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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has identified the preliminary preferred alternatives for the proposed Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line (B2H Project). The preferred routes, along with the map being released today, are the ones that BLM will contemplate in the development of the draft Environmental Impact Statement that will be released later in 2013. The BLM, acting as lead Federal agency, is continuing to prepare a draft Environmental Impact Statement for the B2H Project under the National Environmental Policy Act. The draft Environmental Impact Statement will identify and document the potential effects of the project as well as a range of reasonable alternatives that may help avoid, minimize or mitigate for these impacts. The BLM and the U.S. Forest Service interdisciplinary team and consultants, including managers and resource specialists, completed a robust and collaborative process to identify preferred alternatives for the B2H project. Each alternative has been evaluated using the following criteria: cultural resources, fisheries, land use, special designations, use of existing utility corridors, vegetation, visual resources, and wildlife. The B2H Project is a new electric transmission line from a proposed substation near Boardman, Oregon, to the existing Hemingway substation near Melba, Idaho. The proposed route crosses Federal lands administered by the BLM and the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon and Idaho. In addition to the Federal review process, Idaho Power Company is engaged in the Oregon State review process. They are working to obtain a Site Certificate from the Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council led by the Oregon Department of Energy. The B2H preferred routes and related map are available online at: www.boardmantohemingway.com