The Bureau of Land Management Arizona Strip District Office is announcing the termination of an Environmental Impact Statement for the Uinkaret Mountains Landscape Restoration Project. The initial project proposal included a variety of potential manual, mechanical, and chemical vegetative treatments, wildfire management for resource benefit, prescribed fire, and seeding.
The Uinkaret Mountains Landscape Restoration Project area is approximately 128,535 acres, located on lands managed by the Arizona Strip Field Office and Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument within the Arizona Strip District. The BLM’s initial assessment of the complexity of the project indicated that preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement was warranted. A Notice of Intent for the Environmental Impact Statement was published in the Federal Register in 2014 and announced a public scoping period, which ran Oct. 21–Dec. 18, 2014.
After careful consideration of the public scoping comments received and field verification of existing resource conditions by the BLM, it has been determined that the project lacks the complexity that would require analysis through an Environmental Impact Statement. Instead, the BLM has determined that it is appropriate to terminate the Uinkaret Mountains Landscape Restoration Project Environmental Impact Statement and prepare an Environmental Assessment, a more concise process that provides the BLM the opportunity to determine whether the Uinkaret Mountains Landscape Restoration Project will have significant effects on the environment.
The public will have the opportunity to review and comment on the Environmental Assessment when it is prepared. The BLM anticipates that a draft assessment will be available in late August 2016. All input received during the 2014 scoping period will be incorporated into the production of the Environmental Assessment.
For more information, contact Richard Spotts at (435) 688-3207 or rspotts@blm.gov.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM’s mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In fiscal year 2014, the BLM generated $5.2 billion in receipts from public lands.
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