Proposed Action:

The BLM proposes to issue and fully process new term grazing permits for Roger J. Dieleman #2705069 and Culverwell, Charles Estate #2705020 and authorize grazing on the Sawmill Canyon Allotment (see attached map). The current permits are shown in Table 1.

The current term permit for Roger J. Dieleman is issued for the period 03/01/2004 to 02/28/2014 for both allotments. This is a cattle permit with an active permitted use of 168 AUMs for Sawmill Canyon allotments.  The current term permit for Culverwell, Charles Estate is issued for 01/29/2007 to 01/28/2017 and is a cattle permit with active permitted use of 24 AUMs. The issuance of the new term grazing permits could be for a period of up to ten years. An evaluation of range monitoring data and professional observations of rangeland health will be conducted for both allotments.  This data will be summarized in a Standards Determination Document that will be provided for internal and public review at a later date. 

Table 1. Currently authorized Animal Unit Months (AUMs) and associated details for Sawmill Canyon Allotment, Ely BLM, Caliente Field Office.

The grazing permit area occurs within Lincoln County, Nevada and is situated in the northern portion of the Caliente Field Office, between 1/2 to 6 miles southeast of Caliente, Nevada (Figure 1). The permit area occurs primarily within the Clover Creek South (212S) watershed and the Meadow Valley Wash N watershed (214A), with a small portion of the allotment falling within the Clover Creek North (212N) watershed. 

The Sawmill Canyon Allotment encompasses 9,177 public land acres. There are no wilderness areas within the permit area. The Arizona toad (Bufo microscaphus), a BLM Sensitive Species, is known to occur within the Kershaw/Ryan State Park, adjacent to the allotment. There are no other documented Special Status Species that occur within the allotment. The entire permit area is located within mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) habitat. 

All permitted AUMs are currently active. However, neither permittee has reported any use in the Sawmill Canyon Allotment since at least 1997.

Project Location: between 1/2-6 miles southeast of Caliente, Nevada. See Figure 1.

Need for Proposal:

The need for the proposal is to provide for legitimate multiple uses of the public lands by fully processing the renewal of the term grazing permit for Roger J. Dieleman and Culverwell, Charles Estate that conforms to Guidelines and achieves the Standards for Nevada’s Mojave Southern Great Basin Area Resource Advisory Council (RAC) in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies and in accordance with Title 43 CFR 4130.2(a) which states “Grazing permits or leases shall be issued to qualified applicants to authorize use on the public lands and other lands under the administration of the Bureau of Land Management that are designated as available for livestock grazing through land use plans.”

 

Contact: Marian Lichtler

Phone: 775-289-1819

Project status for this project is public scoping.