For Release: Aug. 27, 2003
Contact: Jeff Fontana (530) 252-5332
CA-N-03-86

BLM ADVISORY COUNCIL TO HOST MEETING ON GRAZING POLICIES

Potential changes in Bureau of Land Management livestock grazing policies will be the subject of a public meeting to be hosted by the BLM's Northwest California Resource Advisory Council on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at the Holiday Inn in Redding.

The session begins at 10 a.m. in the Appaloosa Room of the hotel conference center at 1900 Hilltop Drive. After an overview presentation and council discussions, public comments on the grazing management concepts will be accepted at 1 p.m.

The BLM announced last spring that it would consider both regulatory and non-regulatory changes to its grazing policies. The ideas under consideration seek to provide more management flexibility and promote innovative partnerships so that resource managers, ranchers, conservationists and others can achieve healthier Western rangelands.

BLM Director Kathleen Clarke has asked the agency's citizen Resource Advisory Councils across the West to review and comment on the concepts under consideration, and to hold public meetings to solicit public opinions. The BLM will use input from the advisory council public meetings in determining its next steps on any non-regulatory policy changes.

The policy changes under consideration comprise what the BLM is calling its "Sustaining Working Landscapes" initiative. By "working landscapes," the BLM means landscapes on the public lands that are economically productive and environmentally healthy.

The Northwest Resource Advisory Council is a 12-member board of northern California residents who represent a broad diversity of public lands interests. Members represent livestock permit holders, timber interests, recreation users, environmental groups, off-highway vehicle interests, local government and the public at large. They provide advice to the Secretary of the Interior, working closely with managers of the BLM's Arcata, Redding and Ukiah field offices, and the BLM California State Director.

For more information on the meeting, contact BLM Public Affairs Officer Jeff Fontana at (530) 252-5332.

-BLM-

Northern California Support Team - 2950 Riverside Drive Susanville, CA - 96130