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SILT, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management will hold public meetings next week to accept written comments and share information about its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Roan Plateau Resource Management Plan Amendment.
 
The public can stop by the open house meetings any time between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the following dates and locations:

• Jan. 12, BLM Colorado River Valley Field Office, 2300 River Frontage Road, Silt
• Jan. 13, Grand Valley Recreation Center, 398 Arroyo Drive, Battlement Mesa
• Jan. 14, Rifle Branch Library, 207 East Avenue, Rifle 

The BLM will provide brief presentations at 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. each evening.
 
The Jan. 14 meeting in Rifle will focus on the recreation issues at Hubbard Mesa, including recreational target shooting.
 
The BLM announced the availability of the Draft SEIS and a 90-day public comment period Nov. 17. The Draft addresses concerns raised in a 2012 judicial decision with respect to the Roan Plateau and is consistent with last year’s landmark settlement agreement for the Roan Plateau. The BLM’s preferred alternative generally reflects the substantive elements of that settlement.
 
“The preferred alternative continues the path forward for the Roan Plateau created by a broad coalition of local, state, industry and conservation leaders,” said Colorado River Valley Field Manager Karl Mendonca. “The preferred alternative protects the valuable fish and wildlife resources atop the Roan Plateau, while clearing the way for orderly oil and gas development to take place elsewhere in the planning area.”
 
Under the preferred alternative, the area atop the plateau where 17 oil and gas leases were canceled as part of the settlement would be closed to leasing. Two leases on top and 12 below the rim were retained under the settlement and are in areas that would remain open to leasing under the preferred alternative. 
 
The SEIS also meets the direction of the 2012 District Court ruling by including additional air quality analyses and an analysis of an alternative requiring the natural gas under the top of the Plateau be accessed from private land or areas below the plateau through directional drilling, also called the “Community Alternative.”
 
The community alternative also considers an option for managing conflicts between recreational target shooting and other recreational activities below the rim in the Hubbard Mesa area.
 
“Because Hubbard Mesa is within the Roan Plateau Planning Area, we have a chance to address user conflicts in the area through the SEIS,” Mendonca said. “We don’t currently include any changes to recreation within Hubbard Mesa in our preferred alternative, but we could include changes later depending on public and cooperator comments.”
 
The Draft SEIS is available on-line at www.blm.gov/co/crvfo. Public comments need to be received by Feb. 18, 2016 and may be sent to:
 
E-mail: roanplateau@blm.gov
Fax: 970-876-9090
Mail: Bureau of Land Management, Colorado River Valley Field Office, Roan Plateau Comments, 2300 River Frontage Road, Silt, CO 81652
 
The Roan Plateau is considered one of Colorado’s most ecologically diverse landscapes. It is a popular destination for hunting, fishing, and backcountry recreation. The dramatic topography of the plateau hosts an array of game and sensitive species.  The landscape is known for its spectacular cliffs, waterfalls, and box canyons.
 
Originally set aside as Naval Oil Shale Reserves #1 and #3 in the 1910s, the Roan Plateau was transferred to the BLM in 1997 from the Department of Energy with directions to lease the area for oil and gas development as soon as practicable, while protecting the plateau’s wildlife, water and other natural resources. The transferred lands totaled 56,238 acres and the legislation required that the 12,029 acre-area below the rim, which already contained wells, be leased within a year. 
 
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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.