Survey and Manage Supplement Under the Northwest Forest Plan
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office and the U.S. Forest Service Region 6 have released a Final Supplement to the 2004 Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) To Remove or Modify the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines. The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan included Survey and Manage mitigation measures that provided protection for approximately 400 rare or little-known species of plants and animals associated with late-successional, old-growth forests. The Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service have released this Final Supplement to respond to an August 2005 decision by the District Court of the Western District of Washington identifying three National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) deficiencies in the 2004 FSEIS analysis. The agencies propose to reinstate the 2004 Decision to remove the Survey and Manage Mitigation Measure Standards and Guidelines from the Northwest Forest Plan. This analysis also addresses potential implications of a November 6, 2006 decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. That decision, specific to the Bureau of Land Management, 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 Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service issued this Final Supplement to include analysis for approximately 300 species. After the November 2006 decision, 42 species previously removed in all of their range and 16 species removed in part of their range, as a result of the 2001-2003 Annual Species Reviews, were added to the analysis in the Final 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 Final Supplement combines the 2004 FSEIS, 2006 Draft Supplement, and the 2007 Supplement to the 2006 Draft Supplement. It updates the 2004 analysis to respond to both court decisions by adding the information in the above two drafts, improved in response to the public comments received during both 90-day public comment periods. Copies of the documents in printed version or on CD can be obtained through Carol Hughes at USDA Forest Service, P.O. Box 3623, Portland, OR 97208- 3623. Requests for the documents can also be emailed to ORSMSEIS@blm.gov All of the documents are also available online at reo.gov/s-m2006 This Final Supplement will be posted to this website on June 8, 2007.
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.