UTAH RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLANS

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released six separate draft Resource Management Plans and Environmental Impact Statements (RMP/EIS) which will affect nearly 11 million acres of public land throughout Utah.

An RMP can be compared to a county master plan where management direction and objectives are defined for specific resources and areas. They address issues including livestock grazing, recreation, wildlife habitat, off-highway vehicle use, camping and even energy and mineral development. The document contains a preferred alternative as well as a range of other management alternatives. Each draft plan includes a draft EIS which analyzes the environmental effects of each planning alternative.

 The draft RMP/EIS presents different alternatives which takes into consideration comments received by other governmental agencies, public organizations, state, tribal entities, and interested individuals. Public collaboration through the scoping process led to shaping of issues covering recreation, wildlife, minerals, cultural resources, grazing, land tenure, designation of areas of critical environmental concern (ACEC), access to public lands, and other topics.

The draft RMP/EIS analyzes alternatives to resolve management issues, determines management objectives and actions, and establishes monitoring methods to facilitate multiple use and sustained yield management for the entire planning area.

Your comments and suggestions are critical at this stage of new RMP development. The BLM will need to know what part of the preferred alternative you support and what part you oppose. Also, BLM needs to know what parts of the other alternatives should be included in the final plan, and which parts of the other alternatives should NOT be in the final plan.

Learn more about each individual plan by clicking on the maps above