KANAB FIELD OFFICE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN, KANE AND GARFIELD COUNTIES, UTAH. [Part 3 of 4]

• Published in: EPA number: 080271, Final EIS--567 pages, Appendices--378 pages, July 9, 2008
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: 09.07.2008
• Subjects: Cultural Resources; Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, Compliance; Grazing; Impact Monitoring Plans; Kanab Resource Management Area; Land Acquisitions; Land Management; Land Use; Leasing; Livestock; Mineral Resources Management; Motor Vehicles; Natural Gas; Oil Production; Paleontological Sites; Property Disposition; Range Management; Recreation Resources; Recreation Resources Management; Trails; Transportation Surveys; Utah; Vegetation; Visual Resources; Visual Resources Management; Water Quality; Wild and Scenic Rivers; Wilderness; Wilderness Management; Wildlife Habitat; Wildlife Management

PURPOSE: The implementation of a resource management plan (RMP) for the 2.85-million-acre Kanab Resource Management Area (RMA) in Kane and Garfield counties of south-central Utah is proposed. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers 554,000 acres within the Kanab RMA, which is situated within the Colorado Plateau and Wasatch and Uinta Mountains ecoregions. The Utah portion of the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness is administered by the BLM's Kanab office. When approved, the new RMP will replace the Beaver-Garfield-Antimony RMP, as well as the Escalante, Paria, Vermillion, and Zion management framework plans. Major drainages in the planning area include the North Fork of the Virgin River, Orderville Gulch, East Fork of the Virgin River, Kanab Creek, Sevier River, Birch Creek, and North Creek (Escalante River). Changing conditions in the RMA have resulted from changes in policy, resource conditions and the use of resources, and administrative boundaries. Key issues identified during scoping include those related to wilderness study areas (WSAs), lands not classified as wilderness study areas that exhibit wilderness characteristics, wild and scenic rivers, recreation resources, transportation management, minerals and energy resource exploitation, and areas of critical environmental concern (ACECs). Four alternatives, including a No Action Alternative (Alternative A), which would perpetuate the current management regime, are considered in this final EIS. The preferred alternative (Alternative B) would open 263,4000 acres of public land to oil and gas leasing subject to standard terms and conditions; open 156,7000 acres to oil and gas leasing subject to moderate constraints; open 58,100 acres to oil and gas leasing subject to major constraints; close 75,800 acres to oil and gas leasing; limit annual vegetation treatments to 22,300 acres, with special stipulations for pinyon-juniper and ponderosa pine ecosystems; reallocate 48 animal unit months on the Water Canyon; combine the Lydia's Canyon Allotment with the Lydia Allotment; combine the Sawmill Allotment with the South Canyon Allotment; Apply protective management to 4,570 acres along seven river segments eligible for designation within the Wild and Scenic Rivers System, including 25 miles encompassing 4,570 acres of wild river corridor, five miles encompassing 960 acres of scenic river corridor, and three miles encompassing 780 acres of recreational river corridor; designate and manage the 3,800-acre Cottonwood Canyon ACEC; designate seven special research management areas, with 12 recreation management zones (RMZs) encompassing 125,800 acres, including three RMZs encompassing 21,700 acres for motorized uses, six RMZs encompassing 44,900 acres for non-motorized uses, and three RMZs encompassing 59,200 for both motorized and non-motorized uses; manage 1,100 acres for open cross-country off-highway vehicle (OHV) use; close 28,900 acres to OHVs; limit OHV use to designated routes on 524,000 acres, with some seasonal and permanent route closures; manage 76,000 acres under visual resource management (VRM) Class I stipulations, 93,600 acres under VRM Class II stipulations, 211,500 acres under VRM Class III stipulations, and 172,900 acres under VRM IV stipulations. POSITIVE IMPACTS: By consolidating the management of the Beaver-Garfield-Antimony, Escalante, Paria, Vermillion, and Zion areas under one regime, the new RMP would coordinate activities across areas that are affected by numerous overlapping and interrelating conditions and exploitative and recreational uses. The updated management scheme would respond to considerable changes that have occurred within the planning area, resulting in the need for new or additional program direction in existing plans for some areas. The preferred alternative would provide opportunities to use and develop resources within the decision area while ensuring natural and cultural resource protection. NEGATIVE IMPACTS: Economically exploitative and recreational uses of the area, particularly mineral extraction and livestock grazing, and some management measures would affect air and water quality, disturb soils and vegetation and the associated wildlife habitat, result in sedimentation of streams supporting fish habitat, alter natural fire regimes, disturb cultural resource and paleontological sites, mar visual aesthetics, and/or degrade wilderness values. LEGAL MANDATES: Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). PRIOR REFERENCES: For the abstract of the draft EIS, see 07-0444D, Volume 31, Number 4.