The latest on NCIP

• May 24, 2022
• CalWild

Future of Northwest California’s Bureau of Land Management Lands Under Consideration

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Arcata and Redding Field Offices are tasked with caring for about 382,000 acres (596 square-miles) of federal public land in Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Butte, and Tehama counties on behalf of the American people. The BLM is currently seeking public input on how these lands should be managed over the next decade or more. Comments must be in writing and will be accepted until Tuesday, June 28.

Sacramento River Bend Area part of the management areas covered by NCIP. Photo by Bob Wick.

All BLM lands are managed according to documents called Resource Management Plans (RMPs). The Arcata and Redding Field Offices’ existing RMPs are more than 27 years old and are in dire need of being updated.  The BLM offices have begun a revision process for those plans which they are calling the “Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan” or NCIP. BLM must address many issues in the updated RMP, including how they will:

• protect “Lands with Wilderness Characteristics” (LWC, the BLM term for the wildest and least developed tracts of land);
• conduct a robust inventory of potential “Wild and Scenic Rivers” (these are streams that should be protected from future dam construction and development);
• protect sources of clean water and important habitats for wildlife;
• identify and protect “Areas of Critical Environmental Concern” (ACEC), lands that are prioritized for conservation or other special management by the agency;
• identify key private parcels for acquisition from willing sellers in existing ACECs, Wilderness, Wild and Scenic Rivers, wildlife migration corridors, popular recreation sites, and other sensitive areas;
• plan for recreational opportunities for locals and visitors; and
• conserve cultural and historic sites important to Native American tribes and others.

The BLM will take public input into consideration as it updates the RMP. Once approved, the new plan will dictate how agency lands in the Arcata and Redding Field Offices are managed for the next 20 years or more.

In addition to taking written comments, the BLM will also be hosting in-person and virtual public meetings. Participants must register in advance for the virtual Zoom public meetings by visiting https://bit.ly/3PSBSh9.

In-person meetings:

• Monday, June 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel, 1830 Hilltop Drive in Redding; and
• Wednesday, June 8, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Redwood Lodge picnic area in Redwood Park in Arcata.

Virtual meetings:

• Thursday, June 9, from 9 to 11 a.m. Topics include forestry, vegetation management and fire management;
• Tuesday, June 14, from 9 to 11 a.m. Topics include fish and wildlife;
• Wednesday, June 15, from 4 to 6 p.m. Topics include socioeconomics, environmental justice, Tribal interests, cultural resources and public health and safety; and
• Thursday, June 16, from 5 to 7 p.m. Topics include recreation management, special designations, minerals management and lands and realty.

Detailed information on the BLM’s planning process, including relevant documents, is available on the BLM’s ePlanning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2012803/510.

Please look for an alert with a sample email to BLM from CalWild a little closer to the end of the comment period.