Cottonwood Resource Management Plan

On March 12, 2010, a Notice of Availability was published in the Federal Register announcing release of the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM's) Cottonwood Resource Management Plan (RMP) and Record of Decision (ROD) which was approved in December 2009.  The ROD culminates a four-year collaborative planning process resulting in development of the RMP that will guide management of over 130,000 acres of National System of Public Lands managed by the BLM in Latah, Clearwater, Nez Perce, Lewis, Idaho and Adams counties in north-central Idaho. 

The RMP outlines a series of management actions to meet desired resource conditions including forest, upland, and riparian vegetation; threatened and endangered species, wildlife and fish habitats; cultural and visual resources; and recreation. The RMP is a result of extensive public involvement and will guide the BLM’s management of these lands for at least the next 10 to 15 years. 

The Cottonwood Proposed RMP/Final EIS was released in August 2008. Five protests were filed with the BLM. During the protest resolution stage, the BLM Director granted one of the protest issues raised and, as a result, a Supplemental EIS will be prepared to analyze the impacts of grazing domestic sheep on four allotments that overlap or occur in the vicinity of bighorn sheep habitat. The ROD/RMP includes management decisions on all resources addressed in the Proposed RMP, except those regarding grazing on the Partridge Creek, Marshall Mountain, Hard Creek and Big Creek grazing allotments, which must continue to be managed in accordance with the 1982 North Idaho Range Program Summary Report (ROD) and the 1981 Northern Idaho Grazing EIS. All other protest issues were resolved without requiring significant changes to the RMP. 

Record of Decision and Approved RMP
Cottonwood RMP	Map 1 - Planning Area Surface Management
Appendix A - Best Management Practices	Map 2 - Conservation and Restoration Watersheds
Appendix B - Conservation and Restoration Watersheds	Map 3 - Desired Future Condition Blocks
Appendix C - Desired Future Conditions for Forest Vegetation/Wildlife Habitat	Map 4 - Travel Management (1)
Appendix D - Aquatic and Riparian Management Strategy	Map 5 - Travel Management (2)
Appendix E - Special Status Species	Map 6 - Travel Management (3)
Appendix F - Federally Listed and Candidate Species Management, Conservation, and Restoration Measures	Map 7 - Fire Management Units
Appendix G - Species-Specific Habitat Definitions	Map 8 - Visual Resource Management
Appendix H - Desired Conditions and Watershed and Aquatic Condition Indicators	Map 9 - Commercial Forest
Appendix I - Wildland Fire Management	Map 10 - Grazing Allotments
Appendix J - Grazing Animal Unit Months (AUM) by Allotment	Map 11 - Areas Closed to Leasing and Salables, and Mineral Stipulations
Appendix K - Idaho Standards for Rangeland Health and Guidelines for Livestock Grazing Management	Map 12 - Areas Closed to Locatables
Appendix L - Mineral Leasing Surface Use Stipulations	Map 13 - Special Recreation Management Areas
Appendix M - BLM Wind Energy Development Program Policies and Best Management Practices (BMPs)	Map 14 - Management Blocks Retention Areas
Appendix N - Land Tenure Adjustments	Map 15 - ACECs and ACEC/RNAs
Appendix O - List of Maps	Map 16 - Wild and Scenic River Segments and Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas