[Federal Register: July 30, 2001 (Volume 66, Number 146)]
[Notices]
[Page 39332-39333]

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Proposed order for temporary closure of selected routes of  travel in the Lower Chemehuevi Valley of San Bernardino County,  California and notice of availability of environmental assessment and  draft finding of no significant impact on the proposed closures.

SUMMARY: Selected routes of travel located in the lower Chemehuevi  Valley, California are proposed to be temporarily closed to vehicle use  pursuant to 43 CFR 8364.1. The proposed closure is intended to protect  public lands and resources by minimizing potential adverse impacts to  sensitive resources, including the desert tortoise and its habitat from  motorized vehicle use. This is an interim protection measure pending  designation of routes as ``open'', ``closed'', or ``limited'' through  an amendment to the California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) Plan of  1980, as amended. By taking this interim action as allowed under 43 CFR  8364.1, the Bureau of Land Management contributes to the conservation  of the threatened and endangered desert tortoise in accordance with  section 7(a)(1) of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(1).  BLM also avoids making any irreversible or irretrievable commitment of  resources which would foreclose any reasonable and prudent alternatives  which might be required as a result of the consultation on the CDCA  plan in accordance with section 7(d) of the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1536(d). We  anticipate that this closure will remain in effect until September 1,  2002, when a record of decision is signed for the amendment to the  California Desert Conservation Area Plan for the Northern and Eastern  Colorado Desert, the subject of the consultation.
     Exceptions to the vehicle closure include Bureau of Land Management  (BLM) operation and maintenance vehicles, law enforcement and fire  vehicles, and other emergency vehicles. In addition, on certain  specified routes in the lower Chemehuevi Valley, valid mining claim  holders are exempt from the closure for purposes of gaining access to  their claims.
     The Environmental Assessment concerning this closure is available  for a 15 day review period. Interested parties should contact the Field  Office Manager at the address below for a copy and review schedule. The  documents are also available for review on the BLM Needles Field Office  web site (www.ca.blm.gov/needles). Written comments may be sent to the  address listed below in this notice.
     The Order for closure will be posted in the California BLM Needles  Field Office and the Arizona BLM Lake Havasu Field Office, and at  places near and/or within the area to which the closure applies.

DATES: No sooner than 30 days after publication of this notice, a final  closure determination will be published.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to the Needles Field Office,  Attn: Planning and Environmental Coordinator, at 101 W. Spikes Road,  Needles, California 92363.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 16, 2000, the Center for Biological  Diversity, and others (Center) filed for injunctive relief in U.S.  District Court, Northern District of California (Court) against the  Bureau of Land Management (BLM) alleging that the BLM was in violation  of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1536(ESA) by  failing to enter into formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and  Wildlife Service (FWS) on the effects of adoption of the California  Desert Conservation Area Plan (CDCA Plan), as amended, upon threatened  and endangered species. On August 25, 2000, the BLM acknowledged  through a court stipulation that activities authorized, permitted, or  allowed under the CDCA Plan may adversely affect threatened and  endangered species, and that the BLM is required to consult with the  FWS to insure that adoption and implementation of the CDCA Plan is not  likely to jeopardize the continued existence of threatened and  endangered species or to result in the destruction or adverse  modification of critical habitat of listed species.
     Although BLM has received biological opinions on selected  activities, consultation on the overall CDCA Plan is necessary to  address the cumulative effects of all the activities authorized by the  CDCA Plan. Consultation on the overall Plan is complex and the  completion date is uncertain. Absent consultation on the entire Plan,  the impacts of individual activities, when added together with the  impacts of other activities in the desert, are not known. The BLM  entered into negotiations with plaintiffs regarding interim actions to  be taken to provide protection for endangered and threatened species  pending completion of the consultation on the CDCA Plan. Agreement on  these interim actions avoided litigation of plaintiffs' request for  injunctive relief and the threat of an injunction prohibiting all  activities authorized under the Plan. These interim agreements have  allowed BLM to continue to authorize appropriate levels of activities  throughout the planning area during the lengthy consultation process  while providing appropriate protection to the desert tortoise and other  listed species in the short term. By taking interim actions as allowed  under 43 CFR Subpart 8364, BLM contributes to the conservation of  endangered and threatened species in accordance with section 7(a)(1) of  the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1536(a)(1). BLM also avoids making any irreversible  or irretrievable commitment of resources which would foreclose any  reasonable and prudent alternative measures which might be required as  a result of the consultation on the CDCA plan in accordance with  section 7(d) of the ESA, 16 U.S.C. 1536(d). In January 2001, the  parties signed the Stipulation and Proposed Order Concerning All  Further Injunctive Relief providing for closures described in this  Notice.
     All existing routes in the subject areas are being or will be  evaluated and proposed for designation as Open, Closed, or Limited  through the land use planning process as amendments to the California  Desert Conservation Area Plan. These designations will be based on  criteria identified in 43 CFR 8342.1. Management of routes proposed for  closure will minimize the potential for any adverse effects pending  designation.
     The proposed closure in the lower Chemehuevi Valley is necessary to  minimize potential adverse impacts to the desert tortoise and its  habitat. The proposed project area lies adjacent to and partially  within the desert tortoise Chemehuevi Critical Habitat Unit. The  closure will reduce the extent of motorized vehicle use in desert  tortoise habitat and help prevent mortality of desert tortoise and  other species.
     The lower Chemehuevi Valley closure is described as follows: The  closed routes are located south of Havasu Lake Road, one-mile west of  the border of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe Reservation, north of the  northern boundary of the Whipple Mountains Wilderness Area and the East  Mojave Heritage Trail, and east of U.S. Highway 95, San Bernardino  County, California. Specifically, this order closes dirt routes  identified in the Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert Plan in the  following areas:

Route #690517, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 6, 7, 8, 10

Route #690522, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 32; Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 5

Route #690523, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Sections 32; Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 4, 5; closed except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these otherwise closed routes.

Route #690524, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 32; Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 4, 5; closed except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these otherwise closed routes.

Route #690525, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 33; Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 3, 4

Route #690527, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 4, closed except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these otherwise closed routes.

Route #690528, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 4, closed except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these otherwise closed routes.

Route #690529, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 4, closed except to persons holding valid mining claims accessible only by these otherwise closed routes.

Route #690530, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 3, 4, 9

Route #690531, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 2,3, 10

Route #690532, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 1, 2

Route #690533, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 1, 2

Route #690534, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2

Route #690536, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2, 3, 10, 11

Route #690537, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 10

Route #690538, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2

Route #690540, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Sections 11

Route #690542, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 34, 35, 36; Township 5 North, Range 24 East, Sections 34, 35

Route #690543, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 34, 35

Route #690544, Township 4\1/2\ North, Range 24 East, Section 35; Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 2

Route #690546, Township 4 North, Range 24 East, Section 14, 15

Route #690896, Township 4 North, Range 23 East, Section 1 and Township 5 North, Range 23 East, Section 36.

    Less than one-quarter mile of route numbers 690532 and 690533  extend onto public lands managed by the BLM's Arizona Lake Havasu Field  Office.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George R. Meckfessel, Planning and  Environmental Coordinator, Needles Field Office, 101 W. Spikes Rd.,  Needles, CA 92363, Tel: 760-326-7000.

    Dated: July 11, 2001.
Timothy Z. Smith, Acting DSD, Natural Resources.
[FR Doc. 01-19047 Filed 7-27-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P