Once finalized, the Central Yukon plan will provide future direction for approximately 16 million acres of BLM-administered public land in central and northern Alaska. This includes the Dalton Highway Corridor, BLM-managed lands in the central Yukon River watershed, and the Central Arctic Management Area Wilderness Study Area.
A 180-day scoping period for the Draft RMP/EIS began with publication of the Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on June 14. The purpose of the public scoping process is to determine relevant issues that will influence the scope of the environmental analysis, including alternatives, and guide the planning process. The BLM invites the public to provide comments on issues and planning criteria.
Although the BLM welcomes public comments at any time, the agency must receive comments by December 11, 2013 to be included in the Scoping Report. There are five ways to submit comments:
1. In person at public scoping meetings in communities within the planning area. The BLM will announce the meeting dates, times and specific locations through news releases and on the BLM website at www.blm.gov/ak;
2. Via the website: www.blm.gov/ak
3. Via fax: (907) 474-2282
4. By mail to the BLM Central Yukon Field Office, Attn: Central Yukon Draft RMP/EIS, 1150 University Avenue, Fairbanks, AK, 99709; and,
5. By email at CentralYukon@blm.gov.
For information about the Central Yukon planning process, visit www.blm.gov/ak or contact the BLM at (907) 474-2340 or (800) 437-7021 (within Alaska).
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]]>At its annual Great Outdoors Week event May 29, 2013, in Washington, DC, ARC presented an employee from the BLM-Alaska Central Yukon Field Office its Beacon Award, which recognizes innovative use of technology in visitor services and recreation management. A BLM-Alaska Glennallen Field Office employee was honored with the Legends Award, which recognizes outstanding federal employees who increase recreation opportunities and participation on public lands.
Central Yukon Field Office Park Ranger Interpreter Lisa Shon Jodwalis was recognized for her leadership in the creation of a 30-minute high-definition film, Arctic Visions & Voices: a Journey through Northern Alaska, which centers on the 414-mile Dalton Highway. With few people having the time and resources to drive the remote and challenging thoroughfare, Arctic Visions & Voices provides one of the few opportunities for the public to experience the Dalton Highway. The film is part of an integrated program of interpretive services including website www.blm.gov/ak/dalton, the Dalton Highway Visitor Guide, wayside exhibits, and exhibits and interpretive programs at the Arctic Interagency Visitor Center. ]]>
ANCHORAGE – Steve Cohn has been named the new Deputy State Director for Resources for the Bureau of Land Management in Alaska. Cohn arrived in Alaska on May 30.
Cohn comes to Alaska from the BLM Washington Office, where he was the Division Chief of the National Landscape Conservation System. He began his career with the BLM in 2001 as a Presidential Management Fellow in the NLCS Office in Washington, and has served in various field assignments in Arizona and Oregon/ Washington, including as field manager in Arizona’s Hassayampa Field Office.
As the Director for Resources, Cohn will oversee the planning, renewable resources and energy and minerals branches. He will be responsible for projects including land use planning decisions, recreation and resource development, oil and gas resource development, and environmental cleanup projects on public lands.
“Steven brings a wealth of expertise and we are excited to have him here,” said BLM-Alaska State Director Bud Cribley. “His experience will be a great asset to public land management in Alaska.”
Prior to his BLM career, Cohn earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Doctorate in Wildland Resource Science from the University of California at Berkeley. He was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to Canada and researched First Nation Land Claims Treaties and resource issues in the Yukon Territories. He also won the prestigious 2012 Secretary of the Interior’s Partners in Conservation Award and the BLM Director’s Diversity Award in 2011
]]>The Call for Nominations and Comments, published in today’s Federal Register, announces a 45-day period in which interested parties may nominate or comment on available tracts. The notice is the first step in the process leading up to the next oil and gas lease sale, which is tentatively scheduled for November 2013. BLM-Alaska must receive all nominations and comments on these tracts for consideration on or before July 18, 2013.
“With the new Record of Decision for the NPR-A Integrated Activity Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement in place, there is new interest in leasing in the NPR-A,” said Bud C. Cribley, BLM-Alaska State Director. “This call for nominations and comments gives industry, conservation groups and other stakeholders the opportunity to provide input into which tracts should be included in or excluded from the sale.”
To select which tracts will be available for the oil and gas lease sale, the BLM-Alaska State Director will consider the results from the Call for Nominations and Comments, existing natural resource and environmental data, the location of existing leases, multiple use conflicts, resource potential, industry interest, and other available information.
There are 894 tracts on approximately 10.3 million acres that will be available for nomination and comment under this lease sale. Currently there are 191 authorized oil and gas leases totaling 1,534,626 acres in the NPR-A.
A map showing available areas is available on the BLM Alaska home page www.blm.gov/ak, and the BLM NPR-A Lease Sale Documents webpage: http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/energy/oil_gas/npra/npr-a_lease_sales-maps.html. ]]>
Campgrounds in the Glennallen Field Office area report the following conditions: ]]>
The Making a Difference Award is an annual award presented by the BLM that recognizes its most exceptional volunteers, whose efforts include trail repair, visitor services, habitat restoration, and many other duties. The award was presented to recipients at a recognition event via live video conference hosted at the BLM’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The event included remarks from Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Interior; Neil Kornze, Principal Deputy Director of the BLM; and Carl Rountree, Assistant Director for the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System and Community Partnerships.
Principal Deputy Director Kornze expressed his appreciation for the volunteers’ hard work in helping the BLM fulfill its multiple-use mission. "Volunteer efforts – the seeing, the doing, and the leading – have helped us to fulfill that responsibility on the public lands," Kornze said. "Your labors have made a lasting imprint, and you have left a legacy for others to follow.”
The volunteers selected for this year’s awards were: Ray and Linda Panter, Central Yukon Field Office, Alaska; Annette Froehlich (Lifetime Achievement), Las Cruces District Office, New Mexico; Joshua Barlow, Price Field Office, Utah; Upper Ridge Wilderness Association (Lifetime Achievement), Redding Field Office, California; Illa Willmore (Lifetime Achievement), Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, Montana; and Pat Williams (Milestone Award), Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Nevada. Warren J. Trogden, Sr. Challis Field Office, Idaho, is the winning BLM employee.
A national panel of BLM specialists and partner representatives selected the award winners from a record number of nominees submitted by BLM state offices. The winners were selected for their exceptional contributions to the conservation and management of public lands.
In Fiscal Year 2012, more than 30,000 volunteers contributed more than 1.1 million hours of their time in assisting the BLM. That is the equivalent of 637 "work years." The value of volunteer contributions as compared to project-related dollars expended by the BLM was 26 to 1
Alaska volunteers Linda and Ray Panter received their awards at a ceremony at the BLM-Alaska State Office in Anchorage.
ALASKA Volunteer Winners
Linda and Ray Panter, Central Yukon Field Office, AK: Over the past two years, Linda and Ray Panter have greeted nearly 10,000 summer visitors annually at the BLM’s Yukon Crossing Contact Station, located beside the Yukon River along Alaska’s remote 414-mile Dalton Highway. This important BLM visitor station provides valuable services to travelers from around the world as they venture north to the Arctic Circle and beyond. Linda and Ray answer thousands of questions, distribute brochures, track visitation, provide critical safety and travel information, maintain the contact station itself, and monitor the nearby rustic campground. Their record sales of books and merchandise have strengthened BLM’s partnership with the Alaska Geographic Association, the local non-profit cooperating association. Linda and Ray have also initiated projects and programs to enhance visitor experiences, including short programs on Arctic tree growth, during which they compare tree rings from Alaskan species to those of trees from their native Oregon. They lead walking tours for visitors interested in the local fauna and flora, have produced a stunning photo program based on their discoveries, and planted a small garden to demonstrate the speed with which plants must develop during the short Arctic growing season. Ray even hauls in local spring water each day so that visitors can literally "get a taste of the Arctic." Linda and Ray staff the contact station every day of the week, working long hours amidst such luxuries as a satellite phone and an outhouse. These special hosts obviously love what they do, happy to welcome Yukon Crossing visitors with warmth and hospitality. ]]>