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We need your input!

Participate in 3 easy steps

Whether commenting or protesting, your participation in our environmental reviews are a critical piece of the process. These plans could affect your life regardless of where you live in Alaska, whether the impact be to your wallet, culture, health and wellbeing, lifestyle, or beliefs. Learn how you can make a difference in 3 EASY STEPS:

1 Stop and LEARN how to participate. 2 Take your time and READ the project documents. 3 PARTICIPATE.

1. Learn

 step 1

Stop, and learn what a "substantive" comment is, and familiarize yourself with our online participation form.

The BLM reviews all comments and is required to respond to "substantive" comments. Your substantive comment could result in changes to our final environmental review.

How to make a Substantive Comment and examples

Larger projects may use our online participation tool through the NEPA Register.

2. Read

 step 2Take the time to read the document.

Our environmental reviews are very structured documents and follow this format:

Executive Summary: Summarizes the proposed plan, analysis and alternatives. 

Table of Contents: Lists specific sections the reader can open in the document.

Chapter 1: Purpose and Need. This specifies what action is proposed, who proposed it and why it was proposed, as well as when, where, and how they want to do it.  

Chapter 2: Alternatives. In a draft, there are usually multiple alternatives discussed; one of which is a “no action” alternative required by law to provide a baseline for comparative study and to demonstrate the consequences of doing nothing different. Each alternative is explained and compared to one another.

Chapter 3: Affected Environment and Environmental Consequences. This is where all the science and potential affects on environmental and other issues are discussed for each alternative introduced in Chapter 2. This includes how alternatives might influence wildlife, culture, the economy, and more.

Appendices: There are always maps of each alternative and all resource areas, as well as a project-specific analysis for proposed infrastructure (like buildings, roads and power stations). The other appendices refer to scientific data or reports, including our required Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act analysis of subsistence and land use considerations.

Easily find and review our plans using the NEPA Register.

3. Participate

 step 3Go participate.

Submit your public comment or protest online using our participation tool on the NEPA Register. You’re also welcome to submit your comment or protest in person at a BLM office, verbally (when offered) or in writing at public meetings, and via mail. To make an online comment, find the addresses you may need, or locate public meeting schedules, see the "How to get Involved" tab on individual project planning pages listed on the left side of this page.

Alaska Planning and NEPA explained

The BLM is a multiple-use agency.  It is legally obligated by environmental laws to analyze all land use applications it receives and is required to do so (in most cases) through scientifically based environmental studies and traditional knowledge. These laws also ensure that BLM plans benefit from the knowledge the public has to offer.

The land-use plans BLM develops with the public’s help are called Resource Management Plans (RMPs). These plans have three main uses and form the basis for every on-the-ground action the BLM takes to meet the multiple-use and long-term needs of your public lands. Plans are created for areas of public lands that tend to have similar resource characteristics, and they typically contain areas specially designated to focus on public recreation or to conserve a valuable resource. 

Planning emphasizes a collaborative environment. The BLM works with local, state, and tribal governments, the public, user groups, and industry to identify appropriate multiple uses of the public lands in project areas. Plans are periodically revised as changing conditions and resource demands require. 

Featured Plans and NEPA in development

Read about featured plans and NEPA documents currently being developed, revised or amended, and get involved in the planning process.

Plans in Effect

The Bureau of Land Management uses the following plans to guide management of public lands across Alaska:

Frequently Requested NEPA documents

The following NEPA documents in Alaska are frequently requested and available in the BLM NEPA Register:

Arctic District Office:

Anchorage District Office:

Fairbanks District Office:

What's a Substantive Comment?

Comic strip Illustration: Make your comment count! Submitting substantive comments. Scene of two hikers hiking in a forested area with mountains in the distance approaching a river. They are on the main trail while there are several other trails stemming off leading into the forest and to and from the river. Both hikers are thinking of comments about the state of the trails in the area. Each hiker gives an example of a nonhelpful or helpful comment.
Click image for larger view.

 

 

Comments are key to informing our analysis. While all comments are welcome, only "substantive" comments can help present new or different ideas to the BLM, have potential to impact the final document, and will get a response. A substantive comment identifies an issue, says why it’s a problem, and offers other factual and unbiased information for us to consider.

Multi-Use Planning

Public lands can have multiple resources in areas that can overlap allowing for a multiple activities to occur in that given area. For example recreation, mining, and subsistence with a right-of-way can all happen in the same area of public land.

map of fictious land with different resources and their areas overlapping with possible permits and application possibilities