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Show Also Tropic, Panguitch BLM Sets Aug. 14 Scoping Meet For Escalante On National Monument Plans The Bureau of Land Management Manage-ment (BLM) has announced scoping scop-ing meetings at 15 different locations loca-tions for the Grand Staircase-Escalante Staircase-Escalante National Monument planning effort. People who have an interest in the future of the area are encouraged to attend one of the meetings or send written comments to the Monument Office. Off-ice. "This remote and desolate land is a part of our public land heritage, and we need your help," said Monument Manager Jerry Meredith. "The BLM is proud to be responsible for administering the Monument. We have put together a team to develop a long-term planning document to manage the Monument. The focus of the plan will be on those values identified in the Presidential Proclamation which include: geological resources, resour-ces, paleontological resources, archeological study and protection, protec-tion, biological processes, water resources, historic use, and current cur-rent and future use land uses," said Meredith. In order to create a shared vision for the Monument, the team will use a process that will allow the public to participate in developing alternative concepts i or visions for managing the Monument. A "Visions Kit" will be available to assist people in sharing their vision for the future management of the Monument with the planning team. According to BLM officials, all meetings will start with a general session from 7 until 7:30 p.m. and then "break out" into small groups from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Meredith said, "We will ree-serve ree-serve time at the end of the meeting until 9 p.m. for people to talk to individual members of the planning team. This is a good time for you as a member of the public to be heard." Locally, a meeting is set for Thursday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. in Escalante at the Community Center; on Thursday, Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. in Tropic at the Bryce Valley High School auditorium; and on Friday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. in Panguitch Pan-guitch at Panguitch High School. Other southern Utah meetings are set for Big Water, Orderville, Kanab, Cedar City and Moab. A meeting is set for Salt Lake City on Sept. 2. Out-of-Utah meetings are set for September and October in Las Vegas, Nev.; Flagstaff, Ariz.; Lakewood, Colo.; Santa Fe, N.M.; San Francisco, Calif; and a final meeting on Oct. 16 in Washington D.C. |
