Record of Decision Issued For Richfield Field Office Approved Resource Management Plan

Contact:  Cornell Christensen, 435-896-1500

Richfield, Utah—October 31, 2008—Managers of the Richfield Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Office announced that the Record of Decision for the Approved Resource Management Plan has been signed.  It was signed by Department of the Interior, Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, C. Stephen Allred on Oct. 31, 2008.  Signature of this document constitutes the final decision by the BLM and makes the Approved Resource Management Plan effective immediately.

The Approved Plan is the culmination of a cooperative effort between the BLM and local government and communities that began five years ago.  Cornell Christensen, Field Office Manager, said, “We’re excited to have a product that will guide the management of resources on these public lands into the future.”

The Approved Resource Management Plan provides a framework for future management direction and appropriate use of BLM-administered lands and resources located in Sanpete, Sevier, Piute, Wayne, and Garfield Counties.  The document contains both land use planning decisions and implementation level decisions to guide the BLM’s management of the Richfield Field Office.

This new plan represents important shifts in how BLM manages the public lands.  It took approximately six years to complete because BLM wanted to ensure that the commitments these plans represent were followed through. Following are some of the major issues that were addressed and the key decisions that were made in the plans.

Travel management is considered to be one of the hottest issues on public lands today, and this is particularly true for the Richfield Field Office.  BLM Utah is shifting from allowing open, cross-country travel on nearly all public lands to allowing travel only on specifically identified routes.  The Approved Plan designates off-highway vehicle routes on more than 1.9 million acres (91 percent) of the Field Office, and closes 209,000 acres (9 percent) to off-highway vehicle use.  Cross-country travel is still allowed in open areas consisting of 9,980 acres. 

The BLM was committed during the planning process to balance protecting environmentally sensitive areas while supporting energy resources in Utah.  In the new plan, 65 percent of the acres open to oil and gas leasing are subject to stricter environmental controls, with 21 percent of the lands within the planning area unavailable for leasing under any circumstance. 

In addition to strictly controlling how and where energy development will take place, BLM has committed in each of the plans to find innovative ways to minimize the footprint on public lands.  This is done through best management practices, including directional drilling, well placement and sound muffling.

The plan also designates five new special recreation management areas and twelve new areas to be managed for wilderness characteristics.

The protest letters received on the plan were reviewed by the BLM Director in Washington, D.C. over the last couple of months.  After careful consideration of all points raised in these protests, the National BLM Director’s analysis shows that BLM Utah followed all laws, policies, and pertinent resource considerations in developing the plan. Minor clarifications resulting from this review are incorporated into the Approved Resource Management Plan and discussed in the Record of Decision.
 
Finally, the State of Utah Governor’s office exercised its right to review the plans and sent a letter concluding that the plan was consistent with State or local plans.  BLM is pleased with this outcome, because working with the State of Utah was of particular importance to Selma Sierra, the BLM Utah State Director.

Electronic copies of the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan will be available beginning the week of November 3 on the Richfield Field Office web site at:  http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/richfield/planning.html