FARMINGTON — Following meetings with leaders of the Navajo Nation and the All Pueblo Council of Governors, Secretary of the Interior David L. Bernhardt, in close coordination with Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Tara Sweeney, directed the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs to extend the comment period for the Farmington Mancos-Gallup Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and associated Environmental Impact Statement. The public will now have until Sept. 25 to provide comments.

The Draft RMPA/EIS, which was released on Feb. 28, is analyzing resource management issues for lands in San Juan, Rio Arriba, McKinley, and Sandoval counties. The Draft RMPA/EIS provides a unified document that resource managers can use for land use management purposes. This planning effort will update management decisions such as oil and gas development, lands and realty, lands with wilderness characteristics, and vegetation. The document will facilitate the BLM and BIA environmental analysis and permitting of Indian and Tribal mineral development.

It encompasses approximately 4,189,460 acres of land, including roughly 675,400 acres of Navajo Trust surface, 1,316,200 acres of BLM-managed land, and 210,100 acres of individual Indian allotments across 17 Navajo Nation Chapters.

The BLM and BIA are currently considering several separate alternatives to resolve land use issues and resource management challenges. The decisions made will determine how to manage the public, Navajo Tribal Trust land, and Navajo Indian allotments and resources within the planning area for the next 10 to 15 years. For these reasons, an RMPA/EIS is required at this time. The BIA does not have an existing RMP.

The development of this RMPA/EIS will support the BIA’s future land management decisions.

The Draft RMPA/EIS and supporting information are available online at: https://go.usa.gov/xdrjD. Comments can be submitted via the web address, or by mail to:

BLM Farmington Field Office, Attn.: Sarah Scott, Project Manager, 6251 College Blvd, Suite A, Farmington, NM 87402

BIA Navajo Regional Office, Attn.: Robert Begay, Project Manager, P.O. Box 1060, Gallup, NM 87301