For Release: Oct. 2, 2003
Contact: Jeff Fontana (530) 252-5332
CA-N-04-4

COMMENT PERIOD CLOSES OCT. 31 ON BLM LAND USE PLAN 'SCOPING'
Preliminary Scoping Report is Available for public review

Public comments on issues that should be addressed and included in a scoping report for new Bureau of Land Management land use plans for the Northeast California and Northwest Nevada will be accepted until Friday, Oct. 31.

The comments are being accepted as part of "public scoping," the initial phase of the land use planning process in which anyone interested can suggest issues or topic areas that BLM land use plans should address.

A summary of the comments received so far is available in a preliminary scoping report available on line at http://www.ca.blm.gov/pdfs/eaglelake_pdfs/ScopingReport-0903.pdf. The report can also be obtained by contacting the BLM Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville, (530) 257-5381; the Alturas Field Office (530) 233-4666; or the Surprise Field Office in Cedarville, (530) 279-6101.

The BLM's Northeast California field offices are developing new plans, called Resource Management Plans (RMP), that will provide public land management direction for 10 to 20 years. They will guide management actions on about three million acres, including about a million acres in northwest Nevada.

"These three new plans will replace more than a dozen outdated land use plans, some of them about 30 years old," said BLM Eagle Lake Field Manager Dayne Barron. "We want to get ideas from the public as early as possible to assure that these plans address the issues that concern people."

Ideas presented during the public scoping process will be helpful in the next major phases of the planning process - analysis of the current land use management situation, and development of draft management alternatives.

Barron said there will be plenty of public involvement opportunities as the planning process continues. The BLM's Northeast California Resource Advisory Council will be assisting the BLM during their public meetings, and the BLM will convene public meetings in the late fall or early winter to get public input on social and economic data. Dates for those meetings will be announced.

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

-BLM-

Northern California Support Team 2950 Riverside Drive Susanville, CA 96130