Emergency Closures and Restrictions on Public Land in Oregon
[Federal Register: November 13, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 218)]
[Notices]
[Page 63924-63926]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13no07-82]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[OR-116-5882-PA; HAG-07-0130]
Emergency Closures and Restrictions on Public Land in Oregon
AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.
ACTION: Emergency Closures and Restrictions.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Title 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Sec.
8364.1 and 43 CFR 8341.2(a), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
Medford District Office is publishing these closures and restrictions
for motorized vehicles on certain public lands in Jackson County
Oregon. These lands are located within the Timber Mountain Off-Highway
Vehicle (OHV) Area, under the jurisdiction of the BLM Medford District
Office. The closures and restrictions are needed in order to protect
the area's natural resources and provide for public health and safety
and address ongoing resource damage, vehicles and off-road vehicles,
and conduct.
EFFECTIVE DATE: These closures and restrictions are effective at the
time of this publication, November 13, 2007, and will remain in effect
until the adverse effects are eliminated and measures are implemented
to prevent their reoccurrence. Comments may still be submitted and are
welcome.
Comments, including names, street addresses, and other contact
information of respondents, will be available for public review at the
office of the Bureau of Land Management, Medford, Oregon, during
regular business hours (7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. Before including your address, telephone
number, email address, or other personal identifying information in
your comment, be advised that your entire comment--including your
personal identifying information--may be made publicly available at any
time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold from public
review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that
we will be able to do so.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning these closures and
restrictions to: John Gerritsma, Bureau of Land Management, Medford
District Office, 3040 Biddle Road, Medford, Oregon 97504. Comments may
also be submitted electronically to
Medford_Mail@blm.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Gerritsma, Medford District
Office, Medford, Oregon, telephone (541) 618-2438. Persons who use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may contact this
individual by calling the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at
(800) 877-8339, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The BLM's Medford District Office has closed
Bunny Meadows (a gravel stockpile site) and the surrounding public
lands to camping and off-road vehicle use. Off-road (or off-highway)
vehicle off-loading in a designated area, and motorized vehicle use on
BLM road 38S-3W-14.0 will continue to be allowed to facilitate OHV
access to trails and roads located to the west of Bunny Meadows on BLM-
administered lands. The purpose of the closure is to protect soils,
water, and fisheries resources that
[[Page 63925]]
are suffering adverse impacts due to OHV use. In addition, this closure
is needed to protect public health and safety. The legal description of
the Bunny Meadows closure area is BLM-administered land in the W\1/2\
of Section 14, the NE\1/4\ NE\1/4\ of Section 15, and the SE\1/4\ NE\1/
4\ of Section 15, T. 38 S., R. 3 W., Willamette Meridian (WM). This
closure involves about 200 acres of BLM-administered lands.
OHV use, and associated dispersed camping, has increased
tremendously in the past year in the Bunny Meadows area resulting in a
user-created OHV track (used to ride laps) within streamside Riparian
Reserves of Forest Creek and immediately adjacent to homes on private
land. Forest Creek is designated Coho Critical Habitat, and unmanaged
OHV use and dispersed camping in streamside Riparian Reserves in the
Bunny Meadows area is contributing to increased sediment in Forest
Creek. Coho salmon are listed as a Threatened species under the
Endangered Species Act. OHVs are also crossing Forest Creek County Road
along a curve with poor visibility in order to access BLM-administered
lands to the north of Bunny Meadows.
The BLM Medford District Office has closed about 1,524-acres of
BLM-administered lands to OHVs in the northeastern corner of the Timber
Mountain OHV Area. Closed lands include portions of Sections 1, 2, 11,
12, and 13, T. 37 S., R. 3 W., and portions of Sections 5, 6, 7, 8, and
17, T. 37 S., R. 2 W., W.M. The purpose of the closure is to protect
soils, water, and fisheries resources that are being adversely impacted
by OHV use.
Stream surveys were conducted on a reach of Kane Creek in September
2005. Habitat conditions have changed substantially since the last
survey in 2001 and are declining. Kane Creek is identified as Critical
Habitat for coho salmon. Decomposed granitic sand accounts for 80-100%
of all substrates in pool habitats, with deposits as much as 10 inches
in depth observed. Many of the pools have accumulated so much sand that
they no longer function as pools. Decomposed granitic sand now accounts
for 70% of all substrates, followed by cobble (13%) and boulder (10%).
