BLM examining fuel projects to improve firefighting capabilities

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is initiating environmental analyses of fuel breaks, fuels reduction and habitat restoration projects on sagebrush-steppe rangelands in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Utah and California to ensure healthy, productive working landscapes and wildlife habitats.

Region-wide analysis of impacts and cumulative effects will help the BLM streamline authorization of projects aimed at reducing the threat of wildfires and restoring degraded habitats, the bureau said.

“Fire, invasive annual grasses and conifer encroachment are the most significant threats to sagebrush-steppe in the Great Basin,” BLM official Tim Murphy said in an announcement issued by the BLM. “Focusing on these threats is also going to help the BLM protect working landscapes that contribute to healthy local economies.”

Large-scale wildfires have become significantly more frequent throughout the western U.S. in recent years, particularly in sagebrush-steppe ecosystems.

Wildfires have begun to exceed 100,000 acres on a regular basis, and areas are reburning more often. Large and frequent fires often result in conversion of sagebrush to annual grasses like cheatgrass and native habitats cannot recover naturally.

Strategically-sited fuel breaks can slow the progress of wildfires, allowing better firefighter safety and increased protection of human life and property, livestock forage and important ecological resources such as sage-grouse habitat. Treating invasive plants like cheatgrass and encroaching species like juniper further reduces the threat of catastrophic wildfire, the BLM said.

A notice published in the Federal Register details the BLM’s intent to prepare two programmatic environmental impact studies, identifies some preliminary issues for analysis and begins a 60-day comment period.

Public comments on issues to be analyzed in the studies and possible alternatives are welcome, and may be submitted by e-mail: GRSG_PEIS@blm.gov, fax 208-373-3805 or mail to Jonathan Beck, BLM Idaho State Office, 1387 S. Vinnell Way, Boise, ID 83709.

The BLM said that it will host public scoping meetings, with specific dates and locations to be announced shortly.

The website, https://go.usa.gov/xnQcG, will also provide details and documents about fuels projects and the impact analysis process, the BLM said.