(OR) Timber Mountain/John's Peak Off-Highway Vehicle EIS NOI

[Ed A. Stevens]

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Development of the Timber Mountain/John's Peak Off-Highway Vehicle Management Plan


http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/14mar20010800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2003/03-3164.htm
[Federal Register: February 10, 2003 (Volume 68,
Number 27)]
[Notices]
[Page 6762-6763]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10fe03-100]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Bureau of Land Management


[OR-116-6310-PB; HAG03-0031]



Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement for the Development of the Timber
Mountain/John's Peak Off-Highway Vehicle Management
Plan


AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Department of the
Interior.


ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental
impact statement
(EIS) for the development of the Timber
Mountain/John's Peak Off-
Highway Vehicle (OHV) Management Plan, and initiation
of public
scoping.


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SUMMARY: The Medford District of the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) is
developing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for
the management
of off-highway vehicle (OHV) use in the Timber
Mountain/John's Peak OHV
area. The BLM designated the Timber Mountain/John's
Peak area
``specifically to provide for OHV use'' in the 1995
Medford District
Resource Management Plan (RMP). The RMP directs the
agency to, ``Manage
off-highway vehicle use on BLM-administered land to
protect natural
resources, provide visitor safety, and minimize
conflicts among various
users.'' The development of the Timber Mountain/John's
Peak OHV
Management Plan will provide site-specific guidance
for managing OHV
use in accordance with the Medford District RMP
direction.
Approximately 13,865 acres of public land in Oregon
are being
considered in this planning effort. The public scoping
process will be
used to identify interested and affected individuals
and groups, and to
identify issues associated with the management of OHV
use in the Timber
Mountain/John's Peak area. Issues identified through
the scoping
process will be used to explore a range of possible
alternatives for
managing OHV use in this area.


DATES: Comments concerning the scope of the analysis
should be received
in writing 30 days from publication of this notice, to
ensure timely
consideration. Public scoping meetings and/or field
tours will be held
to provide the public with information on the planning
process and to
provide for opportunities for the public to share
their concerns and
ideas with the BLM. Meeting dates and locations will
be announced
through mailings, the local news media, and on the BLM
Web site (http://www.or.blm.gov
).

 

[Ed A. Stevens]

Off-road vehicles are engine drivingBLM land debate

http://www.mailtribune.com/archive/2003/0305/local/stories/17local.htm


Off-road vehicles are engine drivingBLM land debate

By SANNE SPECHT
Mail Tribune

JACKSONVILLE — Despite opposition from nearby landowners and
environmental groups,
the Bureau of Land Management is forming a plan that would allow — but
control —
off-highway vehicle use in the Timber Mountain/Johns Peak area.

Landowners and others voiced their objections during a public hearing
Monday in Central Point
on resource management of the 25,000 acres northwest of Jacksonville.

A second public hearing will be held Thursday in Central Point.
Jacksonville will hold two public
meetings.

On March 11, the Motorcycle Riders Association will make a presentation
for discussion on
their purchase offer. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

At 7 p.m., on March 25, at the new Jacksonville Library, a public
hearing for the city’s response
to the BLM environmental impact statement will be held.

Jack Duggan owns 372 acres between Timber Mountain and Mount Isabelle.
Duggan said he is
not affiliated with any environmental group but is adamantly opposed to
increasing off-road
usage.

Duggan said between the current legal and illegal use, he is up to his
ears in loud engine racket.

"We’re smack in the middle of it," said Duggan. "You should hear the
noise these things make.
It’s like being bombarded."

David Lexow is the legislative affairs and events director for the
Motorcycle Racing Association.
The local off-highway motorcycle group hopes to purchase 1,752 acres of
Jacksonville’s
municipal forestlands to add to the 220 acres it already owns at Lilly
Prairie on Johns Peak.

Lexow said he feels most people who complain about noise should be
complaining to state
legislators. He said the majority of off-road noise is legal in
"disbursed rural areas."

"Most all of it is not illegal," said Lexow. "The noise complaint is
more or less from people who
don’t want to hear it at all."

According to Kristi Mastrofini, local BLM environmental coordinator, the
need for an effective
management plan for Johns Peak and Timber Mountain is acute.

Agency representatives said the area is designated to provide for
off-highway vehicle use based
on the 1995 Medford District Resource Management Plan.

They said the debate is not whether the area will allow off-road use,
but how the use will
happen. They want public opinions on sensitive land-use issues.

The following already have been identified:

Sensitive soils.

Water quality and riparian conditions.

Threatened or endangered plants, animals and fish (including the
Fritillaria gentneri, the
northern spotted owl and the coho salmon).

Travel management and public land access.

Public health and safety.

On one issue all sides agree: Off-roaders continue to proliferate in the
area.

The BLM said many sections already are being used illegally. It hopes
that by opening the land
to the off-roaders, it will allow the agency to create safe trails and
usage and curtail violations.

Comment period

The Bureau of Land Management will accept public comment on management
of the Timber
Mountain/Johns Peak area from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Oregon State
University Extension
Center auditorium, 569 Hanley Road, Central Point.

Written comments should be sent to Richard J. Drehobi, Ashland field
manager, Medford
District Bureau of Land Management, 3040 Biddle Road, Medford, OR,
97504. They also may
be e-mailed to [email protected].

Comments are due by March 28.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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