BLM: Thank You For Listening To Native Communities and Protecting Important Eastern Alaska Wild Lands
After eight years of preparation, the BLM has released its proposed plan managing Alaska's wild and secluded Eastern Interior, a place of vast landscapes and complex river systems spanning 6.5 million acres of some of America's most ruggedly beautiful and remote land.
It is a region is home to moose, caribou, grizzly bear, wolverine, eagles, dozens of fish species, and it also contains the traditional land of 12 federally recognized tribal communities.
In February 2012, the BLM released a draft land use plan for the Eastern Interior that acknowledged valuable areas for conservation but opened these wild places to development. After consulting with concerned local Alaska Native communities, the agency has now proposed a final plan that strikes the right balance between development, protection of critical traditional uses, and conservation of vital habitats for internationally important fish and wildlife species. The BLM is expected to issue a final "Record of Decision" later this year.
Sign and urge the agency to stand strong to ensure that lands supplying crucial habitat for wildlife and outstanding opportunities for outdoor recreation, as well as areas holding cultural importance for Alaska Native communities, are safeguarded from development for future generations to enjoy.
Subject: Thank you for listening to Alaska Native Communities
Dear BLM State Director Bud Cribley:
Thank you for significantly improving your plan for managing Alaska's Eastern Interior public lands in your Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement for the region.
Alaska's Eastern Interior is a place of vast landscapes and complex river systems spanning 6.5 million acres of some of America’s most untrammeled land. It is a region that is home to moose, caribou, grizzly bears, wolverines, eagles, and dozens of fish species, and it also contains the traditional land of 12 federally recognized tribal communities. I was disappointed when the draft plan for the region acknowledged valuable areas for conservation but left these wild places open to development.
Today, I commend the BLM for listening to concerns from local Alaska Native communities and citizens from across Alaska in creating the proposed plan that strikes the right balance between development, protection of critical traditional uses, and conservation of vital habitats for internationally important fish and wildlife species.
I commend the BLM on making significant improvements to the plan and urge the agency to stand strong and ensure that lands supplying crucial places for wildlife and outstanding opportunities for outdoor recreation, as well as areas holding cultural importance for Alaska Native communities, are safeguarded from development for years to come in the Record of Decision.
[Your Comment]
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
