BLM/NPS finalizes approved plans for Arizona Strip District

The Spectrum
St. George, Utah








ST. GEORGE -- The Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service will release the Records of Decision and three separate final management plans for the Arizona Strip Field Office, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument on Friday.

Completion of these three management plans is a major milestone in the six-year planning process on the Arizona Strip. One plan covers the BLM Arizona Strip Field Office, which manages 1.7 million acres. A second plan is for the BLM-managed 293,000-acre Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.

The third plan includes lands jointly managed by BLM and NPS in the 1.05 million-acre Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument. The two national
monuments in northern Arizona have been managed under an interim plan since
they were established by presidential proclamation in 2000.

The documents can be viewed on-line at www.blm.gov/az/ or
http://www.nps.gov/lame/parkmgmt/docs.htm.

Copies can also be found at public libraries in St. George and Kanab; Page, Flagstaff, Fredonia, and Kingman, Ariz.; and Boulder City, Nev. Copies of the documents in print and CD versions are also available at the BLM Arizona Strip District Office, 345 E. Riverside Drive in St. George; by sending an e-mail request to Arizona_Strip@blm.gov or by calling 688-3266.

The decisions designating routes of travel for motorized vehicles in the national monuments and the Ferry Swale area in these final management plans are implementation decisions and are now appealable under 43 CFR Part 4.

These decisions are contained in the travel management section of Chapter 2 in each management plan; specific route designation maps and reports can be found on the CDs accompanying each management plan. Any party adversely affected by the proposed route designations may appeal within 30 days by filing with the Arizona Strip District Manager at the address listed above.

The appeal should state the specific route number(s), as identified on the route designation maps on the CDs. See specific appeal procedures in the Records of Decision accompanying each management plan.