BLM proposes Sonoran Desert National Monument target shooting amendment
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PHOENIX – The Bureau of Land Management is taking input on a proposed amendment to its resource management plan to protect human health, safety, and important resources by refining areas open to recreational target shooting in the Sonoran Desert National Monument in Maricopa and Pinal counties.
BLM works to find a safe balance between various recreational uses of public lands while protecting objects of historic or scientific interest in the national monument. The proposed resource management plan amendment would make recreational target shooting available on 5,295 acres of the monument and unavailable on the remaining 480,496 acres.
A notice announcing the beginning of the 60-day public comment period on the proposed recreational target shooting closure will publish in the Federal Register on Monday. The proposed resource management plan amendment also includes a 30-day protest period that will begin Monday. Information on filing a plan protest is available online.
The Sonoran Desert National Monument was established in 2001 and contains 485,791 acres of BLM-managed public lands in Maricopa and Pinal counties.
BLM completed a resource management plan for the monument in 2012. A March 2015 court order required BLM to reanalyze the impacts of recreational target shooting in the monument. In 2018, BLM amended the resource management plan to allow dispersed recreational shooting in certain areas of the monument; that plan is available for review at the National NEPA Register. That decision was challenged in 2019. The proposed resource management plan amendment and related environmental assessment would fulfill the requirements of an April 2022 court settlement.
Documents, maps, and information on the planning process will be available on BLM’s National NEPA Register on Monday. Interested parties may submit comments on proposed recreational shooting closures via email to BLM_AZ_SDNMtargetshooting@blm.gov or via mail to BLM Sonoran Desert National Monument, Attn.: RMPA EA, 2020 E. Bell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85022. Comments must be received by March 22.
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.