05-1596. Steens Mountain Advisory Council; Call for Nominations

AGENCY:

Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Burns District.

ACTION:

Call for nominations for the Steens Mountain Advisory Council (SMAC).

SUMMARY:

BLM is publishing this notice under Section 9(a)(2) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Pursuant to the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Act of 2000 (Public Law 106-399), BLM gives notice that the Secretary of the Interior intends to call for nominations for terms expiring on the SMAC. This notice requests the public to submit nominations for membership on the SMAC. Any individual or organization may nominate one or more persons to serve on the SMAC. Individuals may nominate themselves for SMAC membership. Nomination forms may be obtained from the Burns District Office, Bureau of Land Management (see address below). To make a nomination, submit a completed nomination form, letters of reference from the represented interests or organizations, and any other information that speaks to the nominee's qualifications, to the Burns District Office. Nominations may be made for the following categories of interest:

• One person who is a grazing permittee on Federal land in the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area (CMPA) (appointed from nominees submitted by the County Court of Harney County);
• One person who is a recognized environmental representative from the local area (appointed from nominees submitted by the Governor of Oregon);
• A person who participates in what is commonly called dispersed recreation, such as hiking, camping, nature viewing, nature photography, bird watching, horseback riding, or trail walking (appointed from nominees submitted by the Oregon State Director of the BLM); and
• A person with expertise and interest in wild horse management on Steens Mountain (appointed from nominees submitted by the Oregon State Director for BLM).

The specific category the nominee will represent should be identified in the letter of nomination. The Burns District will collect the nomination forms and letters of reference and distribute them to the officials responsible for submitting nominations (County Court of Harney County, the Governor of Oregon, and BLM). BLM will then forward recommended nominations to the Secretary of the Interior, who has responsibility for making the appointments.

DATES:

Nominations should be submitted to the address listed below no later than 30 days after publication of this notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Rhonda Karges, Management Support Specialist, Burns District Office, 28910 Hwy 20 West, Hines, Oregon 97738, [phone], or [e-mail] or from the following Web site http://www.or.blm.gov/​steens (Public Law 106-399 in its entirety can be found on the Steens Web site as previously cited.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The purpose of the SMAC is to advise BLM on the management of the CMPA as described in Title 1 of Public Law 106-399. Each member will be a person who, as a result of training and experience, has knowledge or special expertise which qualifies him or her to provide advice for one or more of the interest categories listed above.

Members of the SMAC are appointed for terms of 3 years. The Grazing Permittee, Environmental Representative, Dispersed Recreation, and Wild Horse Management position terms will expire August 2005. These four positions will begin no earlier than August 2005 and will end August 2008.

Members will serve without monetary compensation, but will be reimbursed for travel and per diem expenses at current rates for Government employees. The SMAC shall meet only at the call of the Designated Federal Official, but not less than once per year.

Dated: December 21, 2004.

Karla Bird,

Andrews Resource Area Field Manager, Bureau of Land Management, Burns, Oregon.