Proposed Resource Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact Statement; Dixie Resource Area, Utah

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[UT-934-08-1610-00]

Proposed Resource Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact

Statement; Dixie Resource Area, Utah

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 102 of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and

Management Act of 1976, and 43 CFR Part 1610, the Proposed Resource

Management Plan (RMP)/Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS),

hereafter referred to as the ``Proposed Plan'', has been prepared for

the Dixie Resource Area, Cedar City District, Utah, and is available

for a thirty day public review and protest period. The Proposed Plan

provides decisions for management of approximately 629,000 acres of

public lands and 675,750 acres of Federal mineral estate in Washington

County, in southwestern Utah. The Proposed Plan is presented in a

condensed final environmental impact statement format that (a) draws

upon elements of each of the four alternatives analyzed in the Draft

RMP/EIS to formulate the new Proposed Plan, (b) reflects consideration

given to public comments on, and corrections to, the Draft RMP/EIS, as

well as rewording for clarification, and (c) incorporates an expanded

environmental impact analysis section.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Mermejo, RMP Planning

Coordinator, Bureau of Land Management, Dixie Resource Area Office, 345

E. Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah 84790, telephone 435-688-3216.

ADDRESSES: Protests must be addressed to the Director (WO-210), Bureau

of Land Management, Attn: Brenda Williams, Resource Planning Team, 1849

C Street, NW., Washington, DC 20240, within 30 days after the date of

publication of this notice for the Proposed Plan.

DATES: The Proposed Plan may be protested. The protest period will

commence with the date of publication of a Notice of Filing by the

Environmental Protection Agency, which is expected to be on September

18, 1998. Protests must be submitted on or before October 17, 1998.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Proposed Plan presents decisions for

managing public lands for the following resource categories or uses:

Lands (including acquisition, transfer, easement acquisition, and

rights-of-way), Energy and Minerals (including fluid minerals,

locatable minerals, and mineral materials), Transportation, Air

Quality, Soil and Water, Riparian, Vegetation (including composition

and special status species), Fish and Wildlife Habitat (including

special status species), Livestock Grazing, Forestry, Recreation, Off-

Highway Vehicles, Visual, Wilderness, Cultural and Paleontological,

Hazardous Wastes, Fire, and Special Emphasis Areas (including Wild and

Scenic Rivers, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern [ACECs], Native

American Coordination, and Zion National Park Coordination).

The Proposed Plan brings forth ten ACECs for designation that BLM

has determined to require special management to prevent irreparable

damage to important historic, cultural, or scenic values, fish and

wildlife resources, or other natural systems. In addition, there are

portions of five river segments that BLM has concluded it would

recommend as suitable for Congressional designation under the Wild and

Scenic Rivers Act. This Proposed Plan promotes opportunities for

community based partnerships and collaborative processes for successful

and effective management of public lands into the future.

The Dixie Resource Area Draft RMP/EIS was released for public

review and comment in October of 1995 and was followed by a seven month

comment period. The Draft RMP/EIS analyzed

[[Page 49712]]

four alternatives to managing public lands in Washington County, Utah.

The Dixie Resource Area Office received over 800 comment letters on the

Draft RMP/EIS from local, state and federal governments, interest

groups, and the public at large. Major concerns brought forth from

proposed decisions of the Draft RMP/EIS included wild and scenic river

issues, off-highway vehicle management designations, visual resource

protection zones, rights-of-way restrictions, threatened and endangered

species protection, the Virgin River and its associated resources, as

well as, potential reservoir development, among others. Since the

release of the Draft RMP/EIS, public meetings, workshops, mailings, and

briefings have been conducted to solicit comments, new information, and

ideas for the Proposed Plan.

The Proposed Plan responds to public comments received on the Draft

RMP/EIS. The Proposed Plan also corrects errors in the Draft RMP/EIS

identified through the public comment process and internal BLM review.

The Proposed Plan and associated analysis presents a refined and

modified version of the Preferred Alternative and the accompanying

impact analysis contained in the Draft RMP/EIS. The Proposed Plan can

be used in conjunction with the Draft RMP/EIS to facilitate review of

the initial four alternatives. The description of the affected

environment and detailed descriptions of the alternatives contained in

the Draft RMP/EIS, as well as some of the appendices, are referenced

but not reproduced in the Proposed Plan.

Copies of the Proposed Plan are available from the Dixie Resource

Area Office, 345 E. Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah, 84790, 435-688-

3216. Public reading copies will be available for review at all

government-document depository libraries, and at the following BLM

locations: Office of Public Affairs, Main Interior Building, 18th and C

Streets N.W., Washington, DC 20240; Information Access Center (4th

Floor), Utah BLM State Office, 324 S. State Street, Salt Lake City,

Utah, 84111; Cedar City District Office, 176 East DL Sargent Drive,

Cedar City, Utah 84720; and Dixie Resource Area Office, 345 East

Riverside Drive, St. George, Utah 84790. Background information and

reference materials used in developing the Proposed Plan are available

for review in St. George at the Dixie Resource Area Office.

Written protests on the Proposed Plan will be accepted for 30 days

following the date the Environmental Protection Agency published the

Notice of Filing of this document in the Federal Register. It is

anticipated that the filing date will be on September 18, 1998, thus

ending the public review/protest period on October 17, 1998, and the

Governor's 60-day consistency review on November 16, 1998. Any part of

this Proposed Plan may be protested only by parties who participated in

the planning process. Protests must pertain to issues that were

identified in the Draft RMP/EIS or through the public comment process.

Protests must be addressed to the BLM Director at the address listed

under ADDRESSES. The protest must be specific and contain the following

information:

--The name, mailing address, telephone number and interest of the

person filing the protest;

--A statement of the issue(s) being protested;

--A statement of the part(s) of the proposed amendment being protested,

and a citing of pages, paragraphs, maps, etc., of the Proposed Plan,

where practical.;

--A copy of all documents addressing the issue(s) that were submitted

by the protestor during the planning process; and

--A concise statement explaining why the BLM State Director's proposed

decision is believed to be in error.

At the end of the 30-day protest period, the Proposed Plan,

excluding any portion under protest will become final.

Approval will be withheld on any portion of the plan under protest

until final action has been completed on such protest.

Dated: September 9, 1998.

G. William Lamb,

State Director, Utah.

[FR Doc. 98-24898 Filed 9-16-98; 8:45 am]

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