BLM details South Railroad EIS timeline, Crescent Valley development EA and 2025 geothermal lease parcels in Elko District

Elizabeth Fuentes, field manager for the Tuscarora Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, told the Elko County Natural Resources Management Advisory Commission that the office expects a Notice of Intent for the South Railroad mine plan of operations to be published earlier than previously planned and that several other Elko District reviews will be open for public comment in the coming weeks.

The most immediate item is the South Railroad plan of operations. Fuentes said the office completed an initial action notice briefing to the BLM state office and headquarters and is “about 2 weeks ahead of schedule” on routing; she said that shifts the expected Federal Register Notice of Intent from mid‑July toward late June or early July and that the project will move into public scoping and a NEPA process that could include in‑person public meetings.

Why it matters: a Notice of Intent launches formal NEPA scoping and public comment that feed a draft environmental impact statement (EIS). Fuentes told the commission the EIS timeline commonly spans about a year from NOI to draft EIS, and that the public will have multiple opportunities to comment including on a draft EIS and a final EIS.

Other Elko District actions Fuentes discussed include the Orumac Crescent Valley Development Project (referred to as ORMAP), for which an environmental assessment (EA) was released for a 30‑day public review period beginning Monday the twelfth (month not specified in the packet), and a 2025 geothermal lease sale scheduled for October 2025 that includes 21 parcels in the Elko District. Fuentes said the draft EA for the geothermal parcels is expected to go out for a 30‑day review period starting in mid‑June.

Fuentes also reported an updated environmental assessment for the Lamoille Trails Project arrived about an hour before the meeting; she said she planned to review the document and expects to publish it for public review in roughly two to three weeks.

Brady Owens, assistant field manager for non‑renewable resources in the Wells Field Office, updated the commission on SWIP North — the large transmission project that will run through much of Elko County. Owens said the project, first authorized in 1993 and later rerouted in 2010, is advancing cultural‑resource work and requires an amended construction, operations and maintenance plan from the proponent. He said the proponent for the current activity is LS Power, which Owens described as a large power company headquartered in Missouri. Owens said the BLM is working with consulting parties, tribes and the Nevada State Historic Preservation Office to satisfy Section 106 requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act before construction can proceed.

Owens provided additional mining‑related updates for projects that will be out for public comment in June: Juniper Lode (an exploration/development project in the Blue Bell Wilderness Study Area targeting amethyst/quartz specimens) and Beacon Hill (a pozzolan/exploration project west of West Wendover). He said Juniper Lode is expected to be a very small permitting document and that Beacon Hill encompasses roughly 47.9 acres of potential disturbance for exploration. Owens gave schedule details: public comment for Juniper Lode is planned for June 19 and Beacon Hill for June 26.

Other items Owens highlighted included ongoing work on a term permit renewal (described in the meeting as the “DTH term permit renewal”) where the BLM is coordinating Section 7 Endangered Species Act consultation for Lahontan cutthroat trout, and the West Windover conveyance (a transfer of certain Air Force lands) that is awaiting cadastral surveying before environmental site assessments can proceed. Owens referenced the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act of 02/2004 in describing the conveyance authority discussed by staff.

Speakers at the meeting emphasized there will be multiple formal comment periods and in‑person meetings when notices are published; Fuentes and Owens both encouraged interested parties to watch BLM ePlanning and the Federal Register for specific dates and documents. The commission asked procedural questions about when documents will appear online; Fuentes said the South Railroad materials were not online at the time of the meeting but expected to be publicly available after the Federal Register notice.

Ending: BLM staff said they will circulate monthly project update lists to local governments, tribes and other interested parties; commissioners and staff said they will watch for the upcoming notice and EA postings and consider notifying local stakeholders when the public comment periods open.