Missoula Field Office
| Contacts: | David Abrams 406-533-7617 |
Comment Period Opens For BLM Grazing Lease Renewal EA
The Bureau of Land Management’s Missoula Field Office says the Ram Mountain Allotment Grazing Lease Renewal Environmental Assessment is now available for the public to provide comments or concerns.
The public comment period ends Oct. 18 and BLM officials say comments or concerns received between now and then will be considered during the decision-making process. The document is available for electronic viewing on the internet at: www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/missoula_field_office.html.
The EA addresses the renewal of the Ram Mountain Allotment grazing lease, including adjustments in grazing management, proposals to construct riparian exclosures, and revisions to grazing lease terms and conditions. The grazing allotment lease renewal would be for a period of 10 years.
The BLM will consider substantive comments which do one or more of the following:
- question, with reasonable basis, the accuracy of information in the EA;
- question, with reasonable basis, the adequacy of, methodology for, or assumptions used for the EA;
- present new information relevant to the analysis;
- present reasonable alternatives other than those analyzed in the EA.
- comments in favor of or against the proposed action or alternatives without reasoning that meet the criteria listed above for substantive comments;
- comments that only agree or disagree with BLM policy or resource information without justification or supporting data;
- comments that don’t pertain to the project area or the project;
- comments that take the form of vague, open-ended questions or opinions.
Written comments should be sent to: Missoula Field Office, ATTN: Tim La Marr, 3255 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula, MT 59804.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. 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.
Missoula Field Office 3255 F. Missoula Road Missoula, MT 59804