The protest must be in writing and contain the following:

• The name, mailing address, telephone number and interest of the person filing the protest;
• A statement of the issue or issues being protested;
• A statement of the part or parts of the plan being protested;
• A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues that were submitted during the planning process by the protesting party or an indication of the date the issue or issues were discussed for the record; and
• A concise statement explaining why the State Director's decision is believed to be wrong.

If a protest does not include all of the elements outlined above, the BLM will not respond to the protest.

Take care to document all relevant facts.  As much as possible, reference or cite the planning documents or available planning records (e.g., meeting minutes or summaries, correspondence, etc.).

E-mailed or faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the protesting party also provides the original letter by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the close of the protest period.  Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the e-mailed or faxed protest as an advance copy and will afford it full consideration.  If you will to provide the BLM with such advance notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of Brenda Hudgens-Williams, BLM protest coordinator, at 202-452-5112, and e-mailed protests to:  Brenda_Hudgens-Williams@blm.gov .

All protests, including the follow-up letter (if e-mailing or faxing) must be in writing and mailed to the follow address:

Regular Mail	Overnight Mail
Director (210)	Director (210
Attention: Brenda Williams	Attention: Brenda Williams
P.O. Box 66538	1620 L Street, N.W., Suite 1075
Washington, D.C. 20035	Washington, D.C. 20036

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your protest, be advised that your entire protest -- including your personal identifying information -- may be made publicly available at any time.  While you can ask us in your protest to withhold from public review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

The BLM Director will make every attempt to promptly render a decision on the protest.  The decision will be in writing and will be sent to the protesting party by certified mail, return receipt requested.  The decision of the Director shall be the final decision of the Department of Interior.