The BLM’s Southeastern Oregon Approved Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment and Record of Decision (ROD)

The following paragraphs provide a brief summary of the management direction in the RMP Amendment.

Under the RMP Amendment, the BLM prioritizes protection of 33 of the 76 areas identified by the BLM as having wilderness characteristics. These 33 protected areas are designated as: Visual Resource Management (VRM) Class II (allows only a low level of change to the visual character of the landscape) unless already VRM Class I; Land Tenure Zone 1 (retain in public ownership); and as exclusion areas for major rights-of-way and commercial renewable energy projects. The protected areas will be managed as No Surface Occupancy for leasable minerals and closed to new mineral material sites. Where roads form the boundary of a protected wilderness characteristic area, a 250-foot management setback is established. The setback areas total 9,247 acres. The setback areas provide BLM with management flexibility to, among other things, adapt to resources needs, threats, and opportunities, while maintaining or enhancing the values within the protected areas. Following is a non-exclusive list of actions that are prohibited in the setback areas: projects that would have impacts that are pervasive and omnipresent as seen from within the protected unit; actions in boundary road setbacks that would have the potential to eliminate the wilderness characteristics in the adjacent protected unit; and major rights-of-way and commercial energy projects.

The RMP Amendment also Limits OHV use to existing routes on 319,501 acres that are currently Open to OHV use. This brings the total of OHV Limited acres in the planning area to 4.5 million. All 33 of the protected lands with wilderness characteristic areas are within this OHV Limited category. Two areas near Vale, Oregon, totaling 40,368 acres, will remain Open to OHV use. The 15,829 acres that are currently Closed to motorized use will remain closed.

Finally, the RMP Amendment provides additional guidance on the implementation of the BLM’s Standards for Rangeland Health and the processing of voluntary grazing permit relinquishments. The RMP Amendment calls for the BLM to consider taking action in areas that are not meeting Standards for Rangeland Health even if existing livestock grazing is not determined to be a significant causal factor for non-attainment of the standard. The RMP Amendment also clarifies that the BLM will not permit increases to Animal Unit Months if analysis finds that doing so could cause negative impacts to other resources in an area where there is either no Rangeland Health Assessment and Evaluation or if the Evaluation no longer represents the existing resource conditions. The RMP Amendment calls for the BLM to review the suitability and compatibility of livestock grazing use with other existing resources in the permitted area when a voluntary permit relinquishment is received.

We encourage you to read the documents and view all the maps on the Eplanning site, linked above and here: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/87435/570 .

Its important to call out this found in the “Rationale for the Decision” section:

“During the comment period on the DRMPA/DEIS, comments from Tribes, cooperating agencies, a wide array of interest groups, and the public expressed strong support for the lands with wilderness characteristic units identified for protection in Alternative D. The protection of these 33 units is also consistent with the Biden Administration’s America the Beautiful initiative.”

This goes to show how important being engaged in comment periods can be and highlights the need for us to have a stronger voice locally.