U.S. Bureau of Land Management Colorado News Releases

BLM seeks public comments on proposed Hartsel to Fairplay powerline (02-02-10)

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 09:00:20 -0700

Cañon City, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Royal Gorge Field Office is scoping for public comments for an environmental assessment (EA) for a powerline proposal from the towns of Hartsel to Fairplay by the Intermountain Rural Electric Association. The scoping period will last 30 days and end on March 3, 2010.
The powerline would start just west of Hartsel, parallel to State Highway 9 then north to a substation just east of Fairplay. Maps of the proposed area are available at www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo.html.
Comments must be in writing and may be submitted by mail to BLM RGFO, IREA Comments, 3028 E. Main St., Canon City, CO 81212 or by email to rgfo_comments@blm.gov (please put “IREA” in the subject line). It is important that comments are specific when addressing issues and concerns.
For more information contact Hugh Wolfe at 719-269-8531.

Southern Colorado interagency spring prescribed burn program to commence (02-02-10)

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 08:55:10 -0700

Cañon City, Colo. – Fire crews from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Royal Gorge Field Office and the U.S. Forest Service (FS) Pike and San Isabel National Forests will join forces as they carry out their 2010 spring prescribed burning program in southern Colorado. Planned ignitions will begin when weather and fuel conditions become optimal for achieving management objectives while keeping smoke impacts to a minimum in surrounding communities. Weather and fuel conditions will be closely monitored and the prescribed burning program will continue through the spring season as long as conditions allow.
Prescribed fire combined with mechanical and/or hand thinning treatments are effective land management tools used to reduce the accumulation of hazardous fuel and decadent vegetation. Reducing hazardous fuel lowers potential fire intensity and the risk of catastrophic wildland fires, which in turn minimizes the risk to firefighter and public safety. It also improves wildlife habitat and promotes and maintains healthier ecosystems.
Each prescribed burn has a detailed prescribed fire plan developed in advance, along with appropriate smoke permits obtained from state agencies.
Areas slated for treatment are:
Black Mountain: 600 acres on the San Isabel National Forest. Fuels are primarily ponderosa pine, grasses, and pinion and juniper fuels in Huerfano County. The project area is located six miles north of Gardner, Colorado.
Lakemoor West: 132 acres on BLM lands, ponderosa pine, thinning slash, and grasses in Teller County. The project area is located 40 miles northeast of Canon City and 17 miles south of Florissant, Colorado.
Rice Gulch: 400 acres on BLM lands in ponderosa pine, oak brush, and grasses in Fremont County. This project area is located approximately 20 miles northwest of Canon City.
Booger Red: 350 acres on BLM lands in ponderosa pine, oak brush, grasses, and mechanically treated fuels in Teller and Fremont Counties. This project area is located approximately 21 miles north of Canon City, Colorado.
Blue Heron: 25 acres on BLM lands in grass in Fremont County. The project area is located approximately two miles east of Florence, Colorado along the Arkansas River.
For more information contact Tyler Webb, BLM Fire Management Specialist at 719-269-8560 or Dennis Page, FS Fire Management Specialist at 719-269-8584.

Members Still Sought for Uncompahgre RMP Advisory Group (02-02-10)

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 08:45:50 -0700

Montrose, CO -- The Bureau of Land Management in Montrose and the Southwest Colorado Resource Advisory Council has extended its call for members of the public interested in serving on an advisory group for the Uncompahgre Field Office Resource Management Plan.

Cedar Mountain road closure protects nesting raptors (02-01-10)

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 16:05:30 -0700

CRAIG, Colo.— The upper portion of the Cedar Mountain Road northwest of Craig, Colo., will be closed to motorized vehicles from Feb. 3 through late spring or early summer to protect nesting raptors.
The closure begins at the trailhead parking area, which is about a half-mile from where the road begins off Moffat County Road 7. The road and trails on Cedar Mountain remain open to hiking and mountain biking. Motor vehicle access will be permitted for required maintenance of communications equipment on Cedar Mountain.
The Bureau of Land Management’s Cedar Mountain Management Plan allows for a seasonal closure of the road when necessary to reduce disturbance to nesting raptors and prevent nest abandonment. The BLM last closed this road in the spring of 2009 when an active raptor nest was identified in an area vulnerable to disturbance.
“We appreciate the public’s help in observing this closure,” said acting BLM Little Snake Field Manager David Blackstun. “Cedar Mountain is an important raptor nesting area, and raptors are particularly sensitive to disturbance during their nesting season. The Cedar Mountain Day Use Area is a popular recreation site and will remain open to the public for all non-motorized uses as well as motorized use up to the parking area. ”
If you have questions regarding this seasonal closure, please contact BLM wildlife biologist Desa Ausmus, (970) 826-5019.

Secretary Salazar Appoints Alan Gilbert as Senior Advisor (02-01-10)

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 15:50:20 -0700

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that he has selected Alan Gilbert, an experienced energy and environmental lawyer and former Solicitor General of Colorado, as Senior Advisor to the Secretary for the Rocky Mountains and Southwest.

“I have the highest regard for Alan Gilbert’s extensive and varied experience in government, the private sector and academia as well as a personal appreciation of his invaluable counsel on natural resources and the environment,” said Secretary Salazar. “When I added that experience to his intimate knowledge of the Rocky Mountain and Southwestern states, I concluded he needed to be on the Interior team.”

Gilbert currently is a partner in Holme, Roberts & Owen, LLP, in Denver, Colo. and has been a long-time professor at the University of Denver, teaching Environmental Law and Energy Management.

He previously served Salazar as his Deputy Chief of Staff in the Senate (2005-2006) and as Solicitor General of the State of Colorado (2000-2004) when Salazar was attorney general of the state. He was lead lawyer in a number of cases going all the way up to the Supreme Court. Gilbert handled high-profile natural resource issues such as the state prosecution of the Summitville mine CERCLA litigation and negotiated a unique air quality agreement between the State of Colorado and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe.

Before that time, Gilbert was Assistant Deputy Attorney General of the Natural Resources and Environment Section in the Colorado Department of Law.

From 1977 to 1999, Alan served as Associate, Partner and Member of Sherman & Howard L.L.C. where he worked in Litigation and Natural Resources Departments with a
wide-ranging environmental law practice representing mining, manufacturing, and commercial clients.

He holds a B.S. in Engineering from Brown University and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Michigan Law School. Both were awarded magna cum laude.

BLM Defers Leasing Geothermal Parcel Near Buena Vista (01-28-10)

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:40:20 -0700

DENVER— The BLM Colorado State Office today announced that it is deferring a 799-acre
parcel of subsurface geothermal lands near Buena Vista and Mt. Princeton Hot Springs from a
scheduled BLM lease sale on Feb. 11, 2010.

BLM office in Silt renamed the Colorado River Valley Field Office (01-28-10)

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:30:50 -0700

SILT, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management has renamed its office in Silt, Colo., as the Colorado River Valley Field Office.

BLM Looking for Public Input Into Recreational Opportunities (01-28-2010)

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:35:40 -0700

Montrose, CO -- If you like to recreate on public lands in western Colorado, the Bureau of Land Management wants to hear from you.

Secretary Salazar Announces New Appointments to Bureau of Land Management Resource Advisory Councils (1/21/10)

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:00:30 -0700

Helen M. Hankins Appointed as BLM Colorado State Director

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:45:20 -0700

Bureau of Land Management Director Bob Abbey today announced the appointment of career employee Helen Hankins as the new state director for the agency’s Colorado State Office. Hankins is currently the associate state director for the BLM in Arizona.