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BLM plan will impact public land in basin
By Carole Cloudwalker
This document was published online on Thursday, November 06, 2008
Two BLM field offices are combining forces to write one master plan that could guide management decisions in the Big Horn Basin for 20 years.
The Cody and Worland offices hope to complete the plan by summer 2010. The process began this fall.
A public scoping meeting to discuss the combined plan will take place 3-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, in the Community Room of Big Horn Federal Savings in Cody.
From 3-8 p.m. Nov. 13 there will be a second local scoping meeting at the America's Best Value Inn conference room, 777 East 2nd St. in Powell.
The meetings are among six planned around the Big Horn Basin through Nov. 14.
The BLM on Oct. 17 issued a Notice of Intent for the Big Horn Basin Resource Management Plan Revision Project and associated Environmental Impact Statement.
Public lands within the field offices are currently managed according to three management plans, BLM spokesman Sarah Beckwith of Worland said.
They include the Washakie RMP written in 1988 and Grass Creek RMP (1998) for the Worland Field Office and the Cody RMP (1990).
Now the field offices will produce a single EIS/RMP encompassing both field offices. It will comprise the Big Horn Basin RMP Project, Beckwith said.
Each field office will issue its own Record of Decision for its jurisdictional area.
The single document to be created is a land use plan that provides a framework for managing BLM lands during the next 15-20 years.
Once the scoping period is completed Nov. 17 and comments have been considered by the BLM, issues will be identified and the agency will work with its cooperators - including county commissioners, the state, and conservation districts - to formulate alternatives, said Caleb Hiner of Worland, an environmental protection specialist who is serving as project leader for the RMP.
“Most of 2009 will be devoted to developing alternatives,” Hiner said. “It's a lengthy process.”
A draft RMP and EIS will be issued by about spring 2010, with a 90-day comment period and more public meetings to follow.
Hiner said the agency might “tweak” the plan following the comment period.
It also is possible the plan could be protested, which could trigger protest resolution with the Washington office of the BLM.
“There have been challenges in the past,” both by industry and environmental groups, he added.
He said currently the Kemmerer, Pinedale and Rawlins RMPs are undergoing protest resolution.
Revising the RMP is necessary because the Federal Land Policy and Management Act directs the BLM to revise plans periodically and to manage for multiple use and sustained yield.
The revised plan will establish goals and objectives that describe the desired future condition for resources and resource uses in the Big Horn Basin planning area.
The goals of the plan will be broad, not specific, for example, achieving “clean air” and “clean water,” Hiner said.
The plan also will identify management actions anticipated to achieve stated goals and objectives.
The new plan will provide a framework for subsequent implementation level decisions for the next 15-20 years.
“That means regulations that comply with the goals, for example if a goal is managing salt cedar, tamarisk and Russian olive, a management action might be prohibiting herbicide use within 500 feet of a riparian area,” he said.
The plan also will identify lands that are open, closed and restricted for resource use.
“We will find out what the public wants - more flexibility or more restriction,” Hiner said.
Issues already identified include visual resource management, such as protecting views of the McCullough Peaks or other highly visible areas.
Additional issues include energy/minerals development (such as bentonite mining or oil and gas exploration) and trail and travel management, which includes building - or not building - roads or placing restrictions on vehicular use.
Public involvement is a required part of the RMP revision process, Hiner added.
As part of the RMP revision, the BLM will host six public scoping meetings to collect information on the public's desired outcomes for the Big Horn Basin planning area.
The public is encouraged to attend and provide community input.
Meetings will be in Cody, Powell, Lovell, Thermopolis, Worland and Greybull.
For more information on the Big Horn Basin RMP or the revision process, contact Hiner, (307) 347-5171 or e-mail caleb_hiner@blm.gov.
(Carole Cloudwalker can be reached at carole@codyenterprise.com.)
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