Medford Newsroom

Bureau of Land Management offices post News Releases to share news or let you know upcoming plans for their area. If you have questions regarding a specific News Release, contact information is at the top of each News Release. Please feel free to contact the Medford Office with your questions or comments, at (541) 618-2200 or by email.

The BLM in Oregon and Washington recently began offering news releases in the RSS format. This will allow you see a complete and ongoing list of press releases distributed by the various BLM Districts throughout Oregon and Washington. Additional information on RSS feeds, and how to subscribe to them, is available at our RSS page.

Announcements

BLM Prepares for Upcoming Oil and Gas Lease Sale

Date: 3/4/09

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office has announced that it will offer four parcels totaling approximately 5,342 acres, in Oregon, at its March 12, 2009 Oil and Gas Lease Competitive Sale. All four parcels to be offered are in Wheeler County near Mitchell, Oregon. The sale will be held at 9:00 AM, Thursday, March 12, at the Robert Duncan Plaza Building, 333 SW 1st Avenue, Portland, Oregon in the 3rd floor conference rooms.

• Oil and Gas Lease Sale News Release (PDF)

BLM Western Oregon Plan Decisions Released

The BLM has issued the six Records of Decision (ROD) for the Resource Management Plans (RMP) that were developed under the Western Oregon Plan Revisions. With this action, the BLM has completed its revision of the land use plans that will guide the management of 2.6 million acres in western Oregon in the BLM's Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Medford, and Coos Bay Districts, and the Klamath Falls Resource Area of the Lakeview District. The RMPs also comply with all applicable Federal laws including the O&C Lands Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act.

The RODs formally adopt the Proposed Resource Management Plan (PRMP) that was put forward in the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which was released in October 2008. Overall, when fully implemented, the six land use plans are expected to increase the timber harvest from current levels, increase receiprs to the O&C Counties, meet the conservation needs of the northern spotted owl, increase habitat for marbled murrelet, maintain water quality, and improve habitat for Federally-listed fish.

• Final Records of Decision
• Final Western Oregon Plan Decisions Newsrelease (PDF)

Relative Sizes Of The Land Use Allocations In The Western Oregon Plan Revisions

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 ecology 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.

• News Release (PDF)
• Record of Decision (PDF) Note: Filesize - 37MB
• Decision Fact Sheet (PDF)

Otak Reports on Little Hyatt Dam

• Little Hyatt Dam Geotechnical Report (PDF)
• Little Hyatt Dam Structural Evaluation Report (PDF)

BLM to Release Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument Livestock Impacts Studies

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Medford District today announced that is has completed the studies of livestock impacts for the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM) and is releasing them to the public. A presentation of the results of the studies will be the subject of the February 1 "Science Friday" forum at the Southern Oregon University (SOU). The one hour presentation will begin at 3pm in Room 118 (Central Auditorium) in the Science Hall on the campus of SOU.

• CSNM Livestock Impact Study - Press Release (PDF)
• CSNM Livestock Impact Study - Fact Sheet (PDF)
• Reader’s Guide for the Livestock Impacts Study (PDF)
• Complete text of Livestock Impact Study >>>

BLM Issues Temporary Off-Highway Vehicle Closure

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Medford District Office is temporarily closing several areas within the Timbered Mountain off-highway vehicle (OHV) area – also commonly referred to as the John's Peak area. The Timber Mountain OHV Area is located just west of the City of Jacksonville. The purpose of the emergency closure is to protect soils, water, and fisheries resources that are being adversely impacted by OHV use. The closure is also needed to protect public safety on Forest Creek County road. Regulations (43 CFR 8364.1) authorize the BLM to close or restrict use of public lands in order to protect public safety and resources on public lands.

• Federal Register Notice of Emergency Closure (PDF)
• Closure maps (PDF)