[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 141 (Monday, July 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 37922]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17179]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[CO-078-95-1610-00]
Glenwood Springs Resource Management Plan Amendment
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to amend the Glenwood Springs Resource
Management Plan as it relates to travel management decisions for the
Castle Peak area, Eagle County, Colorado.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102 of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 and section 202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976, the Bureau of Land Management, Grand Junction District,
Glenwood Springs Resource Area, will prepare a Travel Management Plan
and Environmental Assessment on the proposed amendment to the Glenwood
Springs Resource Management Plan as it relates to the Castle Peak
Travel Management Planning Area. The decisions to be reviewed and
analyzed for plan amendment include Transportation Management,
Recreation Resource Management, and Off Highway Vehicle Management. The
Castle Peak Travel Management Planning Area includes public lands east
and south of the Colorado River, west of Highway 131, and north of the
Eagle River in Eagle County, Colorado. The Planning Area boundary is
the same as Colorado Division of Wildlife's Game Management Unit 35. A
Travel Management Plan and Environmental Assessment on the proposed RMP
amendment will be prepared to analyze proposed travel management
actions, possible alternatives and impacts for the public lands within
the Castle Peak Travel Management Planning Area.
DATES: Interested persons may submit comments on or before August 22,
1996 regarding this proposal to amend certain decisions in the Resource
Management Plan as they relate to travel management in the Castle Peak
area.
ADDRESSES: Michael S. Mottice, Area Manager, Glenwood Springs Resource
Area, P.O. Box 1009, 50629 Highway 6 & 24, Glenwood Springs, Colorado
81602.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Additional information concerning this
proposal is available for review at the above address.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In response to increased recreational
demands and problems related to public use and access in the Castle
Peak Area, a Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment are needed to
implement new decisions and measures specifically related to travel
management. Since the existing Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) designations
were put in place in 1984, reports from the public identifying travel
impacts and their related effects on vegetation, wildlife habitat,
hunting, wilderness suitability, soils, livestock grazing and law
enforcement have been received. Three open house public meetings were
held in mid-April, 1996 in Gypsum, Eagle and McCoy, Colorado to gather
public input regarding the issues, concerns, and need for a Travel
Management Plan in the Castle Peak area. Comments received during these
scoping sessions revealed that changes in the existing travel
management decisions are needed.
A resource area-wide evaluation of existing OHV designations and
travel management use, completed by the BLM in 1994, identified
resource damage and use conflicts. With forecasts of reduced budgets,
completing a resource area-wide RMP amendment for travel management is
not feasible. Consequently, travel management problems will be resolved
on a landscape basis, focusing on well-defined geographic areas with
relatively high use, in areas that provide a variety of activities, and
on sites with identified resource damage and use conflicts. Based on
this public criteria and the public comments received in recent public
meetings, the Castle Peak Planning Area is selected as the initial
geographic area to resolve travel management issues. The goal of the
Travel Management Plan and RMP amendment is to protect the land and
resource values while continuing to provide a variety of motorized and
non-motorized recreational opportunities.
Proposed changes to travel management decisions in the Castle Peak
Planning Area involve (1) developing an updated transportation plan for
the area, which encompasses roads, motorized trails, non-motorized
trails, maintenance schedules and access points, (2) updating OHV
designations, and (3) updating recreation management objectives.
Mark T. Morse,
District Manager
[FR Doc. 96-17179 Filed 7-19-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JB-P
