The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released its proposed Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan for public lands managed by the Arcata and Redding field offices.
The plan will guide the management of more than 382,000 acres of public land and 295,000 acres of subsurface minerals for the next 15-20 years. The areas included in the plan encompass Butte, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties.
“Together, we have developed a plan that reflects stakeholder values, allowing for informed decisions and conservation reflective of the BLM’s multiple-use mission,” said BLM California Acting State Director Gordon Toevs in a news release.
The management plans have not been updated since the ’90s. The proposed plan and environmental impact statement (EIS) address changing use patterns, recreation uses, wilderness management, wild and scenic rivers, and areas of critical environmental concern (ACEC).
Conservation groups praised the plan’s preferred alternative for designating more ACECs. The alternative would designate 26 areas of critical environmental concern, covering nearly 88,000 acres. Livestock grazing on allotments that overlap the ACECs would be reduced.
“This example in northwestern California can help illuminate the path forward as the new Public Lands Rule is rolled out, emphasizing ACEC designations as a way to conserve lands and counterbalance extraction and development,” said Laura Cunningham with Western Watersheds Project.
Plan details
BLM analyzed four alternatives in the final EIS: a no-action alternative and three action alternatives.
Under Alternative A, management in the areas would remain unchanged.
Alternative B would emphasize resource connectivity and resiliency while allowing resource uses such as livestock grazing. BLM would manage the lands for multiple use and maintain corridors of undeveloped areas to provide connectivity for wildlife and fisheries.
Management activities that promote habitat connectivity would be given priority consideration. More than 20,000 acres of lands with wilderness characteristics would be managed to prioritize the characteristics over other multiple uses.
Alternative C is similar to Alternative B in that it would manage for multiple use and community access, but it would prioritize BLM lands to provide recreational opportunities and access. The alternative would provide more flexibility in managing resources with resource uses such as grazing. Management would prioritize active vegetation management to protect infrastructure against large disturbances like fire or drought.
The alternative would create recreation management areas to promote recreational opportunities. More than 5,800 acres with wilderness characteristics would be managed to prioritize the protection of the characteristics. The remaining 28,000-plus acres would be managed to minimize impacts to wilderness characteristics but emphasize other multiple uses.
Alternative D, BLM’s preferred alternative, would create opportunities for more resource uses such as recreation and vegetation management, in addition to emphasizing habitat connectivity. The agency said the alternative would strike a balance between creating resource uses and maintaining ecological function.
Alternative D would provide recreation and access opportunities in a similar way to Alternative B, in addition to designating 26 ACECs. BLM would also identify 62 eligible river segments as suitable for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System,
A total of 11,570 acres with wilderness characteristics would be managed to prioritize the characteristics, and the remaining nearly 22,000-plus acres would emphasize other multiple uses while minimizing impacts on wilderness characteristics.
Draft plans were based on input given in June 2022 during public scoping meetings, and through a public comment period held last fall. Any written protests must be received by July 22 and can be submitted at tinyurl.com/2np738nb. Following the resolution of any protests and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) 60-day consistency review, the approved plan will be announced on the BLM National NEPA Register. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
