Bureau of Land Management seeks public comment on Draft Environmental Assessment for the Piute-Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern Management Plan
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LAS VEGAS – Recognizing the need to balance critical habitat for the threatened desert tortoise with high-quality visitor experience, the Bureau of Land Management Las Vegas Field Office is seeking comment on the Draft Environmental Assessment for the Piute Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern Management Plan. Virtual public meetings will be held April 5 and 6 and the comment period will close April 19, 2022.
“We incorporated public comments received last summer to refine the draft management plan that proposes to improve and enhance critical desert tortoise habitat in Piute-Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern while maintaining access to designated routes,” said Shonna Dooman, Las Vegas Field Office Manager. “We look forward to now receiving public comment on the draft management plan and environmental assessment.”
The following information would be the most useful type of comments:
• Is there additional information, data or analysis which should be considered?
• Is information, data or analysis incorrect or not thoroughly considered?
Virtual public meetings will be held on April 5 and 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. To register for the April 5 public meeting, please visit https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_g_14lloUQg-2anYIhI3kGQ and to register for the April 6 public, please visit https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cRttbr_FR4-OYJOadHxKcg. The meetings will be recorded and posted on BLM Nevada’s YouTube channel. Each public meeting will include brief presentations followed by a question-and-answer portion and finally a comment period.
Activities recommended in the management plan include installing roadside fences to reduce wildlife mortality and to direct wildlife toward culverts for safer travel beneath the roadways, repairing and improving signs that mark official routes designated in 1998, restoring disturbances caused by vehicles driving off designated routes, increasing monitoring and control of invasive plants, improving areas around natural springs that have been damaged by feral cattle and cleaning up trash dumps. The management plan does not recommend changes to the designation of open or closed routes. Additionally, changes to the boundaries, speed limits, mineral extraction and special use permit limitations were not addressed.
Funding for these proposed restoration activities comes from compensatory mitigation fees paid by solar facility developers in the Dry Lake Solar Energy Zone located northeast of Las Vegas. Since 2017, BLM has collected data and developed ideas to improve the condition of multiple resources including vegetation, wildlife, soil and visual quality while maintaining high quality tortoise habitat and recreational experiences for public land users.
Piute-Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern is the most extensive area of high-density desert tortoise habitat known in Nevada and it provides habitat for a host of other species including bighorn sheep and populations of rare plants. Hunting, birdwatching, camping, hiking and Off Highway Vehicle travel are popular recreational uses within the 330,000-acre area.
The draft management plan, draft environmental assessment and other relevant documents are available at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018028/510
Comments will be accepted until April 19, 2022 and can be submitted in the following ways: online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018028/510, email at BLM_LV_PiuteEldoradoACEC@blm.gov or by mail at Piute Eldorado Valley Area of Critical Environmental Concern Management Plan; Attn: Jonathan Smith, BLM Las Vegas Field Office; 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive; Las Vegas, NV 89130.
Before including your address, phone number, email, address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment – including your personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
-BLM-
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.