U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT NEWS RELEASE
Utah State Office
Utah State Office
| Contacts: | Larry Crutchfield | , (435) 644-4310 |
GSENM Environmental Assessment for Hole-in-the-Rock Road "Organized Group Use"
Available for Review
The Bureau of Land Management’s Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM) is seeking public comments on a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (EA) for Organized Group Use along Hole-in-the-Rock Road (Road).
The GSENM Management Plan (MMP) prescribes group size limits of 25 in the GSENM Passage Zone along the HITR Road. However, the MMP also allows BLM to authorize permits for groups larger than 25 people with appropriate NEPA analysis.
The Road continues through the National Park Service’s Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GLCA) Development Zone, and adjacent areas in the Recreation Area’s Natural Zone. Existing GLCA environmental analysis allows for groups of up to 100 people in the Development Zone and 60 people in the Natural Zone.
GSENM and GLCA foresee a continuing desire for groups that exceed current management prescriptions to travel along the Road and visit its associated historic sites for the heritage, recreational, and educational values they provide.
GSENM and the GLCA jointly prepared this EA to analyze the effects of authorizing organized group activities that exceed existing group size limits along the Road corridor. Site specific analysis of day-use sites such as Dance Hall Rock and Hole-In-The-Rock, as well as proposed camping locations, has also been completed.
A Hole-in-the-Rock Road-Organized Group Use EA Public Review Open House has been scheduled for June 1, 2011 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center.
The Programmatic EA for Organized Group Use along Hole-in-the-Rock Road can be downloaded from the Utah BLM Environmental Notification Bulletin Board website: https://www.blm.gov/ut/enbb/index.php. Hardcopies are also available at all GSENM offices and visitor centers and the GLCA Headquarters.
Please submit comments via mail to the following address:
Bureau of Land Management
Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Attn: Jabe Beal, Outdoor Recreation Planner
755 West Main Street / PO Box 225
Escalante, UT 84726
Comments may also be emailed to: utgsecmt@blm.gov. Please include “Hole-in-the-Rock Group Use” in the subject line.
Written comments will be accepted through close of business - June 17, 2011.
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.
Utah State Office 440 West 200 South, Suite 500 SLC, UT 84101