[MPWG] BLM plan to increase herbicide applications

[penny at pinenut.com]

I apperciate this post and that of Rebecca McLain. There are many of us who collect foods as well as medicines from public lands. I doubt any thought has been given to those of us who use BLM lands for purposes other than cattle ranching. 
Thank you,
Penny Frazier
Goods From The Woods

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Cafesombra at aol.com 
  To: MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org 
  Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 2:04 PM
  Subject: [MPWG] BLM plan to increase herbicide applications


  COMMENTS NEEDED BY JANUARY 9  (apologies for short notice)

   http://www.blm.gov/nhp/spotlight/VegEIS/

  Comments must be postmarked by January 9, 2006. Talking points for comments are below. Send your comments to:

   

  Mr. Brian Amme

  PEIS Program Manager

              Nevada State Office

              PO Box 12000

              Reno, Nevada 80520-0006

              Fax: 775.861-0006

              Email: vegeis at nv.blm.gov 

   

  Some would argue that increased herbicide application addresses symptoms without addressing causes of invasive species problems on public lands.

   

  The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has recently published a huge, two-volume draft environmental impact statement, “Vegetation Treatments Using Herbicides on Bureau of Land Management Lands in 17 Western States Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement” (DEIS), to authorize use of 18 different herbicides to control weeds and other undesirable vegetation on BLM lands in 17 western states. Almost one million acres (932,000 acres) are proposed to be sprayed annually, up from the current 325,000 acres per year. 


  A third volume, “Vegetation Treatments on Bureau of Land Management Lands in 17 Western States Programmatic Environmental Report,” (PER) describes other biological, mechanical, and “cultural” methods, as well as the use of fire, for vegetation management on BLM lands. These other treatments would increase from 500,000 acres annually to 6 million acres annually on BLM lands under the PER.


  The DEIS and PER covers all 262 million acres of BLM lands, and a wide range of habitat types: from forests to grasslands and deserts, marine environments, and tundra and sub-artic landscapes in Alaska. However, 70 percent of herbicide applications and most non-chemical treatments are intended for the Sagebrush Sea in the Intermountain West. Publicly owned sagebrush lands have been fragmented and degraded by livestock grazing, off-road vehicle use, energy development, and road construction for the past 150 years. Under the BLM’s draft policies, sagebrush habitats are targeted for burning, brush beating, chaining, and herbicide spraying, purportedly to improve habitat for sage grouse and other wildlife. Unfortunately, these treatments have not been proven to work, or work well, without also eliminating the aforementioned causes of weed invasion and undesirable conditions on BLM lands.



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