Vale Newsroom
Bureau of Land Management offices post News Releases to share news or let you know upcoming plans for their area. If you have questions regarding a specific News Release, contact information is at the top of each News Release. Please feel free to contact the Vale Office with your questions or comments, at 541-473-3144 or by email.
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Announcements
Secretary Salazar Proposes Expansion of Ecological Forestry in Western Oregon and Update Resource Management Plans
Date: 02/22/12
During a visit on February 21 to one of three ecological forestry pilot projects in Oregon, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will apply ecological forestry principles on a broader landscape to restore forest health and to provide sustainable timber harvests for local mills and the communities who rely on the timber industry for jobs and economic strengths.
Forestry Pilot Projects Report
Date: 02/14/12
Following up on the December 8, 2010 meeting in Washington, D.C. the BLM committed to immediately develop action plans for both the Roseburg Pilot Project and the Middle Applegate Watershed Pilot Project. Throughout 2011, the BLM, along with Drs. Norm Johnson and Jerry Franklin, held a series of public meetings, workshops, and field trips to discuss the pilot projects and learn more about the principles of ecological forestry. In February 2012, the BLM released a report regarding the Drs. Johnson and Franklin's observations about the Forestry Pilot Projects.
- Pilot Project Report (February 2012) (PDF)
- Press Release (PDF)
BLM Distributes Final Payments to Counties
Date: 01/20/12
The BLM announced today that it has issued payment to 18 counties in western Oregon eligible under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act extension (Public Law 110-343). The amount paid to the Oregon & California (O&C) counties was $40,037,160.
- Official 2011 Payment to the Counties (PDF)
- Press Release: BLM Distributes Final Payments to Counties (PDF)
- County Payments Background
Date: 09/21/11
Interior Conservation Awards to BLM-Led Partnerships
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar presented his "Partners in Conservation" Awards to a number of outstanding conservation partnerships at a ceremony on September 21, 2011. The awardees included four BLM-coordinated partnerships: Oregon's Jefferson Conservation Corps; the Gila Watershed Partnership of Arizona; New Mexico's Permian Basin Memorandum of Agreement Program; and the nationwide Project Archaeology program.
A video profile about the Jefferson Conservation Corps is available on YouTube at:
In addition, an article about the Jefferson Conservation Corps is available in winter 2010 issue of BLM's magazine, NW Passage:
Date: 08/23/11
Socioeconomic Impacts of the BLM
The BLM has the privilege of protecting and maintaining some of the Nation's most unique treasures. We manage over 15.7 million acres of public land in Oregon, and approximately 436,000 acres in Washington, together with some 23.4 million acres of federal subsurface minerals. The BLM lands provide for a variety of multiple uses throughout the Northwest, all of which contribute to the well-being of local communities through economic activities, social contributions, and land stewardship programs. Take a look around at these socio-economic contributions; we think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
- Contributing to Oregon's Economy (PDF)
- BLM - A Sound Investment for America (PDF)
- DOI's Economic Contributions (PDF)
- BLM and the Economy Op-Ed (PDF)
BLM Restores Guidance for Managing Lands with Wilderness Characteristics
Date: 02/25/11
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) today issued guidance to its field managers describing how the agency will use its land use planning process to enable local communities, States, Tribes, the public, and stakeholders to help determine how to manage public lands with wilderness characteristics.
The guidance will ensure public lands with wilderness characteristics are inventoried, described, and managed in accordance with Secretarial Order 3310, issued by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in December.
President Proposes $1.13 Billion for BLM in Fiscal Year 2012 To Protect Resources and Manage Uses of Public Lands
Date: 02/14/11
President Obama today requested $1.13 billion in appropriations for the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management in Fiscal Year (FY) 2012, a decrease of $12.0 million from the 2010 Enacted/2011 Continuing Resolution level. The budget makes strategic investments in support of Administration and Secretarial initiatives, and offsets funding increases for these priorities with $25.5 million in administrative and management savings, shifting $42.4 million in energy and minerals inspection costs to industry, and reducing lower-priority programs.
Under the President's proposed budget, the BLM will focus on a number of priorities, including: Renewable Energy; Cooperative Landscape Conservation, including Sage-grouse Habitat Management; Youth in the Great Outdoors; Abandoned Mine Lands and Hard Rock Mining Reform; Wild Horse and Burro Program; and the Secretary's Western Oregon Strategy.
- Department of the Interior 2012 Budget Press Release (PDF)
- BLM 2012 Budget Press Release (PDF)
- The BLM: A Sound Investment for America (PDF)
Wind Energy Development Challenges & Opportunities Map
Date: 11/04/10
The Oregon/Washington BLM has worked collaboratively with numerous stakeholders and partners to provide the "Challenges & Opportunities" map. The BLM is providing this map of potential wind energy development information and key regional natural resource information in eastern Oregon to foster collaborative solutions in the planning and siting of infrastructure projects on public lands.
The BLM will be co-hosting a day-long symposium about renewable energy opportunities and conservation issues on November 9, in Bend, Oregon. The symposium will explore the vision for both renewable energy and landscape scale conservation that may lead to identifying areas in eastern Oregon that have greater potential for new energy development as well as those areas where there would be significant challenges to development.
BLM Releases Decision for Vegetation Treatments
Date: 10/01/10
On October 1, 2010, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office announced the release of a Record of Decision for the Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on BLM Lands in Oregon. Weeds are currently spreading on BLM lands in Oregon at an estimated 12 percent per year, or 144,000 acres per year. This decision expands herbicide use beyond noxious weed treatments to include: the treatment of all invasive plants, the control of pests and diseases, and the control of native vegetation in rights-of-way and administrative sites, and recreation sites.
- Vegetation Treatments Press Release (PDF)
- Vegetation Treatments Fact Sheet (PDF)
- Final EIS and Record of Decision
BLM Releases Western Oregon Forest Management Report
Date: 07/22/10
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Bob Abbey today announced the findings of the interdisciplinary Western Oregon Task Force and an interagency approach for moving forward in the management of BLM-managed forests in western Oregon.
President Proposes $1.1 Billion for BLM in Fiscal Year 2011
Date: 02/01/10
With a focus on renewable energy development, climate change adaptation, and other key priorities, President Obama today requested $1.1 billion in appropriations for the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management in Fiscal Year 2011. This represents an $8.0 million increase from the BLM's FY 2010 enacted funding level. The President's request reflects his continuing commitment to be prudent with taxpayer dollars while setting priorities for spending.
BLM Prepares for Upcoming Oil and Gas Lease Sale
Date: 3/4/09
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office has announced that it will offer four parcels totaling approximately 5,342 acres, in Oregon, at its March 12, 2009 Oil and Gas Lease Competitive Sale. All four parcels to be offered are in Wheeler County near Mitchell, Oregon. The sale will be held at 9:00 AM, Thursday, March 12, at the Robert Duncan Plaza Building, 333 SW 1st Avenue, Portland, Oregon in the 3rd floor conference rooms.
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