For Immediate Release: October 20, 2004 CA-CDD-05-06
Contact: Doran Sanchez (951) 697-5220; E-MAIL: dasanche@ca.blm.gov

BLM District Advisory Council to Meet in Needles

The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) California Desert District Advisory Council will participate in a field tour of the BLM-administered public lands on Friday, October 22, 2004, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and meet in formal session on Saturday, October 23, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Saturday meeting will be held at the Needles City Council Chambers located at 1111 Bailey in Needles, California.

The Council and interested members of the public will gather in the parking lot of the BLM's field office in Needles at 7:30 a.m. The field office is located at 101 West Spikes Road. Tour stops will include the Route 66 interpretive display and a BLM grazing allotment. Presentations and discussions will focus on current grazing management and proposed revisions to the grazing regulations. The public is welcome to participate in the tour, but should plan on providing their own transportation, drinks, and lunch.

Agenda items on Saturday will include the election of officers, reports by Advisory Council members, updates by the District Manager and five District field office managers, a briefing on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's raven management initiative, and an update on the Desert Managers Group's Desert Tortoise Education and Outreach Plan. BLM will also brief the Council on the status of the Eastern San Diego County Resource Management Plan, and review the 10-year anniversary of the passage of the California Desert Protection Act.

All Desert District Advisory Council meetings are open to the public. Time for public comment may be made available by the Council Chairman during the presentation of various agenda items, and is scheduled at the end of the meeting for topics not on the agenda.

Written comments may be filed in advance of the meeting for the California Desert District Advisory Council, c/o Bureau of Land Management, California Desert District Office, Attn: Council Chair, 22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, California 92553. Written comments also are accepted at the time of the meeting and, if copies are provided to the recorder, will be incorporated into the minutes.

For more information regarding the California Desert District Advisory Council meeting, contact BLM Public Affairs Officer Doran Sanchez at (951) 697-5220.

-BLM-

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California Desert District Office -22835 Calle San Juan De Los Lagos, Moreno Valley, California - (909) 697-5220