Suitable aquatic habitat capable of supporting populations of salmonids
has been reduced in this section of Kane Creek due to the large
accumulation of sand. The deposition of sediment (granitic sand)
throughout this reach is so extensive that the reach is no longer
capable of storing any additional inputs. Any additional sediment
inputs will be transported downstream to other aquatic habitats and
stored where conditions permit, potentially impacting the entire fish
bearing reach of Kane Creek. In 2001, substrate composition was
described for this same reach as 10% silt, 30% sand, 25% gravel, 25%
cobble, and 10% boulder. The major sources of this sediment are old
skid trails and roads now used as an OHV trail system located upstream
on BLM-managed lands and adjacent private lands. These roads and trails
are located in highly erodible granitic soils. OHV riders are accessing
these trails from both private and BLM-managed lands. One of the main
access points is located on BLM-managed lands located off of Kane Creek
road.
The closures, located within the Timber Mountain OHV Area, have
been posted on the ground with signs. Maps of the closures are
available upon request in the office of the Bureau of Land Management,
3040 Biddle Road, Medford, Oregon. Maps of the closures are also posted
on BLM's Web site:
http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/medford/recreation/timberedmountain.php.
The BLM designated the 16,250-acre Timber Mountain OHV Area to
provide for ``limited'' OHV use in the 1995 Medford District Resource
Management Plan (RMP). The Medford District BLM is in the process of
developing the Timber Mountain Off-highway Vehicle Management Plan and
Environmental Impact Statement to guide OHV use in the area.
These closures and restrictions are necessary to protect the area's
natural resources, provide for the public's health and safety, and
provide needed guidance in the areas of camping, occupancy, and
recreation. The authorities for these closures and restrictions are 43
CFR 8341.2(a), 43 CFR 8360.0-7, and 43 CFR 8364.1. Closures and
restrictions for the above-described public lands managed by the BLM
are as follows:
Definitions
Off Road Vehicle (ORV) or Off-highway Vehicle (OHV): These terms
are used interchangeably in this document. ORV as defined by 43 CFR
section 8340.0-5(a): ``any motorized vehicle capable of, or designed
for, travel on or immediately over land, water, or other natural
terrain, excluding:
(1) Any nonamphibious registered motorboat;
(2) Any military, fire, emergency, or law enforcement vehicle while
being used for emergency purposes;
(3) Any vehicle whose use is expressly authorized by the authorized
officer, or otherwise officially approved;
(4) Vehicles in official use; and
(5) Any combat or combat support vehicle when used in times of
national defense emergencies.''
Closures and Restrictions for Bunny Meadows and Timber Mountain
You must not enter areas that are posted or otherwise delineated as
closed areas with any motorized vehicle.
You must not camp in the Bunny Meadows closure area.
Exceptions
Exceptions to these closures and restrictions include emergency
personnel (law enforcement, fire, medical), authorized BLM personnel
and persons authorized to access private lands and rights-of-way within
the closure boundary, any person traveling along Forest Creek County
road in accord with State and County rules (non-street legal motorized
vehicles are not allowed on county roadways), anyone who is off-loading
OHVs in the designated parking area at Bunny Meadows gravel stockpile
area or traveling in a motorized vehicle along BLM road 38S-3W-14.0 to
trails and roads located to the west of Bunny Meadows on BLM-
administered lands, and any person who is off-loading OHVs or traveling
in a motorized vehicle along BLM road 37S-3W-11.0 to trails and roads
located on BLM-administered lands southwest of the closure area.
Penalties
On public lands subject to the Federal Land Policy and Management
Act of 1976, 43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq., any person who violates this
closure order may be tried before a United States Magistrate and fined
no more than $1,000 or imprisoned for no more than 12 months, or both.
43 U.S.C. 1733(a); 43 CFR 8360.0-7. Such violations may also be subject
to the enhanced fines provided for by 18 U.S.C. 3571.
On public lands in grazing districts (see 43 U.S.C. 315a) and on
public lands leased for grazing under 43 U.S.C. 315m, any person who
violates this closure order may be tried before a United States
Magistrate and fined no more than $500.00. Such violations may also be
subject to the enhanced fines provided for by 18 U.S.C. 3571.
On public lands subject to a conservation and rehabilitation
program implemented by the Secretary under 16 U.S.C. 670g et seq.
(Sikes Act), any person who violates this closure order may be tried
before a United States Magistrate and fined no more than $500.00 or
imprisoned for no more than six months, or both. 16 U.S.C. 670j(a)(2).
Such violations may also be subject to
[[Page 63926]]
the enhanced fines provided for by 18 U.S.C. 3571.
John Gerritsma,
Field Manager, Ashland Resource Area, Medford District Bureau of Land
Management.
[FR Doc. E7-22170 Filed 11-9-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-33-P
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