LEWISTOWN, Mont. (NMB) – The Draft Resource Management Plan and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Lewistown Field Office and portions of the Butte Field Office are now available for review and comment.
A press release says that the Draft RMP/Draft EIS describes and analyzes four alternatives for future management of the public lands within the Lewistown planning area, which includes Cascade, Judith Basin, Meagher, Petroleum, Pondera, and Teton counties and portions of Fergus, Chouteau, and Lewis and Clark Counties.
They have identified four possible alternatives for the Resource Management Plan. The first alternative is a continuation of the current management. The agency preferred alternative emphasized meeting the purpose and need through resource uses that target social and economic outcomes by employing less special management designations for resource and resource use objectives. Other alternatives focus on habitats for priority wildlife and vegetation while allowing development, or meeting their purpose through a variety of management prescriptions to address resource uses and resources.
During the comment period, the BLM will hold a series of public meetings across the planning area.
The first meeting will be on Monday at the Petroleum County Courthouse in Winnett. On Tuesday, a meeting will be held at the Yogo Inn in Lewistown, and on Wednesday, they will be in Great Falls at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. All of the meetings will run from 5 to 7 PM.
