We need your input!
Participate in 3 easy steps
Whether commenting or protesting, your participation in our environmental reviews are a critical piece of the process. These plans could affect your life regardless of where you live in Alaska, whether the impact be to your wallet, culture, health and wellbeing, lifestyle, or beliefs. Learn how you can make a difference in 3 EASY STEPS:
- 1. Learn
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Stop, and learn what a "substantive" comment is, and familiarize yourself with our online participation form.
The BLM reviews all comments and is required to respond to "substantive" comments. Your substantive comment could result in changes to our final environmental review.
How to make a Substantive Comment and examples
Larger projects may use our online participation tool through the NEPA Register.
- 2. Read
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Take the time to read the document.
Our environmental reviews are very structured documents and follow this format:
Executive Summary: Summarizes the proposed plan, analysis and alternatives.
Table of Contents: Lists specific sections the reader can open in the document.
Chapter 1: Purpose and Need. This specifies what action is proposed, who proposed it and why it was proposed, as well as when, where, and how they want to do it.
Chapter 2: Alternatives. In a draft, there are usually multiple alternatives discussed; one of which is a “no action” alternative required by law to provide a baseline for comparative study and to demonstrate the consequences of doing nothing different. Each alternative is explained and compared to one another.
Chapter 3: Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences. This is where all the science and potential affects on environmental and other issues are discussed for each alternative introduced in Chapter 2. This includes how alternatives might influence wildlife, culture, the economy, and more.
Appendices: There are always maps of each alternative and all resource areas, as well as a project-specific analysis for proposed infrastructure (like buildings, roads and power stations). The other appendices refer to scientific data or reports, including our required Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act analysis of subsistence and land use considerations.
Easily find and review our plans using the NEPA Register.
- 3. Participate
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Go participate.
Submit your public comment or protest online using our participation tool on the NEPA Register. You’re also welcome to submit your comment or protest in person at a BLM office, verbally (when offered) or in writing at public meetings, and via mail. To make an online comment, find the addresses you may need, or locate public meeting schedules, see the "How to get Involved" tab on individual project planning pages listed on the left side of this page.
Alaska Planning and NEPA explained
The BLM is a multiple-use agency. It is legally obligated by environmental laws to analyze all land use applications it receives and is required to do so (in most cases) through scientifically based environmental studies and traditional knowledge. These laws also ensure that BLM plans benefit from the knowledge the public has to offer.
The land-use plans BLM develops with the public’s help are called Resource Management Plans (RMPs). These plans have three main uses and form the basis for every on-the-ground action the BLM takes to meet the multiple-use and long-term needs of your public lands. Plans are created for areas of public lands that tend to have similar resource characteristics, and they typically contain areas specially designated to focus on public recreation or to conserve a valuable resource.
Planning emphasizes a collaborative environment. The BLM works with local, state, and tribal governments, the public, user groups, and industry to identify appropriate multiple uses of the public lands in project areas. Plans are periodically revised as changing conditions and resource demands require.
- Featured Plans and NEPA in development
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Read about featured plans and NEPA documents currently being developed, revised or amended, and get involved in the planning process.
- Plans in Effect
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The Bureau of Land Management uses the following plans to guide management of public lands across Alaska:
- Alaska LNG EIS
- Alpine Satellite Development Plan
- Alaska Standalone Pipeline Project Supplemental EIS
- Bay RMP
- Bering Sea-Western Interior RMP
- Campbell Tract Recreation Area Management Plan
- Central Yukon RMP (1986)
- Donlin Gold Project EIS
- East Alaska RMP
- East Alaska RMP Amendment
- Eastern Interior RMP/EIS
- Fort Greely RMP
- Fort Wainwright RMP
- Greater Mooses Tooth 1 Supplemental EIS
- Greater Mooses Tooth 2 Supplemental EIS
- Haines Amendment to the Ring of Fire RMP
- Kobuk Seward Peninsula RMP
- National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska IAP/EIS
- Native Vietnam-Era Veterans Land Allotment Program Environmental Assessment
- Ring of Fire RMP
- Utility Corridor
- White Mountains and Steese Transportation and Travel Management Plans
- Willow Master Development Plan Supplemental EIS
- Frequently Requested NEPA documents
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The following NEPA documents in Alaska are frequently requested and available in the BLM NEPA Register:
Arctic District Office:
- Coastal Plain Oil and Gas Leasing EIS
- Greater Mooses Tooth 1 Supplemental EIS
- Greater Mooses Tooth 2 Supplemental EIS
- National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska IAP/EIS
- Willow Master Development Plan Supplemental EIS
Anchorage District Office:
Fairbanks District Office: