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Website Updates
Western Oregon Plan Decisions Released.
Oregon State Office
Bureau of Land Management 333 S.W. 1st. Avenue Portland, OR 97204 503-808-6002 |
Announcements ArchiveThe following page contains the most important announcements for the past fiscal year. If you have questions regarding a specific announcement, feel free to contact the OR/WA Office of Public Affairs with your questions or comments, at 503-808-6002 or by email. Final Western Oregon EIS ReleasedThe BLM has completed its revision of the land use plans that will guide the management of 2.6 million acres in western Oregon. The plans were prepared to provide timber for harvest and habitat for the conservation of Federally-listed species. The planning area for this project covers approximately 2.6 million acres of public land contained in the BLM’s Salem, Eugene, Coos Bay, Roseburg and Medford Districts and the Klamath Falls Resource Area of the Lakeview District. Throughout this planning process the BLM has engaged and involved citizens to develop real and meaningful solutions to better meet both our natural resource conservation objectives and our socio-economic commitments to communities. The planning area generally covers that portion of the State of Oregon that lies west of the Cascade Mountains crest and public lands within the Klamath Falls Resource Area east of the crest. It includes lands in 18 Counties: Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Multnomah, Polk, Tillamook, Washington, and Yamhill.
Relative Sizes Of The Land Use Allocations In The Western Oregon Plan Revisions
An Epic Magazine of Exploration and Adventure Returns!
The saga continues! Northwest Passage, the Bureau of Land Management Magazine for Oregon & Washington is back with Issue #2. Read, if you dare, about a mysterious ghost ship that returned from the ocean to BLM Lands! Then meet a BLM artist who works in heavy metal! See brilliant photos from around the Districts at the 2008 National Public Lands Day. Learn about the BLM's role in America's multicultural migration. Find your holiday tree on public lands and so much more in this, the second issue of Northwest Passage.
Northwest Passage Magazine Premiere
Northwest Passage, the Bureau of Land Management Magazine for Oregon & Washington, delivers breathtaking photos of the Pacific Northwest alongside compelling and humorous articles on the latest environmental actions, news, policies, and technologies. With a highly visual style and glossy newsstand appearance, Northwest Passage connects with a wide audience of active readership from the BLM's own staff and retirees to local government, media, and the people who live, explore, and travel on our spectacular public lands across Oregon & Washington.
National Public Lands Day - Sept 27, 2008
National Public Lands Day is the nation's largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance the public lands American's enjoy. In 2006, about 100,000 volunteers built trails and bridges, planted trees and plants, and removed trash and invasive plants.
BLM Prepares for Upcoming Oil and Gas Lease Sale - Sept 9, 2008
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office announced that it will offer three parcels totaling approximately 5,045 acres, in Oregon, at its September 11, 2008 Oil and Gas Lease Competitive Sale. All three parcels to be offered are in Jefferson County, Oregon, within the Crooked River National Grassland, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, Ochoco National Forest. The sale will be held at 9:00 AM, Thursday, September 11, at the Robert Duncan Plaza Building, 333 SW 1st Avenue, Portland, Oregon in the 3rd floor conference rooms.
BLM Announces Availability of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Plan
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved the final plan for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. The management plan sets forth the final direction for managing the 52,947 acres of BLM lands for the next ten years. The plan also provides the strategies needed to protect and preserve the biological, cultural, recreational, geological, educational and scientific values within the monument. The 2000 Presidential Proclamation reserved the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in recognition of its remarkable ecol¬ogy and to protect a diverse range of biological, geological, aquatic, archeological, and historic objects. The Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is the first monument set aside solely for the preservation of biodiversity. Due to several complex biological and geological factors and processes operating simultaneously, the monument contains an unusually high variety of species in a geographically small area. Land use decisions made in this plan include: land tenure zoning classifications; designations of vegetation management areas; visual resource management classifications; programmatic and site-specific decisions related to livestock grazing; decisions regarding transportation and access (except those mandated by the presidential proclamation); wildland fire management; recreation management; and management of rights-of-way and communication sites.
June 2008 Oil and Gas Lease Sale
Date: 6/3/08 The Bureau of Land Management Oregon State Office will offer three parcels totaling approximately 4,283 acres, in Washington, at its June 12, 2008 Oil and Gas Lease Competitive Sale. All of the parcels to be offered are in Benton County, Washington. The sale will be held at 9:00 AM at the Robert Duncan Plaza Building, 333 SW 1st Avenue, Portland, Oregon in the 3rd floor conference rooms.
