(CO) Arkansas River Travel MP and Amend the Royal Gorge Resource MP

Notice of Intent To Prepare the Arkansas River Travel Management Plan and Amend the Royal Gorge Resource Management Plan


http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-14448.htm
[Federal Register: June 9, 2003 (Volume 68, Number
110)]
[Notices]
[Page 34417-34418]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr09jn03-78]

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

[CO-200-1220-PA]


Notice of Intent To Prepare the Arkansas River Travel
Management Plan and Amend the Royal Gorge Resource
Management Plan

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management; Royal Gorge Field
Office, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare the Arkansas River
Travel
Management Plan and to consider amending the Royal
Gorge Resource
Management Plan (RMP).

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SUMMARY: This document provides notice that the Bureau
of Land
Management (BLM) intends to initiate a comprehensive
planning effort to
address Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) travel and other
related road and
trail issues for a portion of the Royal Gorge Field
Office. The plan,
entitled the Arkansas River Travel Management Plan
(TMP), will focus
specifically on those BLM Public Lands that lie
between Canon City and
Salida, Colorado, and involves approximately 210,000
acres of Public
Lands located in central and western Fremont County
and northern Custer
County, CO. The TMP will amend the Royal Gorge RMP.
The TMP and plan
amendment implement decisions made in the Royal Gorge
RMP to limit OHV
use to designated roads and trails, and to develop
local travel
management plans with public participation. The
amendment process will
be used to establish a system of designated roads and
trails that meets
the needs of the public and protects the cultural and
natural resources
of the Public Lands. The amendment and associated EA
will be prepared
pursuant to the BLM planning regulations in 43 CFR
part 1600. The plan
will fulfill the needs and obligations set forth by
the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Federal Land
Policy and Management
Act (FLPMA), and BLM management policies. The BLM will
work
collaboratively with interested parties to identify
the management
decisions that are best suited to local, regional, and
national needs
and concerns. The public scoping process will identify
planning issues
and develop planning criteria. The EA will analyze and
compare the
impacts of any changes in OHV designation and
management with the
continuation of current management, and other
alternatives that may be
identified. The TMP is being prepared through
coordination with other
federal, state

[[Page 34418]]

and local agencies, and affected public land users.

DATES: This notice initiates the public scoping
process. Comments on
issues and concerns can be submitted in writing to the
address listed
below and will be accepted throughout the creation of
the Draft RMP
amendment/EA. All public meetings will be announced
through the local
news media, newsletters, and the BLM Web site at:
http://www.co.blm.gov/ccdo/canon.htm
, at least 15 days prior to the event. The
minutes and list of attendees for each meeting will be
available to the
public and open for 30 days to any participant who
wishes to clarify
the views they expressed.
Public Participation: Public meetings will be held
during the plan
scoping period. Early participation is encouraged and
will help
determine the future travel management of the public
lands involved in
this amendment. In addition to the ongoing public
participation
process, formal opportunities for public participation
will be provided
through comment upon the publication of the BLM draft
RMP amendment,
EA, and an unsigned Finding of No Significant Impact
(FONSI).