Issues Identified

An issue is defined as a matter of controversy or dispute about resourcemanagement activities or land use that is well-defined or topically discreteand entails alternatives between which to choose. All four preliminaryissues identified by the BLM at the onset of the scoping process weresubstantiated in the scoping comments. The four issues were:

Vegetation

How should BLM provide a sustainablesupply of wood and other forest products as mandated by the O&C Actwhile meeting applicable laws and regulations?

Habitat for Special Status Species

How can BLM-administeredlands contribute to conservation of species consistent with the EndangeredSpecies Act?

Watershed Management and Water Quality

How can BLM-administered lands contribute to meeting the goals of the Clean WaterAct and the Safe Drinking Water Act?

Wildland Fire and Fuels

How should BLM manage public lands to reduce the risk of wildfires and integrate fire back intothe ecosystem?

Comments received during the scoping period included suggestions thatBLM address additional topics, as follows:

Off-highway vehicle management, particularly in the MedfordDistrict.

Many of the comments address current off-highwayvehicle use and a need for proactive management. The revised ResourceManagement Plans must designate which lands are open, closed or have limitson use of off-highway vehicles.

Impacts across the landscape

Concern was expressedabout effects of any proposed changes in BLM management on Northwest ForestPlan reserves, Forest Service management, and private or state lands havinghabitat conservation plans that rely on neighboring BLM reserves.This concern will be addressed in the impact section of the environmentalimpact statement associated with the RMP revisions.

Forest health (disease, insects, fuel build-up etc.)

These issues will be addressed as associated with the vegetation andwildland fire and fuels issues.

Issues to be addressed in the RMP revisions are discussed in the ProposedPlanning Criteria and State Director Guidance, which is a companiondocument to this scoping report. If you would like a copy of theProposed Planning Criteria and State Director Guidance, pleasecontact the Western Oregon Plan Revisions office by phone, mail, or email,as shown below.