| Contacts: | Sarah Wheeler (208) 524-7550 |
BLM proposes resource management plan for public lands in Pocatello area
POCATELLO, ID – Today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) published a proposed comprehensive resource management plan and environmental impact statement (EIS) for managing some 613,000 acres of public lands administered by the Pocatello Field Office (PFO). The EIS analyzes four alternatives for managing BLM-administered public lands in nine southeastern Idaho counties to sustain their health, diversity and productivity. Currently, the PFO manages these lands under two different land use plans, the Malad Management Framework Plan (1981) and the Pocatello Resource Management Plan (1988).
The plan identifies how various programs such as recreation, travel management, mining, special status species, lands and realty, wildlife, fire management and livestock grazing will be managed in the future. In addition, a new 400-acre Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC)/Research Natural Area (RNA) known as Petticoat Peak, is proposed to protect unique and undisturbed vegetative communities of bigtooth maple and mountain mahogany. Approximately 11,400 acres of existing ACECs and RNAs in the Pocatello will continue to be managed under the proposed plan.
The Pocatello proposed RMP/final EIS is available online at http://www.blm.gov/id/st/en/fo/pocatello/planning/pocatello_resource.html. For additional information, please contact Terry Lee Smith, RMP Project Manager, in Pocatello at (208) 478-6340.
- The name, mailing address, telephone number, and interest of the person filing the protest;
- A statement of the issue or issues being protested;
- A statement of the part or parts of the document being protested;
- A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues previously submitted during the planning process by the protesting party, or an indication of the date the issue or issues were discussed for the record; and
- A concise statement explaining precisely why the decision presented in the Proposed Plan/FEIS is believed to be wrong.
Electronic mail and facsimile protests will be considered only if the protesting party provides the BLM with the original letter by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period. If you wish to provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of the BLM Protest Coordinator at (202) 452-5112 and e-mails to Brenda_Hudgens-Williams@blm.gov. All protests, including the follow-up letter (if e-mailed or faxed), must be mailed to one of the following addresses, Regular Mail: Director (210), Attn: Brenda Hudgens-Williams, P.O. Box 66538, Washington, D.C., 20036 or Overnight Mail: Director (210), Attn: Brenda Hudgens-Williams, 1620 L Street, NW, Suite 1075, Washington, D.C., 20036.
The BLM manages more land - over 245 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.