determined the need to prepare a supplement to the

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Bennett Hills Draft

Resource Management Plan issued for public comment on April 1, 1994.

This action is taken to allow the agency to fully consider and

incorporate comments received on the draft.

DATES: No date has been set for the release of the Supplement.

Notification of release will be made in the Federal Register and local

news media. The Supplement will be circulated for an additional 90-day

public comment period.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project Manager William H. West,

Shoshone District Bureau of Land Management, P.O. 2-B, Shoshone, Idaho

83352, telephone (208) 886-7203.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On September 20, 1990, the Shoshone District

Bureau of Land Management published a Notice of Intent to prepare a

Draft Resource Management Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement for

the Bennett Hills Resource Area. On March 25, 1992, the Boise District

of the Bureau of Land Management published a Notice of Intent to

prepare an Amendment to the Jarbridge Resource Management Plan to be

incorporated in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the

Bennett Hills Draft Resource Management Plan. On April 1, 1994, a

Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement was

published in the Federal Register and the public was invited to

comment.

The public comment period ended on July 1, 1994, with 170 comment

letters received containing over 400 individual comments. The comments

identified new actions, standards and guidelines not contained in the

Draft. The comments include specific suggestions for livestock

management prescriptions in riparian areas, proposals for new Areas of

Critical Environmental Concern, and land exchanges to accommodate

recent community expansion needs that were not contained or analyzed in

the Draft.

The comments also provided clarity and focus to the public's

desires and needs not found in the original scoping for the Draft in

1990. At the time of the original scoping, five open houses were held

at different locations in the valley; however, less than 30 people

attended and, despite concerted efforts to solicit public opinion, only

66 total comments were received during the formal scoping period. The

scoping comments were very broad in nature and often dealt with general

BLM policy questions not directed toward actions within the

jurisdiction of the RMP. Comments received on the Draft were directed

toward management actions on the planning area and within the scope of

a Resource Management Plan decision. Additionally, because of the long

lag time from the scoping to the publication of the Draft, the public's

wishes for management of the public land had changed.

Dated: January 31, 1995.

Robert D. Cordell,

Area Manager, Bennett Hills Resource Area.

[FR Doc. 95-3274 Filed 2-8-95; 8:45 am]

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