NEWS RELEASE

For Release: Jan. 19, 2005 BLM CA-N-05-24
Contact: Public Affairs Officers: Jeff Fontana, BLM (530) 252-5332 Leona Rodreick, Lassen National Forest (530) 252-6605

BLM, LASSEN NATIONAL FOREST, SUSANVILLE INDIAN RANCHERIA TO COOPERATE ON LAND USE PLANNING

Officials from the U. S. Bureau of Land Management, Lassen National Forest and Susanville Indian Rancheria have signed an agreement pledging cooperation in land use planning and natural resources management.

The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a formal "government to government" protocol in which the agencies will jointly evaluate land actions, cooperate on research and share information.

"The policy of the U. S. government is to support Native American cultural and political integrity and to establish government to government relationships with tribal governments," the agreement states.

The agreement recognizes that public lands now managed by the BLM and Lassen National Forest include aboriginal territories once inhabited by ancestors of the Maidu, Paiute, Pit River and Washoe tribes that are part of the Susanville Indian Rancheria. It also recognizes that land use plans or projects undertaken by one government agency can affect lands managed by another, and commits the governments to work together.

In the agreement, the agencies and tribal government agree to share technical and professional information, to share and exchange viewpoints, and to collaborate in analysis of plans and projects on BLM-managed public lands, national forest lands and rancheria property. The agreement requires the tribal chair, forest supervisor and BLM field manager to conduct formal "government to government" consultations in a number of areas.

"This agreement will allow us to maintain and improve intergovernmental communications," said BLM Eagle Lake Field Manager Dayne Barron, Lassen National Forest Supervisor Laurie Tippin and Tribal Chair Stacy Dixon in a joint statement. "We will use the protocol to address issues of joint concern, to share official points of view and to resolve disagreements or concerns. This communication and consultation will enable all parties to understand each others' viewpoints and concerns before we make decisions."

-BLM-

BLM Eagle Lake Field Office Lassen National Forest
2950 Riverside Dr. 2550 Riverside Dr.
Susanville, CA 96130

USDI Bureau of Land Management USDA Forest Service
Eagle Lake Field Office Lassen National Forest