The Bureau of Land Management will conduct a public meeting Tuesday, Nov. 1, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bristlecone Convention Center, 150 6th Street, Ely, to provide the public an opportunity to review the Ely Shoshone Reservation Expansion proposal’s administrative record.

“Our job is to accurately reflect what everyone’s said so far. If there are any errors in the administrative record, we need to know,” BLM Ely Field Manager Gene Kolkman said, Thursday.

Interested persons are also invited to review the administrative record before the meeting. The administrative record is located in the public room at the BLM Ely Field Office, 702 N. Industrial Way, in Ely.

The Ely Shoshone Tribe initiated the administrative process in 2003 when the Tribe submitted an application to the BLM requesting that the agency transfer to the Bureau of Indian Affairs specified BLM-administered public lands. The lands would be held in trust for the Tribe. The administrative process requires BLM to collect public input and work with the Tribe to finalize their application. The final application and all public comment received will be forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior. The application may then be forwarded to Congress for possible consideration and action.

Separate and apart from this administrative process, the Nevada congressional delegation is considering a public lands bill for White Pine County. A public lands bill deals with a variety of public lands issues including wilderness, lands disposal, recreation related issues, etc. Whether or not the Ely Shoshone land proposal is included in a public lands bill is up to the congressional delegation.

The task at hand requires BLM to conclude public scoping and forward the administrative record to the Interior Secretary. The formal public scoping process concludes at 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 3, 2005. Interested persons should address all written comments to the BLM Ely Field Office, HC 33 Box 33500, Ely, NV 89301.