| Contacts: | Brian Keating | , 435-259-2194 |
BLM Seeks Comments on Proposed Black Ridge Fuels Reduction Project
Moab, Utah—The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Moab Field Office has completed an environmental assessment (EA) and is seeking comments on a proposed restoration and fuels treatment project south of Moab. The Black Ridge Fuels Reduction for Vegetative Restoration and Resource Protection Project would reduce pinyon and juniper along Black Ridge and surrounding areas where tree densities are crowding out understory vegetation and encroaching into sagebrush meadows. In addition, the project targets fuels on BLM lands adjacent to the Pack Creek, Brown’s Hole, and La Sal communities that are at risk from high intensity wildland fire spreading from adjacent public lands.
The pinyon-juniper reduction would be completed through a variety of methods including a mechanical chipper/shredder or “bullhog” and cutting trees and brush with chainsaws. BLM crews would burn stacked piles of brush and would also use low-intensity burns to remove understory vegetation.
The 30,000-acre project boundary extends roughly from Pack Creek on the north, the Manti-La Sal Forest boundary on the east, La Sal on the south, and Highway 191 on the west. Treatments would be designed in phases. Phase One of the proposed project covering approximately 9,100 acres would begin as early as spring of 2010.
Comments should be received by February 28, 2010, and directed to the attention of Brian Keating, Fuels Program Manager, Bureau of Land Management, 82 East Dogwood, Moab, Utah, 84532. A copy of the EA is available at the BLM office at the above address and on the Moab Field Office website at: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/moab.html.
The BLM manages more land - over 245 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. 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.
440 West 200 South, Suite 500 Salt Lake City, Utah 84145-0155