Carson City District
| Contacts: | Lisa Ross | , 775-885-6107 | , lross@blm.gov |
BLM Issues Decision Record for Desatoya Mountains Restoration Project
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Carson City District, Stillwater Field Office has issued a Decision Record (DR) for the Habitat Restoration Phase of the Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Desatoya Mountains Resiliency, Health, and Restoration Project. The DR for the Habitat Restoration Phase will implement restoration treatments over a ten-year period on approximately 32,000 acres of public land in the Desatoya Mountains within Churchill and Lander counties of central Nevada. This is the second of two DR’s issued for this project; the first DR was for a wild horse gather and maintenance program.
The restoration treatments are needed to restore balance between sagebrush, riparian, and woodland plant communities, all of which provide certain resource values to the landscape including habitats essential for a wide variety of wildlife. Sagebrush habitats required for sage-grouse and other important wildlife species are being lost or degraded due to a shift from sagebrush to woodlands and are at risk from potential large, intense fires.
The greater sage-grouse, a BLM Sensitive Species, is also a candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act. In December 2011, the BLM issued Interim Management Policies and Procedures and a Land Use Planning Strategy to guide management for the greater sage-grouse. The BLM and U.S. Forest Service, meanwhile, are embarking on a two-year, 10-state process to conduct analyses through Environmental Impact Statements to incorporate greater sage-grouse conservation measures into land use plans and land management plans. This project will help to meet these and BLM’s National Sage-grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy objectives.
Links to the EA and related documents are located on the BLM website at: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/carson_city_field/blm_information/nepa/nepa_archives.html under the heading Wildlife Projects, project name Desatoya Mtns Habitat Resiliency, Health and Restoration Project.
For further information please contact John Wilson, Project Lead, at 775-885-6191.
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.
Carson City District 5665 Morgan Mill Road Carson City, NV 89701