BLM invites public to participate in virtual meeting on draft plan to conserve, restore Great Basin sagebrush communities
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BOISE, Idaho – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) invites the public to participate in a virtual meeting about the recently published Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PEIS) for Fuels Reduction and Rangeland Restoration in the Great Basin. The virtual meeting will provide the public with the opportunity to learn more about the Draft PEIS, discuss it with specialists, ask questions and submit comments on the document.
The Draft PEIS, which was released for a 60-day public comment period on April 3, is intended to further efforts to conserve and restore sagebrush communities within a 223 million-acre area that includes portions of Idaho, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Utah. This plan works in tandem with BLM efforts to construct up to 11,000 miles of fuel breaks in the Great Basin, finalized by the publication of a Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision on Thursday, April 2.
The virtual public meeting is a suite of information and involvement options hosted on a website. Members of the public may log on to the site, watch a message explaining the project, view photos and maps, and click on any or all of eight information stations addressing aspects of the Draft PEIS. Links will take users to specific sections of the document. The site also offers participants links to two separate email inboxes, one for questions and one for comments. BLM staff members check these inboxes daily and respond to questions as quickly as possible.
The virtual public meeting will be available from April 17 to June 2. The BLM will use substantive comments on the Draft PEIS as it works to produce a Final PEIS by fall 2020.
To access the virtual public meeting, use this link:
https://www.virtualpublicmeeting.com/frrr-peis
The Preferred Alternative outlined in the Draft PEIS analyzes a full suite of manual, chemical and mechanical tools, including prescribed fire, seeding and targeted grazing to reduce fuels and conserve and restore sagebrush communities. When finalized, the PEIS will not authorize any specific fuels reduction or rangeland restoration projects. Local offices can use this information to comply with National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements when planning and analyzing specific projects, allowing for more rapid implementation.
The entire Draft PEIS is available for review on the BLM Land Use Planning and NEPA register at https://go.usa.gov/xdfgV
For more information, email Ammon Wilhelm, Programmatic EIS team leader, at awilhelm@blm.gov.
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.