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<br />~ :", ~, ~ ~ s <br />_ _'._ J <br /> <br />This Environmental Impact Statement (E1S) <br />analyzes the potential impacts of <br />designating or not designating five <br />Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) totalling <br />65,415 acres into the National Wilderness <br />Preservation System. <br /> <br />The five BlM WSAs under study in this <br />Gunnison Basin and American Flats/Silverton <br />Wilderness EIS are (see Map 1-1 and 1-2): <br /> <br />WSA <br /> <br />Ac reage <br /> <br />Redcloud Peak (CO-030-208) <br />Handies Peak (CO-030-24l) <br />American Flats (CO-030-2l7) <br />larson Creek (CO-030-086) <br />Bill Hare Gulch (CO-030-085) <br /> <br />40,575 <br />18.860 <br />4,710 <br />900 <br />370 <br /> <br />TOTAL <br /> <br />65,415 <br /> <br />BACKGROUND <br /> <br />BlM's wilderness program is a result of the <br />Federal Land Policy and Management Act <br />(FlPMA) of 1976 (Public law 94-579). FlPMA <br />is Congress' basic guidance to the BlM on <br />how to manage the 470 mill i on acres of <br />public lands. <br /> <br />One portion of FlPMA (Section 603[aJ) <br />di rects the Secretary of the Interior and <br />the BlM to inventory publ i c 1 ands to <br />identify those that have wil derness <br />character1sti cs. Lands wi th wil derness <br />characteristics must then be studied to <br />determine thei r sui tabil ity or <br />nonsui tabil i ty for wi 1 derness. Based on an <br />eval ua ti on of wi 1 derness and other resource <br />use/values in each area determined to <br />conta i n wi 1 derness characteris ti cs, the <br />Secretary must report his recommendations <br />to the President no later than October 21, <br />1991, on whether areas should be designated <br />as wilderness. The President must report <br />his final recommendations to Congress <br />within two years. Congress will decide if <br />any of these recommended areas are to <br />become wilderness or not. <br /> <br />CHAPTE R 1 <br /> <br />PURPOSE ANO NEED <br /> <br />To accomplish the mandate of Section 603 of <br />FlPMA, the BlM has developed a framework <br />for the wilderness review process which has <br />three phases: <br /> <br />1. Inventory The inventory phase <br />involves looking at the public lands to <br />determine and locate the existence of <br />areas containing wilderness resources <br />that meet the criteria established by <br />Congress. Such areas are identified as <br />Wilderness Study Areas. <br /> <br />2. Study - Tbe study pbase involves <br />the process of determining, through <br />careful analysis, which Wilderness <br />Study Areas will be recommended as <br />suitable for wilderness designation and <br />wbich will be recommended as <br />nonsuitable. These determinations, <br />made tbrough the BlM's 1 and use <br />planning system. consider all values, <br />resources. and uses of the public lands. <br /> <br />3. Reporti ng The reporti ng pha se <br />consists of actually forwarding or <br />reporting these suitable and <br />nonsuf tabl e recommendati ens through the <br />Secretary of the Interior and the <br />President to Congress. Mineral <br />surveys. Envi ronmental Impact State- <br />ments, and other data are al so <br />submitted with these recommendations. <br /> <br />The in~entory phase of the process, <br />completed in December 1980, identified 11 <br />WSAs in the Gunnison Basin and American <br />Flats/Sllverton Planning Units (see Map in <br />pocket). At the beginning of this study <br />effort. three of these WSAs were contiguous <br />to U.S. Forest Service study areas or <br />planning areas. These three WSAs, Sparling <br />Gul ch/Friends Creek (CO-030-088/213), <br />Slumgullion Slide (CO-030-2ll). and West <br />Needl es Contiguous (CO-D30-229A), were <br />studied separately in conjunction with <br />Forest Service land use plans. The other <br />eight WSAs were included in the DEIS which <br />was released in May 1982. <br /> <br />1 <br />