Availability of Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment for Areas of Critical Environmental Concern; Montana, South Dakota

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[MT-020-1610-00]

Availability of Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource

Management Plan Amendment for Areas of Critical Environmental Concern;

Montana, South Dakota

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with Section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and

Management Act of 1976 and Section 1501 of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, an environmental assessment and proposed resource

management plan amendment has been prepared for the Powder River,

Billings, and South Dakota planning areas. The Areas of Critical

Environmental Concern Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource

Management Plan Amendment describes and analyzes future options for

management of proposed areas of critical environmental concern on

39,145 federal surface acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management

within the following counties: Carbon, Carter, Musselshell, Powder

River, Rosebud, Treasure, Yellowstone, Montana; Big Horn County,

Wyoming, and Fall River County, South Dakota. The Resource Management

Plan Amendment provides a comprehensive plan for managing the federal

surface and mineral resources in these areas.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: The Areas of Critical Environmental Concern

Environmental Assessment and Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment

was available for public review from December 29, 1997 to March 9,

1998. Written comments were received from agencies, individuals and

organizations. All comments were considered in the preparation of the

Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource Management Plan

Amendment.

The resource management planning process includes an opportunity

for review through a plan protest to the BLM's Director. Any person or

organization who participated in the planning process and has an

interest which is or may be adversely affected by the approval of this

resource management plan amendment may protest the plan. Careful

adherence to the following guidelines will assist in preparing a

protest that will assure the greatest consideration for your point of

view.

Only those persons or organizations who participated in the

planning process may protest the plan.

A protesting party may raise only those issues which were commented

on during the planning process.

Additional issues may be raised at any time and should be directed

to the Miles City Field Office for consideration in plan

implementation, as potential plan amendments, or as otherwise

appropriate.

DATES: The protest period lasts 30 days and begins the day the Notice

of Availability for this document is published in the Federal Register.

There is no provision for an extension of time. Protests filed late, or

filed with the State Director or Field Manager shall be rejected by the

Director. To be

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considered ``timely'' your protest must be sent to the Director of BLM

and must be postmarked no later than November 2, 1998. Although not a

requirement, sending your protest by certified mail, return receipt

requested, is recommended.

ADDRESSES: Reading copies of the environmental assessment and proposed

resource management plan amendment will be available at the following

Bureau of Land Management locations:

Miles City Field Office, 111 Garryowen Road, Miles City, Montana 59301

Billings Field Office, 810 East Main, Billings, Montana 59105

South Dakota Field Office, 310 Roundup Street, Belle Fourche, South

Dakota 57717

All protests must be filed in writing to: Director, Bureau of Land

Management, Attention: Ms. Brenda Williams, Protests Coordinator, WO-

210/LS-1075, Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20240.

The Overnight Mail address is: Director, Bureau of Land Management,

Attention: Ms. Brenda Williams, Protests Coordinator, 1620 L Street,

N.W. Room 1075, Washington, D.C. 20036.

To expedite consideration, in addition to the original sent by mail

or overnight mail, a copy of the protest may be sent by: FAX to (202)

452-5112; or Email to [email protected]

In order to be considered complete, your protest must contain, at a

minimum, the following information:

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

person filing the protest.

A statement of the issue being protested.

A statement of the portion of the plan being protested. To the

extent possible, this should be done by reference to specific pages,

paragraphs, sections, tables, and maps in the proposed resource

management plan amendment.

A copy of all documents addressing the issue submitted during the

planning process or a reference to the date the issue was discussed for

the record.

A concise statement explaining why the BLM State Director's

decision is believed to be incorrect is a critical part of the protest.

Take care to document all relevant facts and to reference or cite the

planning documents, environmental analysis documents, and available

planning records (meeting minutes, summaries, correspondence). A

protest without data will not provide us with the benefit of your

information and insight, and the Director's review will be based on the

existing analysis and supporting data.

At the end of the 30-day protest period, the BLM may issue a

Decision Record, approving implementation of any portion of the

proposed plan not under protest. Approval will be withheld on any

portion of the plan under protest, until the protest is resolved.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Aden Seidlitz, (406) 233-2816.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Environmental Assessment and Proposed

Resource Management Plan Amendment analyzes three alternatives for the

management and designation of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.

Each alternative represents a complete management plan. The

alternatives can be summarized by (1) current management or no action,

(2) resource protection and (3) the preferred alternative, which may be

a combination of the previous two.

The Environmental Assessment and Proposed Resource Management Plan

Amendment recommends designating 12 Areas of Critical Environmental

Concern: Bridger Fossil, Castle Butte, Meeteetse Spires, Petroglyph

Canyon, East Pryor Mountains, Stark Site, Weatherman Draw, Battle

Butte, Finger Buttes, Howrey Island, Reynolds Battlefield, and Fossil

Cycad.

The Bridger Fossil area (575 public surface acres) in Carbon

County, Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental

Concern and managed to protect paleontological resources. Management

actions affecting this area are: rights-of-way, mineral material sales

and permits, and oil and gas leasing would not be allowed; off-road

vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and trails; and

noncommercial collection of common invertebrate and plant fossils would

be allowed.

Castle Butte (185 public surface acres) in Yellowstone County,

Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern

and managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management

actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional

fire suppression, wood product sales would not be allowed. Rights-of-

way that avoid the significant cultural resource sites in the area

would be allowed, and geophysical exploration for oil and gas (surface

methods and vibroseis) that avoids the significant cultural resource

sites would be allowed.

