Sunday, August 18, 2013

PHAS Meeting on BLM RMP, August 22, Rapid City


BLM  RMP

PHAS Monthly Meeting
Thursday, August 22nd, 2013 eve, 6:15 pm
Topic: SD BLM's Draft Resource Management Plan Revision,
Rapid City School Administration Building
300 6th Street, Rapid City
Community room, (use SE entrance)


           Thursday August 22nd, Prairie Hills Audubon Society’s (PHAS’s) meeting on SD Bureau of Land Management's Draft Management, Plan Revision, will be held at the Rapid City School Administration Building,  Community room, (use SE entrance)
 Meet and greet with snacks - 6:15 pm and 6:30 pm presentation starts -- Speakers are Mitch Iverson (Planner/Environmental Coordinator) and Rebecca Smith (Wildlife Biologist), both  are staff of BLM.
            Learn about Bureau of Land Management’s revision of their Resource Management Plan. BLM in SD manages 274,239 acres of surface and 1.7 million acres of mineral estate. Counties of concern for BLM surface lands are Harding, Butte, Perkins, Meade, Lawrence, Pennington, Stanley, Fall River and Custer Counties.  This planning effort will make decisions about management of wildlife species (including sage grouse), wild lands, Native American cultural resources (BLM owns land near Bear Butte),  recreation, wind power, oil and gas development, livestock grazing and other resources.
            The draft document can be viewed on the internet at:
http://blm.gov/m1kd
- it describes different alternatives for managing public lands by the South Dakota Field Office. Alternative C is the most protective of biodiversity values.  BLM and Forest Service entities across the west are doing planning to figure out ways to protect the greater sage grouse; all agencies hoping to prevent it’s listing as threatened or endangered (it is currently a candidate species).
            This RMP joins other BLM RMPs that have been released this year: all addressing sage grouse & other issues. Another RMP (Buffalo Field Office) is currently up for review:
 http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/news_room/2013/august/09bfo-rmp.html
http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Planning/rmps/buffalo.html
The public comment period for SD BLM RMP ends Sept 11th and for Buffalo Wyoming BLM RMP on Sept 26th.
            The public may submit written comments related to the South Dakota DRMP/EIS by any of the following methods:
 Email: <mailto:  BLM_MT_South_Dakota_RMP@blm.gov
 Fax: (605) 892-7015,  Mail or hand-delivery: "South Dakota RMP Comments," 315 Roundup Street, Belle Fourche, SD 57717
            For more information on SD BLM, contact Planning Specialist Mitch Iverson at (605) 892-7000.  For the latest BLM news and updates, visit BLM on the web at: http://www.blm.gov/mt  and on Facebook at: <http://www.facebook.com/BLMMontana>
http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/south_dakota_field/rmp.html