Last Week at the BLM, July 28-August 1,...

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Last Week at the BLM, July 28-August 1, 2014

Announcements, Events, and News

On July 29, 2014, BLM Director Neil Kornze testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a bill that would increase the efficiency of oil and gas permitting on public lands and coordination among agencies by continuing the BLM’s Oil and Gas Pilot Office program. During his testimony on S. 2440, the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act of 2014, Kornze described the key role pilot offices play in supporting the Administration’s All-of-the-Above energy strategy to create jobs and reduce the nation’s independence on foreign oil. Read the press release.

At a time when current off-range holding facilities are nearing capacity limits, the BLM announced last week that it is soliciting bids for new long-term pasture facilities that provide a free-roaming environment for wild horses. The BLM is also soliciting bids for multiple short-term facilities in various states that border or are east of the Mississippi River. The BLM removes animals from the range to control the size of herds, which have virtually no predators and can double in population every four years. The BLM plans to remove 2,400 animals from the range in Fiscal Year 2014, down from 4,176 in FY 2013. The BLM is also using population growth-suppression measures, and is supporting research to improve existing and develop new PGS tools. Read the press release .

Announced last week, the BLM’s National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet for one day in August in Riverton, Wyoming, to discuss issues relating to the management and protection of wild horses and burros on Western public rangelands. The meeting will take place on Monday, August 25, 2014, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Mountain Time). Read the press release.

The BLM conducted the first auction of federal helium on July 31, 2014, under the terms of the recently enacted Helium Stewardship Act. A total of 92 Mmcf from the Federal Helium Reserve near Amarillo was sold, representing 10 percent of the total volume BLM will make available from the Reserve in Fiscal Year 2015. The helium was sold in 12 lots ranging from five to 10 MMcf, with bids ranging from $130 to $180 per Mcf, generating a total of $14,972,568 in revenue. This revenue will contribute to nearly $185 million the Helium Program will contribute to the the U.S. Treasury this year. Read the press release.

Internal News Features

While fire is typically fought aggressively in sagebrush habitats, firefighting efforts on the Bodie Fire got an extra boost when the BLM California Bishop Field Office coordinated an interagency effort to help protect this critical resource. The fire, which began on July 18, 2014, due to a lightning strike, enlisted the help of 200 firefighters as part of the suppression response, including four Interagency Hotshot Crews, two hand crews, two strike teams of engines, three water tenders, a helicopter and a heli-tanker and air attack. Crews represented the BLM, U.S. Forest Service, and Cal Fire. Read the story published on BLM California’s website.

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