East Pryor Mountains (29,500 public surface acres) in Carbon

County, Montana and Big Horn County, Wyoming would be designated an

Area of Critical Environmental Concern and managed to protect and

enhance the wild horse, wildlife habitat and paleontology values.

Management actions affecting this area are: oil and gas leasing would

not be allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from entry, and

noncommercial collection of common invertebrate and plant fossils would

be allowed.

Meeteetse Spires (960 public surface acres) in Carbon County would

be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and managed to

provide recreation for the public while protecting the area's unique

vegetation. Management actions affecting this area are: fire would be

managed with conditional fire suppression, selected timber harvests

would be allowed, wood product sales would not be allowed, rights-of-

way would not be allowed, livestock grazing, except for sheep, would be

allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from entry, geophysical

exploration for oil and gas would not be allowed in the sensitive plant

area, and in the remaining area geophysical exploration for oil and gas

would be accessed by air only (vibroseis would not be allowed,) and

off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and trails.

Petroglyph Canyon (240 public surface acres) in Carbon County,

Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern

and managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management

actions affecting this area are: wood product sales, oil and gas

leasing and geophysical exploration for oil and gas would not be

allowed, and the area would be closed to off-road vehicle use.

Stark Site (800 public surface acres) in Musselshell County,

Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern

and managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management

actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional

fire suppression, wood product sales, rights-of-away, mineral material

sales and permits, and oil and gas leasing would not be allowed.

Geophysical exploration for oil and gas would not be allowed on the

significant cultural resource sites, and off-road vehicle use would be

limited to designated roads and trails.

Weatherman Draw (4,268 public surface acres) in Carbon County,

Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern

and managed to enhance significant cultural resources. Management

actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional

fire suppression, wood product sales would not be allowed, rights-of-

way associated with valid

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existing oil and gas lease rights would be allowed, other rights-of-way

would not be allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from entry,

oil and gas leasing would be allowed with a No Surface Occupancy

stipulation, the area would be closed to geophysical exploration for

oil and gas, and off-road vehicle use would be limited to authorized

use.

Battle Butte (120 public surface acres) in Rosebud County, Montana

would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and

managed to protect significant cultural resources. Management actions

affecting this area are: fire would be managed with conditional fire

suppression, rights-of-way would not be allowed, mineral material sales

and permits would not be allowed, oil and gas leasing would be allowed

with a No Surface Occupancy stipulation, geophysical exploration for

oil and gas would be allowed on designated roads and trails with

restrictions, and off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated

roads and trails.

Finger Buttes (1,520 public surface acres) in Carter County,

Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern

and managed for its scenic values. Management actions affecting this

area are: fire would be managed with conditional fire suppression,

rights-of-way would avoid the area, livestock grazing and range

improvements would be allowed, mineral material sales and permits and

nonenergy mineral leasing would not be allowed, oil and gas leasing

would be allowed with a No Surface Occupancy stipulation, geophysical

exploration for oil and gas would be allowed on designated roads and

trails with restrictions, and off-road vehicle use would be allowed

with restrictions.

Howrey Island (321 public surface acres) in Treasure County,

Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern

and managed to protect and enhance its special wildlife habitat.

Management actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with

conditional fire suppression, wood product sales would be allowed with

restrictions, rights-of-way would not be allowed, livestock grazing

would be allowed, range improvements would be allowed when they do not

degrade the values of the Area of Critical Environmental Concern. Off-

road vehicle use would be limited to the BLM road except from February

15 to June 1. During that time, no vehicles would be allowed, including

on the BLM road.

Reynolds Battlefield (336 public surface acres) in Powder River

County, Montana would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental

Concern and managed to protect its significant cultural resources.

Management actions affecting this area are: fire would be managed with

conditional fire suppression, timber and wood product sales would be

allowed with restrictions, rights-of-way would avoid the area,

livestock grazing and range improvements would be allowed, coal leasing

would not be allowed, mineral material sales and permits and oil and

gas leasing would not be allowed, geophysical exploration for oil and

gas would be allowed on designated roads and trails with restrictions,

and off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and

trails.

Fossil Cycad (320 public surface acres) in Fall River County, South

Dakota would be designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern

and managed to protect its significant paleontological values.

Management actions affecting this area are: the surface and minerals

would be retained in public ownership, fire would be managed with

conditional fire suppression, timber sales and wood products sales

would not be allowed, rights-of-way would not be allowed, livestock

grazing would be allowed, locatable minerals would be withdrawn from

entry, geophysical exploration for oil and gas would not be allowed,

off-road vehicle use would be limited to designated roads and trails,

and noncommercial collection of common invertebrate and plant fossils

would be allowed.

Management prescriptions for these proposed areas of critical

environmental concern vary by alternative and are described in the

Areas of Critical Environmental Concern Environmental Assessment and

Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment.

Public participation has occurred throughout the resource

management planning process. A Notice of Intent was filed in the

Federal Register in April 1995. All comments presented throughout the

process have been considered.

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

designation of areas of critical environmental concern.

Dated: September 14, 1998.

Aden Seidlitz,

Associate Field Manager.

[FR Doc. 98-25220 Filed 9-30-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310-DN-P