BLM announces Withdrawal Application to protect critical plant habitat in the San Bernardino National Forest
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CALIFORNIA – The United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service has filed an application through the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw certain National Forest System lands within the San Bernardino National Forest from location and entry, under the United States mining laws, but not from leasing under the mineral or geothermal leasing laws, or disposal under the Mineral Materials Act of 1947, subject to valid existing rights.
The requested area includes 2,841 acres of National Forest System lands within the San Bernardino National Forest and 280 acres of non-federal lands for a total adjusted withdrawal application area of 3,121 acres in the San Bernardino Mountains, San Bernardino County, California. The requested withdrawal would serve to limit mining within the site and maintain and conserve critical habitat.
Publication of the withdrawal application notice segregates the lands for up to two years, which allows time for the public to comment on the application and for the BLM and the Forest Service to conduct the environmental analysis of the requested withdrawal. The lands are currently open and will remain open to other forms of disposition allowed by law on National Forest System land.
Mining activities in the San Bernardino National Forest conflict with the conservation of listed threatened- and endangered-species where minerals co-occur with these species’ habitats. To alleviate this conflict, the BLM, the US Forest Service, the county of San Bernardino, mining partners and environmental partners, collaboratively developed a carbonate habitat management strategy, which provides for a uniform process for determining the requirements for environmental protection, as a part of mining and reclamation plans for limestone and calcium carbonate mines in the north-eastern San Bernardino Mountains. It is in this area where four plant species listed under the federal Endangered Species Act co-occur with deposits of limestone and other calcium carbonate types. The carbonate-rich soils derived from these specific rock types provide the habitat for these very narrowly distributed species.
For further information about this withdrawal application, please contact Heather Daniels at 916-978-4674.
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.