BLM opens public comment on national off-highway vehicle management strategy

The Bureau of Land Management will provide a 30-day public comment period after publishing a draft of its forthcoming national off-highway vehicle management strategy, BLM Director Tom Fry announced Monday. The draft should be released by Nov. 15; the public will have until mid-December to comment.

The strategy under development is aimed at addressing OHV management and access-related issues while protecting environmentally sensitive areas on the public lands.

The BLM is analyzing off-highway vehicle and access-related public comments that the agency gathered through Aug. 31. The BLM received both letters and statements at 44 meetings held this summer throughout the West and in Washington, D.C.

Officials said the BLM will take these comments into account as it writes its draft management strategy. When finalized, the strategy will give local BLM land managers a framework for dealing with various off-highway and public land access issues.

During the comment period, the BLM plans to conduct a satellite downlink, interactive broadcast with the agency's Resource Advisory Councils across the West. The public will be able to view the broadcast from the Bureau's State and Field Offices; the BLM will announce the date of the broadcast in the near future.