SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The purpose of the withdrawal is to protect and preserve the Guadalupe Cave Resource Protection Area in the Lincoln National Forest in Eddy County, New Mexico, for a 20-year period. This area is part of the Capitan Limestone, reef, and shelf complex, of Permian age, and has a high likelihood of undiscovered caves; therefore, no suitable alternative site is available. The USFS filed an application on December 18, 2020, with the Secretary of the Interior, to withdraw the following described National Forest System lands:

New Mexico Principal Meridian

T. 25 S., R. 21 E.,

sec. 36, lot 4, S 1/2 SW 1/4 , and SW 1/4 SE 1/4 ,

T. 26 S., R. 21 E.

sec. 1;

sec. 2, E 1/2 ;

sec. 10, SE 1/4 SE 1/4 ;

sec. 11, E 1/2 and SW 1/4 ;

secs. 12, 13, and 14;

sec. 15, E 1/2 , S 1/2 NW 1/4 , and SW 1/4 ;

sec. 16, S 1/2 SE 1/4 ;

sec. 20, SE 1/4 ;

secs. 21 thru 28;

sec. 29, E 1/2 ;

sec. 32, lots 1 and 2, and N 1/2 NE 1/4 ;

sec. 33, lots 1 thru 4, and N 1/2 N 1/2 ;

sec. 34, lots 1 thru 4, and N 1/2 N 1/2 ;

sec. 35, lots 1 thru 4, and N 1/2 N 1/2 ;

sec. 36, lots 1 thru 4, and N 1/2 N 1/2 ;

T. 25 S., R.22 E.,

(The land described in T. 25 S., R. 22 E. is unsurveyed, and descriptions were established by a 2002 Protraction Diagram)

PB 43;

sec. 14, S 1/2 ;

sec. 15, S 1/2 and NW 1/4 ;

PBs 44, 49, 50, 51, and 52;

secs. 22 and 23;

secs. 26 thru 29;

PBs 55 thru 63;

T. 26 S., R. 22 E.,

secs. 3 thru 10, and 15 thru 18.

The area described contains 28,513.30 acres in Eddy County, New Mexico.

All persons who wish to submit comments, suggestions, or objections, in connection with the requested withdrawal to the Lincoln National Forest, can do so until April 25, 2022 to the individual mentioned in the ADDRESSES section.

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Notice is hereby given that a virtual (online) public meeting in connection with the application for withdrawal and segregation will be held. The USFS and the BLM will have a public meeting on February 23, 2022, at 5:30 p.m. (Mountain Time). A link to join the Teams virtual meeting will be available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/​lincoln.

Submit your written comments to the State Director, BLM New Mexico State Office, at the address in the ADDRESSES section indicated above by April 25, 2022.

For a period until January 24, 2024, subject to valid existing rights, the lands in this Notice will be segregated from location and entry under the United States mining laws and leasing under the mineral leasing laws, unless the application is denied or canceled, or the withdrawal is approved prior to that date.

( printed page 3581)

(Authority: 43 CFR 2310.3-1)

87 FR 3580