(NM) Fwd: NM BLM Seeks Comments about Off Highway Vehicle Use

<http://www.nm.blm.gov/www/news_releases/NR_2003/ohv0313.rel.htm>http://www.nm.blm.gov/www/news_releases/NR_2003/ohv0313.rel.htm


NEWS RELEASE

Department of the Interior - Bureau of Land Management

1800 Marquess St. - Las Cruces, NM 88005

Alan Ables, Public Affairs Officer - 505/525-4488


For Immediate Release: For Additional Information:

March 13, 2003 ohv0313rel Rob Jaggers, 505/835-0412

BLM Seeks Comments about Off Highway Vehicle Use

Schedules Meetings in Datil, Albuquerque and Socorro

SOCORRO - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has scheduled a series
of meetings to discuss Off Highway Vehicle (OHV) use on publicly
managed land. The meetings are related to work by the BLM-Socorro
field office to write a land-use plan for Socorro and Catron Counties.



Because OHV issues were mentioned often during earlier public
meetings about the revised land use plan, we believe these meetings
will help us focus on current and future public interest, according
to Kate Padilla, BLM-Socorro field office manager.



Meeting dates and locations are: March 26, Datil Fire
Station/Training Center, Datil; March 27, BLM-Albuquerque Field
Office, 435 Montano Road NE, Albuquerque; and April 2, Macey Center
(Gallena Room) at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. The meetings will
begin at 5 p.m. with an 'open house,' followed at 6:30 p.m. with a
brief presentation about BLM's OHV program and issues the public has
identified. The meetings will conclude with additional public
comments and questions.



'Motorized OHV use has increased substantially in recent years
because of technological advances, greater public interest in outdoor
recreation and the rapid growth of the West's cities and suburbs,'
according to Environmental Planner Charles Carroll of the BLM-Socorro
field office.



The number of OHVs registered in New Mexico has grown by about 240
percent since 1990, according to the new Mexico DMV.



As the public increasingly relies on public lands for motorized
recreation, the impacts associated with this use continue to grow.
'Balancing public use and enjoyment with the protection of important
resources requires more effective management of the vast network of
roads and trails,' Carroll said.



The BLM received more than 200 letters and comment forms and input
from about 50 people who attended 'scoping meetings' that the BLM
hosted from May through September 2002. The meetings were an
integral part of the BLM's approach to writing the revised land-use
plan, called a Resource Management Plan Revision/Environmental Impact
Statement (RMPR/EIS).



The summary of comments and letters is available in the 'Scoping
Report,' available at the BLM-Socorro field office, 198 Neel Ave, NW,
in Socorro, or online at: <http://www.nm.blm.gov/>www.nm.blm.gov.



'The Socorro Field Office wants to ensure a positive, inclusive
approach to OHV decision making and better OHV management. Good
planning outcomes require the help of local communities and residents
and lots of cooperation; we hope that as many people as possible can
join us at one or all of these meetings,' Padilla said.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages
about 13 million acres in New Mexico. The BLM's Socorro field office
is responsible for about 1.5 million acres of that total in Socorro
and Catron Counties.

Additional information about the RMPR/EIS process and the OHV
meetings is available by calling Carroll, 838-1278, or BLM Outdoor
Recreation Specialist Rob Jaggers, 835-0412.

I had been to one other meeting- in Los Angeles -and boy was this a big change! The New Mexico BLM is very OHV friendly, in fact most of the BLM staff were OHVers themselves, as well as NRA members. There were no scuzzy greenies at this meeting, either. If there were any greenies they kept their thoughts to themselves. The group with the most negative feelings towards the OHV community were the ranchers from Soccoro. They are getting much more traffic in their area due to the increase of elk tags issued, up from 300 in 2000 to 2300 tags in 2002. Once that pesky elk herd is exterminated, maybe things will settle down.