Washington
* July 10: Spokane (location TBD, contact Spokane District Office at 509-536-1200)
An electronic copy of the Draft Programmatic EIS and associated documents is available on the BLM Land Use Planning and NEPA register. For comments to be considered, they must be received by the BLM no later than midnight MST on August 5, 2019.
Prior to including your phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your written 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 request we withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Background on DOI’s Wildland Fire Prevention Efforts
In 2018, the Department of the Interior worked closely with partners on 2,500 treatment projects to remove excess burnable vegetation on more than 1.2 million acres of DOI- and tribally-managed lands. Another 170,000 acres were managed for resource purposes. These efforts helped to reduce wildfire risk in some of the most fire-prone areas of the country.
The DOI continues to be the leader in the research, development, and practical deployment of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), or drones, on wildland fire management operations. With the largest drone program outside of the Department of Defense, the DOI uses drones to detect hotspots around fires, improve mapping, and monitor fire operations for improved safety. In 2018, the DOI conducted 1,552 drone missions on 200 individual wildfires, doubling last year’s total.
In 2019, the DOI plans to deploy nearly 4,500 firefighting personnel, 500 tribal firefighters, 151 smokejumpers, 18 interagency hotshot crews and 4 Tribal hotshot crews. Firefighters will have over 600 pieces of specialized equipment available for use, including engines, water tenders, bulldozers, and other equipment. Aviation assets play a critical role in efforts to manage wildfires, and the DOI will have access to 23 single engine air tankers, 6 water scoopers, 41 Type 1, 2 and 3 helicopters, and a number of other aviation resources.
Source: Department of Interior
