BLM Further Extends Public Comment Period for Western Oregon Plans
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today that it would further extend the public comment period for the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for future management of 2.5 million acres of public lands in Western Oregon. BLM originally allowed 90 days for the public to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and Resource Management Plan. Because of the extensive nature of the analysis in the Draft EIS, the BLM has decided to further extend the public comment period for an additional 30 days, for a total of 155 days. The extended public comment period will now run until January 11, 2008.“So far during the plan revision process, more than 130 meetings have been held with a variety of groups, organizations and public officials. Since the draft was released in August, the BLM has held an additional 70 meetings with the public, watershed councils and interested parties," said Oregon/Washington State Director Ed Shepard. Throughout the plan revision process, the BLM has met often with other federal agencies, scientists, tribal representatives, the State of Oregon and representatives of western Oregon counties in the preparation of this plan. Recently, two day-long public technical sessions were held in Medford and Eugene to allow interested parties to learn more about the analysis in the EIS from BLM specialists. Comments and suggestions from the public along with ideas from cooperating agencies will be used by the BLM to craft proposed resource management plans that will be analyzed in a final EIS next year. Copies of the document can be reviewed in many libraries and BLM offices in western Oregon. Paper documents and electronic documents on Compact Disk are available from the BLM as well. An easily accessible version of the Draft EIS, interactive maps, and commenting tools are available on the internet. The public can now access a fully interactive commenting tool, the draft EIS, and background information at: blm.gov/or/plans/woprComments must now be received or postmarked before January 11, 2008. Comments can be submitted electronically from the web site or mailed to: Western Oregon Plan Revisions P.O. BOX 2965 Portland, OR 97208
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.