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Commissioners discuss possible formal protest and cooperative-agency status over Snowy River BLM project
Summary
County officials discussed the Bureau of Land Management's engagement during planning for the Snowy River project, cited the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and CEQ guidance, and asked staff to research a formal protest and pursue direct contact with BLM before an April 7 meeting.
Commissioner Rod Talk and county staff discussed whether Carter County was properly engaged by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) during planning for the Snowy River project and whether the county should pursue formal protest or further cooperative-agency involvement.
Rod Talk said he had spoken with Todd Devlin, who advised that, under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) and related Department of the Interior and Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) guidance, BLM should engage government partners and may use a cooperative-agency relationship when preparing or revising land-use plans and environmental assessments. Rod said Devlin told him "they are required through FLPMA to engage us before it happens," and that the county could file a formal protest at the local BLM office for not being given cooperative-agency status during the environmental-assessment phase.
County officials said the BLM had previously contacted Carter County about the project but that the county and its land-use resource plan were not provided to BLM during earlier stages. Pam (Clerk and Recorder) and other commissioners recalled that BLM staff had presented while the project was already under way and that subsequent public attention raised more questions about project scope. "They were deep knee deep into it at least like two years," one county speaker said of the BLM's interactions with private parties.
Commissioners agreed to ask county staff — including Nathan, who was mentioned as the likely person to research record dates and documentation — to gather documentation and, if appropriate, contact BLM staff prior to a scheduled April 7 meeting. The county left open the possibility of filing a formal protest with the local BLM office if the records show the county was not timely engaged.
The county also discussed that the BLM's resource-management and land-planning records (what participants called the county's resource plan) should have been requested by BLM in the early stages, and several participants said those records were not provided during the initial environmental-assessment process.
No formal county action to file a protest was taken at this meeting; commissioners directed staff to research the documentary record and to attempt to secure direct engagement with the BLM before the April 7 meeting.
