EQEUVE SEP 11 2001 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Las Vegas Field Office 4765 W. Vegas Drive Las Vegas, Nevada 89108 September 2001 DRAFT NEVADA TEST & TRAINING RANGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT MISSION STATEMENT The Bureau of Land Management is responsible for stewardship of our public lands. The BLM is committed to manage, protect and improve these lands in a manner to serve the needs of the American people. Management is based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield of our nation’s resources within a framework.of environmental responsibility and scientific technology. These resources include recreation, rangelands, timber, minerals, watershed, fish and wildlife habitat, wilderness, air and scenic quality, as well as scientific and cultural values. BLM/LV/PL-O1/020+ 1610 United States Department of the Interior BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT Nevada State Office P.O. Box l20()0 (1340 Financial Blvd.) Reno, Nevada 89520-0006 http://www.nv.blm.gov In Reply Refer To: 1610 (LVFO) (NV-930.1) (NV-O50) September 17, 2001 Dear Reader: Enclosed for your review and comments are the Draft Nevada Test and Training Range Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the management of approximately 2 million acres. This Plan is a revision of the existing Nellis Air Force Range Resource Plan and Environmental Impact Statement. It was specifically directed by a provision in P.L. 106-65. This Plan takes a hard look at management options for wild horses on lands which were withdrawn for military purposes. Your review and comments are needed at this time to ensure that any concems will be considered in this planning process. Please direct written comments to Jeffrey G. Steinmetz, Team Leader, Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 4765 West Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89l08. To ensure prompt review and consideration of your comments, please note on the envelope, “Draft RMP Comments Enclosed.” Due to the fact that the Las Vegas Field Office will be relocating during the 90-day comment period, it is advised that you write or call the Las Vegas Field Office at (702) 647-5000 for the new address. The move is expected to be completed by the end of November 2001. At this time the new address and new telephone prefix are not available. Written comments can be submitted, in full, at any of the public meetings. Oral comments can be expressed at the following public meetings: Tuesday, November 27, 2001, Pahrump, Bob Rudd Community Center, 150 N. Highway 160 Thursday, November 29, 2001, Beatty, Beatty Community Center 100 A Avenue South Tuesday, December 4, 2001, Alamo, New High School Multi-Purpose Room 151 S. Main Thursday, December 6, 2001, BLM Las Vegas Field Office, 4765 West Vegas Drive All meetings will begin at 7:00 p.m. and end on or near 9:00 p.m. A time limit may be placed on oral comments, depending on the number of people who wish to make a statement. Oral comments should be accompanied by a written synopsis of the presentation. Written and oral comments will be fully considered and evaluated in preparation of the Proposed Nevada Test and Training Range and Final Environmental Impact Statement. Written comments must be postmarked or otherwise delivered by 4:15 p.m., 90 days following the date the Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) publishes a Notice of Availability and filing of the Draft EIS in the Federal Register. The EPA Notice of Availability is expected to be published on or about September 17, 2001. .7... Sincerely, Robert V. Abbey State Director, Nevada DRAFT NEVADA TEXT AND TRAINING RANGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT Prepared by: UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAS VEGAS FIELD OFFICE Robert V. Abbey State Director, Nevada This Draft Nevada Test and Training Range Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement is the first step in developing a management plan to guide applicable BLM policy and decisions over the next 20 years on approximately 2 million acres of BLM land withdrawn for military purposes. The plan describes and analyzes the options for management of natural resources of the withdrawn public lands in Clark, Nye and Lincoln counties, Nevada. Due to the nature of this withdrawal some resources uses are either restricted or controlled. For example, the entire withdrawn area is closed to casual use by recreationists. For further information contact: Jeffrey G. Steinmetz, Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas Field Office, 4765 West Vegas Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada, or call 702-647-5097. Please be advised the telephone prefix number 647 and the address will change when the Las Vegas Field Office relocates. At publication time the prefix and address are not known. Please submit written comments to Jeffrey G. Steinmetz at the address noted above. The comment due date will be based on the publication of the Environmental Protection Agency Federal Register Notice of Availability, which is expected to be around September 17, 2001. DRAFT NEVADA TEST & TRAINING RANGE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT SUMMARY This Resource Management Plan (RMP) identifies the resources to be managed on the Nevada Test and Training Range (N TTR), the level of protection they are to be provided, and what use of resources is appropriate on an area withdrawn for the specific mission of training pilots for combat readiness. Basic restrictions are necessary to fulfill this mission and are stated in the body of this analysis. The NTTR (formerly known as the Nellis Air Force Range, (NAFR)) military withdrawal area comprises approximately 3 million acres. It is a complex assembly of lands managed or regulated by numerous agencies, federal, state and local. The U. S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (U SFWS), U. S. Air Force, U. S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NN SA), U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nevada Division of Wildlife (NDOW), Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP), Nye County, Lincoln County, Clark County Health District, Clark County Comprehensive Planning and Clark County Regional Transportation Commission all have responsibilities to public resource management or public health and safety on the NTTR. Admini stratively the NTTR is divided into a North Range and a South Range component, which are largely separated by the NNSA’s Nevada Test Site (NT S). The North Range contains the BLM’s Nevada Wild Horse Range (NWHR), and the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Tonopah Test Range (TTR). Most of the South Range was withdrawn by Congress for the joint uses of the USFWS as the Desert National Wildlife Range (DNWR) and the Air Force. The planning area described in this RMP includes only those public lands in Nevada withdrawn from multiple use under BLM management by P.L. 106-65. This plan does not cover any lands within the P.L. 106-65 withdrawal that are administered by the USFWS as part of the DNWR. The NTTR is considered the best training facility of its kind in the world. Air crews from throughout the world come to this site for quality training ahnost year round. Public Law 106-65, approved October 5, 1999, renewed the withdrawal for a period of 20 years. The following excerpts from the law provide directions for the management of the public lands withdrawn from multiple use status. In summary, Section 3014 of PL 106-65 identifies management of lands as follows: “The Secretary of the Interior shall manage the lands withdrawn pursuant to the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, other applicable law, and this subtitle.” In accordance with the above, the Secretary of Interior, after consultation with the Secretary 0111' the Military department concerned, shall develop a plan for management of each area. Each plan s a 1 (A) be consistent with applicable law; (B) be subject to the conditions and restrictions specified in PL 106-65; (C) include such provisions as may be necessary for proper management and protection of resources and values of such area; and (D) be developed not later than two years after the date of enactment of this act 10/5/1999. Four alternatives (A, B, C, and D), including “No Action” (Alternative A) are presented. The S-1 objectives and management directions for Alternatives A and B are presented in the same sequence that the relevant resources and programs are addressed in the discussion of the affected environment. All objectives in Alternative B, other than those related to wild horses, apply to Alternatives C and D. Objectives and management direction for Alternatives C and D are presented only for wild horses, which would be managed differently from Alterative B. Since the NTTR is not open to public access and is, in essence, a protected area, the planning team did not see a need to prescribe different management under each alternative for each resource, other than wild horses. The fact that the alternatives are essentially the same for all resources and programs other than wild horses is a function of the purposes of the withdrawal. The BLM has little leeway on how different resources are to be managed within the withdrawn lands. Air Force requirements include operational areas, target arrays, plus critical safety and security provisions. Maintaining the wild horse herds must be compatible and supportive of the mission operations, the safety of the range staff, and allowing the Air Force to provide necessary security. The No-Action alternative (Alternative A) represents the management objectives and directions contained in the approved BLM 1992 Nellis Air Force Range Resource Management Plan including those changes that have occurred since 1992.