The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Voice of the Community Since 1909, Serving Moorcroft and Pine Haven, Wyoming
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced four upcoming opportunities to give in-person feedback on its draft resource management plan for the Newcastle Field Office and Nebraska.
If ultimately approved, the new resource management plan would replace the current, 23-year-old version now used by the Newcastle Field Office.
The plan covers all the lands within the Newcastle Field Office’s boundaries in Crook, Weston and Niobrara counties, and also the entire state of Nebraska. While this may seem unbalanced, the decision was made to combine these two areas because the BLM manages considerably more land in Wyoming.
The decision area encompasses 287,900 acres of surface land and 1.7 acres of federal minerals in the Newcastle portion, but just 5100 of surface land and 223,000 acres of federal minerals in all of Nebraska.
The draft contains four alternatives that are under consideration, ranging from no action taken on current management practices to a balanced approach between preserving natural and cultural resources with providing for resource development.
The draft and environmental impact statement were published in the Federal Register on November 15, which began a 90-day comment period.
As part of this, the BLM is hosting four public meetings on this side of the state line. Each will be an open house featuring a presentation about the plan.
Each meeting will run from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., to include the presentation at 4 p.m. and repeated at 6 p.m.
The first will take place at the Crook County Courthouse community room on January 14.
If you are unable to make this date but are unable to attend, another meeting will be held the next day at the Newcastle Lodge and Convention Center, followed by a meeting at the Niobrara County Fairgrounds in Lusk on January 16.
There will also be a virtual meeting via Zoom from 5 to 7 p.m. on January 23. A link to this meeting will be posted on the project website closer to the time at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2013064/510.
Written comments will be accepted until February 13, 2025. Comments may also be submitted to [email protected] or by mail to BLM, High Plains District Office, 2987 Prospector Dr., Casper, WY 82604 or BLM, Newcastle Field Office, 1101 Washington Blvd., Newcastle, WY 82701.
