Lander Field Office
| Contacts: | Sarah Beckwith | |||
| 307-347-5207 |
BLM Lander Seeks Comments on Environmental Assessment
for
Green Mountain Common Allotment
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lander Field Office is seeking comments on a revised Environmental Assessment (EA) for grazing management of the Green Mountain Common Allotment (GMCA). The revised EA is the result of extensive consultation and coordination between the BLM, GMCA grazing permittees and interested publics.
The BLM issued grazing decisions based on the GMCA EA in March 2010, however in June 2010, the BLM requested a remand of those decisions from Administrative Law Judge Harvey C. Sweitzer in order to correct NEPA inadequacies contained in the document. The revised EA, now available for public comment, addresses these inadequacies.
The EA proposes to divide the GMCA into four separate grazing allotments, implement deferred grazing systems specific to each new allotment, reduce Animal Unit Months (AUMs) to levels that are more appropriate for the lands within the allotment, implement allowable forage use standards, and authorize new, carefully designed range improvement projects.
"This plan will guide the BLM and the GMCA permittees toward improved rangeland and riparian health, while protecting the integrity of wildlife species, wild horse herds and the Oregon National Historic Trail within the allotment," said Lander Field Manager Jim Cagney.
For more than a decade, the BLM has worked with permittees and interested stakeholders to craft and implement a plan to restore rangeland health within the GMCA. The GMCA is one of the largest unfenced common allotments in the state of Wyoming, totaling 522,000 acres.
The EA is available at: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/NEPA/documents/lfo/greenmtn_common.html.
Comments should be received by March 23, 2011, and emailed to lander_wymail@blm.gov (please include "Green Mountain" in the subject line) or mailed to AFM Resources, BLM Lander Field Office, 1335 Main Street, Lander, WY 82401.
For more information, contact Range Management Specialist John Likins at (307) 332-8400.
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.