BLM and Forest Service Issue Survey and Manage Supplement under the Northwest Forest Plan
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PORTLAND -- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office and the USDA Forest Service Region 6 announced that they have released a Supplement to the 2006 Draft Supplement to the 2004 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) To Remove or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines. The Northwest Forest Plan included Survey and Manage mitigation measures that provided protection for approximately 350 rare or little-known species of plants and animals associated with late-successional, old-growth forests.The BLM and USDA Forest Service have prepared this Supplement to address potential implications of a November 6, 2006 decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. That decision, specific to the BLM, found that the 2001 and 2003 Annual Species Review decisions removing the red tree vole from the Survey and Manage program constituted a land management plan amendment that should have been accompanied by National Environmental Policy Act analysis.The BLM and USDA Forest Service are issuing this Supplement to include species affected by the previous Annual Species Reviews. The 58 species previously removed in all or part of their range as a result of the Annual Species Reviews were added to the Supplement to the 2006 Draft Supplement to the 2004 FSEIS to Remove or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines. The Supplement also addresses the effects of category changes for 32 species and contains the most current information about these species.This Supplement will not alter the proposed action outlined in the 2006 Draft Supplement, significantly change the effects to species, or modify other effects described in the 2004 FSEIS and Draft Supplement.A 90-day public comment period for this Supplement closes Thursday, April 5, 2007. Copies of the Supplement, the 2006 Draft Supplement, and the 2004 FSEIS are available on line at reo.gov or they may be requested in CD or print format by writing to Carol Hughes at USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 3623, Portland, OR 97208-3623, or emailing your request to ORSMSEIS @ blm.gov
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.