Projects & Plans - Furnace Creek Road EA
GENERAL PROJECT INFORMATION
The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service are jointly conducting
an environmental assessment of the Furnace Creek Road near Fish
Lake Valley, Nevada. The road is currently closed approximately
2.5 miles from Highway 264 under an interim closure order. The interim
closure was placed on the Furnace Creek Road in March 2003 and is
the result of a 2001 settlement agreement between the Bureau of
Land Management and the Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra
Club, and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
The Environmental Assessment (EA), which was distributed for public
comment in January 2005, analyzed several alternatives to the current
road alignment. In response to comments received at that time, a
number of minor editorial changes or clarifications were made to
the EA. The current version of the EA was made available in November,
2006. Although the formal public comment period is now closed, comments
on the EA are welcome any time before a decision is made.
Please check this page for the most current project status,
to view documents generated from this effort, and
for information on how you can be involved.
CURRENT STATUS OF THIS EFFORT
Project Update: Summer 2007
On May 10, 2007, the Bureau of Land Management announced
the availability of the proposed plan amendment to the California
Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) plan for the long-term management
of a 3.75 mile portion of Furnace Creek Road. The proposed plan
amendment includes a "Finding of No Significant Impact"
and designates the 3.75 miles of Furnace Creek Road on BLM-administered
lands as approved for vehicular access for casual public use. Publication
of the availability initiated the 30-day protest period of the land
use plan amendment process.
The proposed plan amendment, "Finding of No
Significant Impact", and the Environmental Assessment can be
obtained at the BLM California Desert District Office or Ridgecrest
Field Office. The documents are also available on BLM Ridgecrest's
website at http://www.ca.blm.gov/ridgecrest/.
The Forest Service has not yet made a decision for
management of the segment of the Road on National Forest System
lands.
PROJECT DOCUMENTS
Furnace
Creek Road EA Content Analysis (pdf 350kb)
Furnace
Creek Road EA - (pdf 1.6Mb)
Appendices D and E (3.1Mb)
Appendices D and E are very large files. Appendix D contains the
project map and a typical cross section of the proposed work. Appendix
E contains photographs and descriptions of the fourteen water crossing
discussed in the Environmental Assessment.
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