The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its record of decision for the amended Southeast Oregon Resource Management Plan.
The plan will guide management for the Vale District, which covers 4.6 million acres of land in Malheur, Grant, Harney and Baker counties. The approved amended plan provides management for wilderness areas, transportation areas and livestock grazing in areas that fail to meet BLM’s rangeland health standards.
The approved amendment requires the BLM to consider taking action on areas of livestock grazing that do not meet rangeland health standards, clarifies that BLM will not permit increases to animal unit months if an increase will damage resources, and requires BLM to review the compatibility of livestock grazing use with other existing resources when a voluntary permit relinquishment is received.
“If livestock grazing is found to be unsuitable and/or incompatible, the area will become unavailable to grazing and the forage allocation will be made to another resource,” the notice said.
Conservations groups expressed their disappointment with the amended plan. “The new plan amendment is merely business as usual when it comes to livestock issues, where the Bureau regurgitates its regulations but provides no enforceable triggers to affect change,” said Adam Bronstein, Oregon director for Western Watersheds Project.
