As you're hopefully aware, the Bureau of Land Management is putting together a new Resource Management Plan for the Big Horn Basin's federal lands. The Tribune's story on the process can be found here, and the BLM has a planning webpage loaded with info here.
Basically, a "Resource Management Plan" is a document that lays out everything that can or can't be done on federal land. That ranges from where you can hunt & fish, to what land is available for oil drilling, to which roads will be maintained.The document will guide BLM actions for the next 15 to 20 years. It will take the BLM a couple years to put the plan together, but only until next Monday (the 17th) can you freely weigh in with your opinions.
Tomorrow (Thursday, Nov. 13), from 3 to 8 p.m. in the conference room of Americas Best Value Inn, the BLM is hosting an open house-type meeting. You can drop in and share your thoughts and fire away with questions at any time in there.
Comments collected at tomorrow's meeting - along with those collected from across the Basin - will largely determine what options the BLM will consider in their planning.
Commissioners have been doing their best to get raise awareness of the meetings. They've set up a blog (here), commissioned an environmental consultant to survey folks' land-use priorities (fill it out here), and even tried cold-calling just about everyone in the county who has a phone (see page five in tomorrow's Trib).
Residents apparently got the message one way or another - word has it that the meeting in Cody today was standing-room only. I'm hoping Powell will see a similarly massive turnout, but if you can't make it, you can send comments to bbrmp_wymail@blm.gov or by mail to PO Box 119, Worland, WY, 82401-0119 until Monday.
If you have questions, you can contact Caleb Hiner, planning Project Manager, at the Worland Field Office, (307) 347-5171.
Anyone who believes that local officials of a federal agency will follow the consesus of local people is living in a dreamworld. The BLM will do what Denver and Washington tell them on the big issues ( minerals, grazing, other extractives) and throw out a few bones on the small stuff , like non-revenue recreation. Remember, the appearance of management is just the management of appearance...
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