< All Press Releases

VALE, Ore. and BOISE, Idaho – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) invites the public to provide comments on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) for the Tri-state Fuel Breaks Project. This project is designed to reduce flammable vegetation along roadways in parts of Idaho and Oregon to provide both firefighter safety and opportunities for firefighters to more effectively limit the spread of large wildfires. 

The project area consists of about 3.6 million acres of land within Malheur County, Oregon, and Owyhee County, Idaho. Wildfires are the greatest threat to this region’s sagebrush-steppe ecosystem, one of the largest remaining strongholds of greater sage-grouse habitat in the Northern Great Basin. 

This landscape-level project will support not only wildlife dependent on sagebrush, but also traditional land uses (particularly ranching and recreation) that rely upon the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. Tri-state’s strategic system of fuel breaks will integrate with existing fuel breaks in northeastern Nevada to improve firefighting efficiency across the project area. 

“As stewards of one-fifth of the country’s public lands, primarily in the West, we know that our ability to be prepared for wildfires and reduce their severity is paramount to protecting communities and saving lives,” said BLM Deputy Director for Policy and Programs William Perry Pendley. “This project will provide vital protections for communities in the area, while also improving the health and productivity of the land to benefit both people and wildlife.”

The proposed fuel breaks are part of a larger national wildfire reduction strategy guided by the president’s Executive Order (E.O.) 13855 – Promoting Active Management of America’s Forests, Rangelands, and Other Federal Lands to Improve Conditions and Reduce Wildfire Risk, as well as Secretarial Order (S.O.) 3372 – Reducing Wildfire Risks on Department of the Interior Land through Active Management. The two orders direct the BLM and other Interior and Department of Agriculture agencies to implement policies to improve forest and rangeland management practices by reducing hazardous fuel loads, mitigating fire risk and ensuring the safety and stability of local communities through active management on forests and rangelands.

“Fuel breaks have proven to be very effective in slowing rangeland wildfires, making them easier and safer for wildland firefighters to control,” said John F. Ruhs, State Director for BLM Idaho. “We believe that creating a system of fuel breaks will help us enhance and improve our working landscapes.” 

“The Tri-state Fuel Breaks Project will provide our wildland firefighters with additional tools to successfully contain wildfires,” said Boise District Manager Lara Douglas. “Working with our neighbors and partners as part of shared conservation stewardship will also improve safety for these first responders.”

“Our local county fire departments, Rangeland Fire Protective Associations, and ranchers will directly benefit from this project,” said Jerry Hoagland, Owyhee County Commissioner.

The Draft EIS outlines four alternatives, including a No Action Alternative (no fuel breaks).  Under the three action alternatives, fuel breaks would only be implemented alongside existing roads and would extend up to, but no farther than, 200 feet on both sides of roadways on BLM or state lands. 

BLM fire suppression experts identified roads being considered for fuel break networks for their strategic importance to wildland fire engines and other suppression equipment and tactics. 

The concept behind fuel breaks is to break up continuous fuels by reducing vegetation in key locations. When a wildfire burns into a fuel break, flame lengths decrease and the fire’s progress slows, making it safer and easier for firefighters to control.  Since 2002, the BLM has conducted monitoring reports on more than 1,200 fuel breaks and other treatments that intersected with wildfires. These reports have found that 78% of treatments helped control wildfire and 84% of treatments helped change fire behavior.

The 45-day public comment period will begin October 11, 2019, with the EPA’s publication of a Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. Copies of the Draft EIS are available for review at the following BLM offices: BLM Boise District Office, 3948 S Development Ave, Boise, ID 83705, and BLM Vale District Office, 100 Oregon St, Vale, OR 97918. The Draft EIS and supporting information are also available online at https://go.usa.gov/xPruu (case sensitive).

The BLM will host a series of public meetings in Boise and Murphy, Idaho, and Jordan Valley, Oregon, to provide information and answer questions. These meetings will be announced at least 15 days in advance through public notices, media releases and/or mailings. 

The BLM will accept comments through November 25, 2019. Comments will be used to prepare a Final EIS and Record of Decision for the project and can be emailed to blm_id_tristate@blm.gov, faxed to 208-384-3489, or sent via mail to 3948 South Development Ave., Boise, ID 83705, Attn: Tri-state Team Lead. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personally identifiable information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment—including your personally identifiable information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask the BLM in your comment to withhold your personally identifiable information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.