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Post by rocncj on Mar 7, 2007 16:11:17 GMT -5
Ironwood Forest National Monument Resource Management Plan Schedule The BLM Tucson Field Office released the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (DRMP) for the Ironwood Forest National Monument on March 2, 2007. The document will be available for a 90-day public review and comment period from March 2 to May 30, 2007.
During the 90-day public comment period, BLM will hold a number of meetings to introduce the document and provide an opportunity for the public to comment. Meeting dates and locations are posted under Meeting Information.
Following the 90-day public comment period, BLM will analyze all comments received and revise the preferred alternative. BLM will then prepare a Proposed RMP and Final Environmental Impact Statement.
Five public meetings have been scheduled to present the plan to the public and allow for discussions and questions with BLM staff. The meetings are as follows:
March 29, 2007: Tucson, Arizona Pima County Parks & Recreation, 3500 West River Road, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 3, 2007: Sahuarita, Arizona Sahuarita High School, 350 West Sahuarita Road, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 5, 2007: Chandler, Arizona Chandler Public Library, City Council Chambers, 22 South Delaware Street, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 10, 2007: Sells, AZ Legislative Council Chambers, Main Street, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 12, 2007: Tucson, Arizona Pima County Parks & Recreation, 3500 West River Road, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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Post by rocncj on Mar 27, 2007 0:34:41 GMT -5
Tucson Citizen
Input wanted on Ironwood Monument
5 public hearings to be held on 4 management plans
By GARRY DUFFY Published: 03.26.2007
Whether Ironwood Forest National Monument, northwest of Tucson, should remain a semi-isolated wilderness or be opened to more public access and recreation will be debated during the coming year. The Bureau of Land Management will hold five public hearings on four proposed alternative management plans for the 127,000-acre monument. The monument was created in 2000 in a declaration signed by President Clinton. The federal agency oversees the monument and is charged by law with drafting land and resource management plans. It also has to make environmental assessments on possible impacts of potential activities at the monument, about 25 miles northwest of the city. The four proposed alternatives range from leaving access and resource uses at the monument at the current restrictions to allowing more public access and recreational uses. This includes new roads into areas currently inaccessible by motor and recreational vehicle riders. The monument is home to rich stands of ironwood trees and saguaro forests and endangered bighorn sheep. It also includes the Silver Bell, Waterman and Sawtooth mountain ranges. It is rich with archaeological and cultural sites dating back 5,000 years. Of the four proposals, the one favored by BLM officials would allow the continuation of grazing and recreation on areas of the monument away from protected wildlife and resource areas. Agency officials will take comments from the public for consideration and possible inclusion in a final management plan that will probably be adopted early next year. "We will analyze comments and respond to them," said Mark Lambert, a spokesman for the BLM in Tucson. The agency has received few comments on the proposals. Lambert said the agency will receive many more once the public becomes more familiar with the proposed alternatives. The comment period will be open until May 30. Conservationists are wary of changes in management of the monument, fearing that expanded public access, grazing or other uses would damage the fragile desert and mountain landscapes. "We are concerned that the BLM needs to be managing these lands as the national treasures they are, instead of as resources," said Greta Anderson of the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. For years, conservationists have called for the elimination of grazing and mining in the monument and a return to limited access for much of the area. Opening easy and legal access for the public to now-isolated areas could result in degradation of the monument, which is already threatened by illegal trespassing. "The monument is absolutely being hammered by border crossers and the Border Patrol," Anderson said. "All the illegal traffic is creating new roads where none existed before."
Five public meetings have been scheduled to present the plan to the public and allow for discussions and questions with BLM staff. The meetings are as follows:
March 29, 2007: Tucson, Arizona Pima County Parks & Recreation, 3500 West River Road, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 3, 2007: Sahuarita, Arizona Sahuarita High School, 350 West Sahuarita Road, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 5, 2007: Chandler, Arizona Chandler Public Library, City Council Chambers, 22 South Delaware Street, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 10, 2007: Sells, AZ Legislative Council Chambers, Main Street, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
April 12, 2007: Tucson, Arizona Pima County Parks & Recreation, 3500 West River Road, 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
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Post by ecameron87 on May 3, 2007 10:49:14 GMT -5
Here is another chance to be heard!
BLM SCHEDULES PUBLIC MEETING TO GATHER COMMENTS FOR IRONWOOD FOREST NATIONAL MONUMENT PLAN
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Tucson Field Office will host a public meeting to answer questions and take comments on the Ironwood Forest National Monument Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement.
The agency has previously hosted five meetings. The meeting is scheduled for May 19, from 10 a.m. to noon, at Pima Community College West Campus, 2202 W. Anklam Road, Tucson, in the Proscenium Theater, located on the east side of the campus.
Sign in for speakers will begin at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be a question-and-answer format with a panel of BLM specialists. Each person will be given up to two minutes to ask a question or provide a comment, which will be recorded by a note taker. Comments to the plan will be accepted through May 30.
Comments may be submitted in writing to: Mark Lambert, IFNM Planner, BLM, 12661 East Broadway, Tucson AZ 85748 or may be submitted via e-mail at AZ_IFNM_RMP@blm.gov.
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