(Photo © Cat Kindsfather, all rights reserved)
Growing Concern BLM will wipe out certain Wyoming herds to appease the local grazing association
The public feels their written comments are not taken into consideration by BLM.
Stakeholders want to participate in the Wyoming RAC meeting giving oral comments using technology such as a teleconference or Skype to foster the public process.
The scoping notice is alarming: http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/information/NEPA/rfodocs/adobetown-saltwells.Par.3977.File.dat/ATSWScopeNotice.pdf
Protect Mustangs is circulating a petition requesting the BLM use communication technology to allow oral comments.
Below is the formal request to include the public in oral comments using communication technology and Livestream the controversial meeting.
From: anne@protectmustangs.org <anne@protectmustangs.org>
Subject: Public wants to give oral comment using technology
To: dsimpson@blm.gov
Cc: mpool@blm.gov, cwertz@blm.gov, cwarren@blm.gov
Date: Friday, February 1, 2013, 1:22 AM
Dear Sirs & Madames,
The public is up in arms that such an important opportunity for public comment is being held in a remote area without the ability to make oral comment using technology to bridge the distance.
Most people have jobs that prevent them from traveling to Rock Springs, Wyoming to spend the night and speak at 8 a.m. the following morning.
The cost of traveling to your location is also excessive.
The public comment period will be Feb. 8, at 8 a.m. Interested persons may make oral comments or file written statements for the council to consider. Depending on the number of persons wishing to comment and time available, the time for individual oral comments may be limited. If there are no members of the public interested in speaking, the meeting will move on to the next agenda topic. ~ BLM
I’d like to ask you to please find a way to engage all the stakeholders in oral comment and allow enough time for this to occur.
We’d like to go on the record to ask you, as an act of good faith, to facilitate the public’s wish to comment orally by implementing a teleconference during the comment period or allow stakeholders to comment orally via Skype.
We request you LiveStream the 2 days of meetings to show you are engaging in transparency.
Thank you for your kind assistance.
Best wishes,
Anne Novak
Release Date: 01/09/13
Contacts:
Cindy Wertz (307) 775-6014
WYOMING RESOURCE ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING SET FOR FEBRUARY
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wyoming Resource Advisory Council will meet Wednesday, Feb. 6, Thursday, Feb. 7, and Friday, Feb. 8, at BLM’s High Desert District, Rock Springs Field Office, 280 Highway 191 North, Rock Springs, Wyo., in the Pilot Butte Conference Room.
The meeting is open to the public. The meeting will begin on Wednesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Rock Springs Wild Horse Holding Facility on Lionkol Road. The meetings will begin at 8 a.m. on Thursday and Friday at the Rock Springs Field Office. Planned agenda topics include a discussion on checkerboard land ownership, landscape scale partnerships, invasive weeds, trails and follow up from previous meetings.
The public comment period will be Feb. 8, at 8 a.m. Interested persons may make oral comments or file written statements for the council to consider. Depending on the number of persons wishing to comment and time available, the time for individual oral comments may be limited. If there are no members of the public interested in speaking, the meeting will move on to the next agenda topic.
The purpose of the council is to advise the Secretary of the Interior through the BLM on a variety of issues associated with public land management. For more information contact BLM RAC Coordinator Cindy Wertz, (307) 775-6014.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM’s multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
–BLM–
Wyoming State Office 5353 Yellowstone Rd. Cheyenne, WY 82009
Anne Novak
Executive Director
Protect Mustangs
P.O. Box 5661
Berkeley, California 94705
Links of interest:
Wyoming Resource Advisory Council Meeting: http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/info/news_room/2013/january/09-RAC.html
BLM scoping statement Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Area: http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/wy/information/NEPA/rfodocs/adobetown-saltwells.Par.3977.File.dat/ATSWScopeNotice.pdf
To The Bureau of Land Management interim Director, Mike Pool
July 3, 2012
Dear Mr. Pool,
We are writing you in light of yesterday’s Ironwood fire adjacent to the Palomino Valley short-term holding facility.
It has been brought to our attention that the BLM has evacuation plans for Palomino Valley that take 24 hours to complete.
Your 24 hour evacuation plan–mentioned on the news–is not practical. What if these horses and staffers needed to evacuate quickly due to fire?
We are concerned that no one lives on site to ensure the safety of the wild horses and burros at short-term holding facilities. Palomino Valley alone holds more than 2,000 wild horses and burros at times.
We request you change this risky policy and hire someone to live on site at all short-term facilities immediately. Boarding barns housing 40 horses always have someone living on site to handle emergencies. The BLM often has more than 2,000 horses at certain facilities so why is no one there after business hours?
We want to see your act of good faith–to show the BLM cares about wild horses and burros and will ensure their safety in short-term holding.
We request the BLM provide us with a copy of the current emergency evacuation plan for more than 2,000 indigenous wild horses held at the Palomino Valley Center, near Sparks Nevada.
We request the BLM implement a 45 minute evacuation plan–in case of an extreme emergency–-for each holding facility.
Once the BLM takes the mustangs and burros off the land they are responsible for their welfare.
Thank you for your kind assistance.
Sincerely,
Anne Novak
Executive Director of Protect Mustangs
News story about Ironwood fire: http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/playlist/25504/3592026