BLM, USDA Forest Service to host workshop in Reno May 8-9 on management and conservation of pinyon and juniper woodlands

WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service today announced a public workshop to be held May 8-9, 2024, in Reno, Nevada, to present information and gather feedback from the public and stakeholders on the management of pinyon and juniper woodlands on public lands across the West. 

BLM and Forest Service are seeking information on the array of existing ecosystem science and knowledge, management trends, social and cultural values, existing and potential threats, and climate resilience of pinyon and juniper woodlands, particularly in mature and old-growth forests. This effort is part of the agencies’ efforts to implement President Biden’s Executive Order 14072, Strengthening the Nation's Forests, Communities, and Local Economies, signed April 22, 2022. The Executive Order sets forth the Biden-Harris administration’s policy to conserve America’s mature and old-growth forests on federal lands and directs the BLM and Forest Service to define and inventory those forests, analyze threats to them, and develop policies to institutionalize climate-smart management and conservation strategies with robust opportunity for public comment. 

The BLM and Forest Service completed the initial inventory of mature and old-growth forests in April 2023. The initial inventory identified 24 million acres of mature and old-growth pinyon and juniper woodlands on federal lands, making the pinyon-juniper group the most abundant old-growth forest type on public lands managed by the agencies. 

The BLM manages pinyon and juniper woodlands for forest health, wildlife habitat, recreation, grazing, and other multiple uses. Outdoor recreation activities such as hunting, mountain biking, and camping are popular in pinyon and juniper woodlands. Other common uses in pinyon and juniper woodlands include firewood collection, pinyon nut harvesting, and Christmas tree harvesting. The BLM actively manages pinyon and juniper to improve rangeland conditions and habitat for sagebrush dependent species such as the greater sage-grouse. 

The public workshop will be held May 8-9, 2024, at the Nugget Casino Resort, 1100 Nugget Avenue, Sparks, NV, 89431. The workshop will include scientific and informational presentations, while providing opportunities for public engagement and discussion.

BLM will accept comments during a public comment period from March 28, 2024, through May 20, 2024. Please see the project website for specific information BLM is requesting through this comment period. Comments may be emailed to blm_wo_forestry@blm.gov or delivered to: 

Debra Paul 
Bureau of Land Management 
Coeur d’Alene District Office 
3232 W. Nursery Road 
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83815