For Release: Aug. 12, 2003
Contact: Jeff Fontana (530) 252-5332
CA-N-03-80

BLM to host public meeting, tour to discuss land use planning
Susanville sessions are part of a meeting series

The Bureau of Land Management will host a public meeting and field tour this week, to gather public comments and ideas on development of new land use plans for public land in Northeast California and Northwest Nevada.

The public meeting is Wednesday, Aug. 13, at 6 p.m. at the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office, 2950 Riverside Dr., Susanville. Following introductory comments, the BLM staff will host an open house meeting where anyone interested can ask questions about the planning process and provide comments on issues that should be addressed in new land use plans.

Anyone interested can also provide comments during the field tour, scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 16, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tour participants will meet in the parking lot of the Eagle Lake Field Office. They should dress for field conditions and bring a lunch and water.

The meeting and tour are part "public scoping," an early phase of the land use planning process in which members of the public can share ideas about the issues that should be addressed in the BLM's new land use plans, called Resource Management Plans. The agency staff and a planning consultant will use ideas gathered during scoping, along with regulatory planning requirements, to develop a range of planning alternatives which also will be open to public review and comment.

When the planning process is completed in the fall of 2005, new resource management plans will be in place for the three million acres managed by the BLM's Alturas, Eagle Lake and Surprise field offices. The land use plans provide broad overall guidance for land management, and are intended to provide direction for up to 20 years.

Other scoping meetings will be held Wednesday, Aug. 20, at the BLM office in Alturas; Wednesday, Aug. 27, at the BLM office in Redding; and Thursday, Aug. 28, at the BLM Nevada State Office in Reno. All meetings begin at 6 p.m. An additional field tour is planned for Saturday, Aug. 23, beginning at 10 a.m. at the BLM Alturas Field Office.

More information is available from BLM Public Affairs Officer Jeff Fontana at (530) 252-5332.

-BLM-

Northern California Support Team 2950 Riverside Drive Susanville, CA 9613