RAWLINS, Wyo. -Today, the BLM released a proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Assessment that identifies how visual resources should be managed on public lands in southcentral Wyoming. The proposed RMP Amendment and EA support the administration’s goal to manage public lands for the benefit of current and future generations, supporting conservation as we pursue our multiple-use mission. This also begins a 30-day public protest period that will close on Jan. 10, 2018.
In 2011, the Rawlins Field Office completed a Visual Resource Inventory to establish scenic quality, sensitivity levels and distance zone baselines. The BLM then used the VRI to develop a range of alternatives in its environmental analysis for the proposed RMP amendments, which will help determine how certain areas should be managed when it comes to visual resource impacts.
The environmental analysis also reviewed five nominated Areas of Critical Environmental Concern for relevance, importance and whether or not they meet the appropriate criteria. Of the five nominated, only a portion of the Proposed Ferris Dunes ACEC met the required ACEC criteria. This portion of the Ferris Dunes ACEC is being analyzed as part of the existing Blowout Penstemon ACEC proposed expansion.
Protests must be submitted in writing by Jan. 10, 2018 to:
Regular Mail:
Director (210)
Attention: Protest Coordinator WO-210 P.O. Box 71383 Washington D.C. 20021-1383
Overnight Mail:
Director (210)
Attention: Protest Coordinator WO-210
20 M Street SE, Room 2134LM Washington, D.C. 2003
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, be advised that your entire comment - including your personal identifying information - may be made publicly available at any time. While you may ask us in your comment to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
Further information is available at https://go.usa.gov/xn9pD or contact Jennifer Fleuret at (307) 775-6329 or jfleuret@blm.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
