SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The CSNM boundary, as identified by Presidential Proclamation Nos. 7318 and 9564, constitutes the planning area for the Approved RMP. The planning area is 170,407 acres and includes lands within Jackson and Klamath Counties in Oregon, and Siskiyou County in California. The CSNM's decision area is the approximately 113,500 acres of BLM-administered lands within the planning area. While most of the BLM-administered lands are within the BLM Ashland and Klamath Falls Field Offices in Oregon, approximately 5,000 acres are located within the BLM Redding Field Office in California.

The Approved RMP will ensure that all legal mandates related to management of the congressionally designated National Conservation Lands ( i.e., Soda Mountain Wilderness; the Jenny Creek and Spring Creek Wild and Scenic Rivers; the Applegate Trail, which is part of the California National Historic Trail; and the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail), as well as lands included in President Obama's enlargement of the monument boundary, are fully addressed. In addition, the Approved RMP will update existing management plans to align with current BLM policies, thereby ensuring comprehensive management of the decision area.

The RMP's underlying purpose (40 CFR 1502.13) is to provide a management framework, including objectives and management direction, that guides the BLM's management of the decision area to protect and restore the resources, objects, and values for which the area was designated.

The Approved RMP emphasizes flexibility in planning-level direction but promotes a moderate level of active management for protection, maintenance, and restoration of CSNM resources, and sets some limitations on management actions and tools available. The Approved RMP does not carry forward any Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) or Research Natural Areas. The BLM determined that special management attention would be provided by management direction in the plan from other designations and management areas that apply monument-wide and would adequately protect the resource or value. The BLM determined that the entire monument holds historic, cultural, fish and wildlife, and scenic values that meet the relevance and importance criteria for an ACEC. The Approved RMP is designed to protect the monument's objects of scientific and historic interest outlined in Presidential Proclamations Nos. 7318 and 9564, which would safeguard these resources or values.

In developing the Approved RMP, the analysis in the Proposed RMP/Final EIS demonstrated that it best meets the purpose and need for the action compared to the alternatives. The planning process included results from close collaboration with several agency partners, including regulatory agencies and Tribal Nations, and their support will be integral to effectively implementing the Approved RMP.

The BLM provided the Proposed RMP/Final EIS for public protest on October 11, 2024, for a 30-day protest period and received 11 protest letters. ( printed page 5985) The BLM resolved all protests. Responses to protest issues will be compiled and documented in a Protest Resolution Report (see ADDRESSES). No changes to the Cascade-Siskiyou Resource Management Plan Proposed RMP/EIS were necessary as a result of protests.

Additionally, the BLM provided the Proposed RMP/Final EIS to the Governors of Oregon and California for a 30-day Governor's consistency review. The OR and CA Governor's office identified what they considered inconsistencies, and the BLM issued response letters that outlined explanations and justifications for how the BLM's proposed plan remains consistent with the concerns raised. No changes to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Proposed RMP/EIS were necessary as a result of the Governors' consistency review.

(Authority: 40 CFR 1501.9, 40 CFR 1506.9, 43 CFR 1610.2, 43 CFR 1610.5)