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Share your perspective during public comment periods that impact public lands ranching.

 

PLC actively monitors regulatory proposals from federal agencies and alerts you to open comment periods. Want to get the latest regulatory information straight to your inbox? Contact us to sign up for PLC policy updates as they happen.

BLM Opens Public Comment on Amendments to West-Wide Solar Plan

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released their draft programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and associated Resource Management Plan Amendments (RMPA) to revise and expand upon the 2012 Western Solar Plan. Click here to access the text of the documents and the comment portal.

PLC remains concerned about priority siting of solar/wind on prime grazing ground, as opposed to already-degraded landscapes, any reprioritization or preference given to energy development on wide tracts of land, ecological impacts like spread of invasive species and loss of soil diversity.

The public comment period will close April 18, 2024. PLC will lead industry response through technical comments. Contact us with questions or state specific concerns.

BLM Opens Comment on Greater Sage-Grouse Plans, draft Environmental Impact Statement.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released the draft Environmental Impact Statement (dEIS) and corresponding Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) related to sage grouse habitat management on federal lands. The RMPA would amend 77 separate land use plans currently in place across 10 Western states, and some of the alternatives in the draft EIS include new Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) designations totaling as many as 11.1 million acres.

The BLM has proposed six alternatives for analysis as part of the dEIS. The public comment period on the dEIS is scheduled to close June 13, 2024.

Simultaneously, the BLM has opened a comment period on the RMPA, particularly the elements related to ACECs. Public comment on the ACEC portion is scheduled to close on May 14, 2024.

PLC believes a 60-day public comment period for elements of the RMPA and a 90-day comment period for the dEIS are insufficient to review the volumes of text proposed, particularly given the long history of uncertainty stemming from the 2015 and 2019 plans. All documents are now available for public review on the BLM's sage grouse project website.

PLC has requested a comment period extension and will continue to lead the grazing industry response to both elements.

BLM will also host 13 public meetings on the plans. Meetings begin April 9 and continue through April 25. Find the nearest public meeting to you on the BLM's meeting website.

Have questions about the plans or want to participate in PLC's Sage Grouse Working Group? Contact us.