BLM Opens Protest Period on Proposed Amendment to Headwaters Management Plan
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ARCATA, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has opened a 30-day protest period on a proposed resource management plan amendment and environmental analysis for the Headwaters Forest Reserve near Eureka.
The BLM manages the reserve in partnership with the California Department of Wildlife for the use and benefit of current and future generations, supporting conservation as part of its multiple-use mission. The BLM and CDFW have been managing the reserve under a management plan completed in 2004.
Those who participated in the planning process for the plan amendment can submit written protests to the addresses provided in the announcement found at the BLM’s ePlanning website at http://bit.ly/2rSzCda.
The BLM must receive protests by Monday, July 24, 2107.
Under the plan amendment, the BLM could thin trees up to 24 inches in diameter, use prescribed fire, and remove thinned material to reduce the accumulation of hazardous fuels. The proposed changes to the Headwaters Forest Reserve restoration and fire management programs build on recent research done in Headwaters and elsewhere within the redwood region. The agencies proposed the changes to accelerate development of old-growth forest characteristics in areas that were logged prior to the establishment of the reserve in 1999.
The Headwaters Forest Reserve contains 7,472 acres of public land six miles southeast of Eureka. It is set aside to protect and preserve ecological and wildlife values, particularly the stands of old-growth redwood that provide habitat for the threatened northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet (a seabird), and stream systems that provide habitat for threatened Coho salmon and steelhead.
More information is available at https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/eplanning/planAndProjectSite.do?methodName=renderDefaultPlanOrProjectSite&projectId=71600, or by telephoning David Fuller at the BLM's Arcata Field Office, (707) 825-2315, or emailing dfuller@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.