BLM Rejects Hardrock Lease Application near Mount St. HelensDate: 4/30/08 The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office announced that it has decided to move forward with the “No Action” alternative in the March 2007 Environmental Assessment (EA), and reject the hardrock lease application. After careful consideration of the application, findings of the EA, and public comments, BLM concluded that it is not possible at this time to determine if leasing, even with a contingent right stipulation, would, over the long term, result in mineral development activities that would be compatible with the purpose for which the lands were re-acquired by the Federal Government. General Moly (formerly Idaho General Mines, Inc.), a Lakewood, Colorado-based firm, applied for a fractional interest hardrock mining lease for 217.3 acres, in March 2005, and a fringe acreage lease for the adjoining 682.2 acres in the vicinity of Goat Mountain and the headwaters of the Green River, approximately 12 miles northeast of the Mount St. Helens volcanic crater. The lease application area was outside the legislated National Volcanic Monument boundaries. Even without the lease, GMI will continue to own an undivided 50 percent interest in the mineral estate within the 217.3 acre parcel.
"Once in a Lifetime" Fossil Discovery on BLM Public LandDate: 4/4/08 A major archeological announcement was released by Science Magazine on April 3, 2008 titled "DNA from Pre-Clovis Human Coprolites in Oregon, North America." This publication documents the discovery of human coprolites (petrified feces) containing human DNA that is 14,340 calendar years old. This finding has international significance for unraveling the history of humans in the New World, as it is the oldest human DNA obtained from the Americas.These artifacts were recovered from the Paisley Caves, which are located within the Five Mile Butte area of the Summer Lake Basin north of Paisley, Oregon.
Mystery Shipwreck IdentifiedDate: 2/20/08 The wooden hulled ship buried in sand on the North Spit of Coos Bay has been identified by archeologists as the George L. Olson. Research suggests there is strong evidence that the mystery shipwreck is the bow-section of the steam schooner George L. Olson. Comparing historical photographs of the George L. Olson with current pictures of the shipwreck, both ships have three portholes with three chain plates aft of the portholes. The location of the Samson Post, Hawespipes, and the black vertical bumpers are identical. The pattern made by the through hull iron fasteners also appears identical (see attached photograph). The story of the George L. Olson is outlined below: The George L. Olson was originally named the Ryder Hanify. The steam schooner Ryder Hanify was built for J.R. Hanify and Company of San Francisco by the W.F. Stone shipyards of Oakland, California. The ship was launched on January 22, 1917. At 223 feet long and nearly 44 feet wide, the Ryder Hanify was one of the largest ships built to date at the Stone shipyard. The boat was powered by a 1,000 horse power steam engine and was designed to carry 1.4 million board feet of lumber at a time. read more>> The Ryder Hanify was put into service in May 1917 hauling lumber. It completed several voyages during that year, including a shipment of lumber to South America in October, 1917. On December 6, 1917, the Ryder Hanify, along with six other lumber carrying ships, was sold to the French government. The French government renamed the Ryder Hanify the Gabriel. On March 9, 1922 an announcement was made in the Los Angeles Times that Oliver J. Olson , a “prominent lumber and steamship owner” had purchased two steam schooners from the French government and was now refitting them for the lumber trade. This included the Gabriel, which Olson renamed the George L. Olson. The George L. Olson worked as a lumber carrying schooner in the Northwest for over 20 years until June 23, 1944 when it struck Coos Bay’s North Jetty and drifted aground on Guano Rock inside the Coos Bay channel. There were no casualties when the ship wrecked, but the ship was declared a total loss. At the time it wrecked, the George L. Olson was loaded with about 1.4 million board feet of lumber. Salvage of the ship’s lumber cargo was conducted for the next six months. Five hundred thousand board feet of lumber recovered off of the ship was used to construct the Baptist Church in Charleston. In December 1944, the hulk of the George L. Olson was towed to sea and was cut adrift with the intention she beach on the North Spit. During the following years, build-up of the foredune in the area covered the wreck. The BLM, along with State of Oregon Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, the Coos County Historical and Maritime Museum, and NOAA, continue to consult with the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office to review options and make plans for the ship’s future. BLM and Museum staff continue to document the ship with photographs. For additional information feel free to contact:
Related Documents: Original George L. Olson Photos
Present Day George L. Olson Photos
March Oil and Gas Lease SaleDate: 2/13/08 
The BLM Oregon State Office will offer six parcels totaling approximately 9,313 acres, in Oregon, at its March 13, 2008 Oil and Gas Lease Competitive Sale. All of the parcels to be offered are in Jefferson County, Oregon, within the Crooked River National Grassland, administered by the U.S. Forest Service, Ochoco National Forest. The sale will be held at 9:00 AM at the Robert Duncan Plaza Building, 333 SW 1st Avenue, Portland, Oregon in the 3rd floor conference rooms.
