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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Missoula Field Office
 
Release Date: 06/19/12
Contacts: David Abrams    
  (406) 490-0367    

BLM Seeks Comments On Smart Creek East Project Assessment

MISSOULA (June 18, 2012) – The Bureau of Land Management Missoula Field Office is making the Smart Creek East Vegetation Management Project Environmental Assessment available for the public to provide comments which will be considered during the decision-making process.

The EA is now available for review during a public comment period ending on June 25 , 2012.  The document is available for electronic viewing at http://tinyurl.com/cvulvtk.

The Smart Creek EA addresses a vegetation management treatment on BLM lands located about two miles northwest of Maxville.  The BLM plans to treat the proposed project area with a combination of mechanical vegetation augmentation and prescribed burning in order to restore the grassland ecosystem and reduce hazardous fuels within the wildland-urban interface.

The BLM will consider substantive comments that 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 that are not considered substantive and would not be addressed include the following:
  • 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. 
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment –including your personal identifying information –may be made publically available at any time.  While you can ask us in your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Written comments should be sent to:  Missoula Field Office, ATTN:  Steve Hancock, 3255 Fort Missoula Road, Missoula, MT  59804.

For more information, contact Steve Hancock with the Missoula Field Office at (406) 329-3869.

For the latest BLM news and updates visit us on the web at: www.blm.gov/mt  and on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/BLMMontana.


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.
--BLM--

Missoula Field Office   3255 Fort Missoula Road      Missoula, Montana 59804  

Last updated: 06-28-2012