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BLM briefs Churchill County on wild-horse EA, Sands Canyon surveys and deferred geothermal parcels
Summary
BLM staff introduced a new Stillwater Field Office manager and told commissioners that baseline botany surveys at Sands Canyon are imminent, a wild-horse and burro environmental assessment is expected in June, and several geothermal lease parcels affecting Churchill County were deferred pending management plans or conveyance.
BLM staff provided an update to the Churchill County Board of Commissioners during the public comment portion of the meeting, including introductions and status reports on multiple projects that touch county-managed lands.
Mark Mazler of the Bureau of Land Management opened the remarks and introduced Zach Reicold (transcribed alternately as Reifold), the new permanent field manager for the Stillwater Field Office. "Hi, everybody. My name is Zach Reicold, as Mark just mentioned, and I am actually the permanent field, manager for the Stillwater Field Office," Reicold said, adding he looks forward to in-person meetings.
Mazler and Reicold described several near-term actions: a contractor is preparing to conduct baseline botany surveys at Sands Canyon; the BLM expects a final environmental assessment and decision on the wild-horse and burro gather (hunt-and-gather EA) in June; and portions of geothermal lease parcels affecting Churchill County were deferred. One parcel was deferred because it lies in recently-designated lands that require a management plan created under provisions in the NDAA; another portion was deferred because it overlaps land that is pending conveyance to Churchill County.
The county did not take immediate action on the BLM update, but commissioners later approved a draft comment letter responding to the BLM Blue Wing Complex gather and herd management area preliminary environmental assessment as a separate agenda item.
BLM staff offered contact information and indicated they will return with more detailed updates to the county in the future.
