For Immediate Release: February 13, 2004
Contact: Ken Smith, 719-269-8553
 
 

BLM begins planning effort in South Park

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Royal Gorge Field Office, is starting a planning effort and public scoping period to address the future status of BLM managed public lands in South Park. The planning will result in new decisions on the retention or disposal of these public lands.  BLM is asking for the public’s participation throughout this planning effort.

The Royal Gorge Field Office manages about 72,000 acres of public lands in South Park. This total acreage is split between approximately 200 individual parcels of public land.  In the Royal Gorge Resource Management Plan (RMP), approved in 1996, decisions were made to dispose of these lands due to their scattered nature and, in many cases, the lack of public access.  Since the completion of the RMP, new issues have come up that bring into question the decisions to dispose of these lands.  The BLM will work with the Park County Commissioners and will utilize the information from the Park County Strategic Master Plan in this planning effort. Habitat data for mountain plovers (a BLM sensitive bird species); data on unique wetlands known as fens that the BLM is required to protect; and any other planning criteria identified through public participation, will also be included in the planning.

As part of the public involvement process, BLM will be holding a public meeting on February 25, 2004, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the County Commissioner’s Board Room in the Park County Annex Bldg., 501 Main Street in Fairplay. Comments and information on all the parcels of public land are being requested from the public.  BLM will utilize the submitted comments in formulating new decisions on public land ownership in South Park. The plan will identify those public lands that should be retained under federal management and those that can be disposed to other ownerships.

To complete the planning effort, BLM is establishing a “working group” set up under the oversight of the Front Range Resource Advisory Council.  Three members of that Council will be working with BLM and representatives of other interested parties to develop a proposal for the future status of the public lands in South Park.

For further information or to get on the mailing list, please contact:  Pete Zwaneveld or Erik Brekke, co-team leads at (719) 269-8500; or by writing to Bureau of Land Management, ATTN:  South Park Land Tenure Plan, 3170 E. Main Street, Canon City, CO 81212; or send email to rgfo_comments@blm.gov.

Maps
The South Park maps are available only in PDF format. To view the maps, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your PC. If you don't have the reader installed, you can download a free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Park County North Map (411 KB)
Park County North Map DOQ - Includes DOQ base map for higher connection speed (11.7 MB)
Park County South Map (399 KB)
Park County South Map DOQ Includes DOQ base map for higher connection speed (11.7)

-BLM-