BLM releases Western Oregon Draft EIS for Public ReviewDate: 8/10/07 On August 10, 2007, the BLM released the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the revision of the Resource Management Plans of the western Oregon BLM Districts. The draft document will be open for public review and comment until January 11, 2008. read more>> The Draft EIS analyzes the impacts of four alternatives: maintaining the current plans (no action) and three new alternatives, for future management of the Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Medford, and Coos Bay Districts and the Klamath Falls Resource Area of the Lakeview District. The planning area includes approximately 2,550,000 acres of public lands. About 2,100,000 of those acres are land revested from the Oregon and California Railroad and are managed under the O&C Lands Act of 1937. News Release - BLM Proposes New Management Approach for Western Oregon A copy of the Draft EIS and supporting information can be found on this web site at:
Location of Mineral Surveys
Hardrock Lease Application Environmental AssessmentDate: 5/27/07 The Bureau of Land Management Oregon State Office has announced the release of an Environmental Assessment pertaining to the application for a hardrock minerals lease filed in March 2005 by Idaho General Mines, Inc. (IGMI). The hardrock minerals lease does not afford IGMI the opportunity to conduct any exploration, or mining activities, just the right to apply to conduct these activities. The hardrock minerals lease is in the vicinity of Goat Mountain and the Green River, approximately 12 miles northeast of the Mount St. Helens volcanic crater in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The lease application area is outside the National Volcanic Monument boundaries. read more>> Written comments postmarked within 60 days of the notice will be accepted via courier at the BLM Oregon State Office Public Desk, 333 S.W. 1st Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204, or by mail at: U.S. Department of the Interior Individual respondents may request confidentiality during the comment process. Those who choose to withhold their name or address from public review or from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, must state this prominently at the beginning of their written comment. Such requests will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from organizations and businesses, and from individuals who identified themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety. During this comment period electronic comments may also be submitted directly to the following address: Eric_Hoffman@or.blm.gov The public comment period for the Environmental Assessment will now close on Monday, May 14, 2007. News Release - Comment Period Extended for Hardrock Lease Application (right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (82kb PDF) News Release - Hardrock Lease Application Environmental Assessment (right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (132kb PDF) Environmental Assessment(right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (131kb PDF) Finding of No Significant Impact (right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (29.2kb PDF) Sustained Yield Units (SYU) in Western OregonDate: 5/23/07 
In 1946 and 1947, the Secretary of the Interior established 12 master units on BLM lands in western Oregon, which serve as SYUs, along with their related marketing areas. At the time, the marketing areas required the processing of timber from western Oregon BLM timber sales to occur in the same marketing area in which it was purchased. There is no longer a regulatory requirement for marketing areas. read more>> The BLM Oregon/Washington State Director has made a decision to abolish the current master units and establish six SYUs to include the BLM managed lands in western Oregon. The boundaries of such SYUs shall coincide with the boundaries of the Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Medford, and Coos Bay Districts, and the area west of Highway 97 in the Klamath Falls Resource Area of the Lakeview District. The change in boundaries of the SYUs will become immediately effective, but will not be applied until new annual sustained yield capacities are declared in the Records of Decisions for the ongoing Western Oregon Plan Revisions. Until that time, this decision does not make any change to the existing six Western Oregon RMPs or to the current declared annual sustained yield capacity. Kim Family Incident Management ReviewDate: 2/14/07 The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced the completion of its management review of the policies and procedures related to management of road #34-8-36 and other routes in the vicinity of the Bear Camp Road. This management review found that no BLM employee failed to carry out any specific order or work assignment concerning locking a specific gate by a specific date or time. read more>> Gates are opened or closed based on a variety of management issues and public needs, including: timber sales; woodcutting;Christmas tree permits; hunting; wildlife habitat; and soils and weather. Management Review (right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (2.20mb PDF) Management Review Map (right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (2.20mb PDF) News Release - Kim Family Management Review Completed (right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (2.20mb PDF) Lessons Learned (right click, and choose Save As to download this document) (26mb PDF) Before Photos
After Photos
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