OCR Text |
Show DEIS Ready For Review On Proposed New BLM Grazing Rule The Bureau of Land Management announced on Jan. 2 the availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared in connection connec-tion with a proposed grazing rule that the BLM published last month. The Bureau also announced a series of public meetings that it will hold in the West and in Washington, D.C., on the impact statement The Western meetings are scheduled for late January and early February in Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Boise, and Cheyenne. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which the BLM posted on Jan. 2 on its national web site, analyzes ana-lyzes the potential environmental environmen-tal impacts of the Bureau's proposed pro-posed grazing rule. The rulemaking rule-making proposal, published in the Federal Register on Dec. 8, 2003 is aimed at improving grazing management and helping help-ing public lands ranching continue con-tinue in the rural West. The proposed pro-posed rule recognizes the economic eco-nomic and social benefits of public lands ranching, as well as its preservation of open space in the rapidly growing West. The DEIS is a national-level analysis that documents the ecological, eco-logical, cultural, social, and economic eco-nomic effects of the proposed grazing rule, if implemented in its current form. The DEIS also examines the impact of two other management options a "No Action Alternative" and a "Modified Action Alternative." The "No Action Alternative" analyzes the effects of the BLM continuing to administer public lands grazing under current regulations. reg-ulations. The "Modified Action Alternative" looks at the effects of regulatory changes that would be similar, but not identical, identi-cal, to the proposed rule. Details of the three management alternatives, alter-natives, as described in the DEIS, can be accessed at the BLM's Web site (www.blm.gov), as can the specifics of the proposed grazing graz-ing rule. The notice of availability of the DEIS appears in the Jan. 2 Federal Register, opening up a 60-day public comment period. The comment period will end on Mar. 2, which is also the closing date for public comments on the proposed grazing rule. The schedule for the public meetings on the DEIS is as follows: fol-lows: Jan. 27 in Salt Lake City, Utah, 6 p.m. -10 p.m. (Marriott Hotel, 75 South West Temple) Jan. 28 in Phoenix, Ariz., 6 p.m.-10 p.m. (Wyndam Phoenix Hotel, 50 East Adams Street) Jan. 31 in Boise, Ida., 1 p.m.-5 p.m.-5 p.m. (Doubletree Riverside Hotel, 2900 Chinden Boulevard) Feb. 3 in Cheyenne, Wyo., 6 p.m. -10 p.m. (Little America, 2800 West Lincolnway) Feb. 5 in Washington, D.C., 1 p.m. -5 p.m. (Courtyard by Marriott-Embassy Row, 1600 Rhode Island Avenue) |