WINNEMUCCA – The Santa Rosa Ranger District has released the Santa Rosa Rangeland Management Project draft Decision Notice/Finding of No Significant Impact and final Environmental Assessment for a 45-day formal objection period.
“The purpose of the Santa Rosa Rangeland Management Project is to authorize livestock grazing and incorporate flexibility into how livestock are managed,” said Santa Rosa District Ranger Boyd Hatch. “Under the selected Alternative 1, livestock grazing would be managed to achieve healthy and productive rangelands that support a diversity of native plant and wildlife species while also providing increased flexibility to livestock grazing permittees.”
Hatch explained the current fixed on/off dates do not allow flexibility based on ground conditions.
The selected alternative would allow for flexible on/off dates that let the Forest approve access to forage on the range earlier or later in the season, dependent on range readiness and seasonal conditions (winter events, seasonal weather, and drought).
The flexibility would not influence the number of livestock but may allow for an additional permitted number of days if there is excess forage and permit terms and conditions are met.
The selected alternative also provides growing season rest after a grazing period to allow for vegetation recovery and set consistent utilization standards for the District’s grazing allotments across riparian areas, uplands, and meadows.
Objections will be accepted for 45 days following publication of the legal notice in the Elko Daily Free Press from anyone who previously submitted specific written comments during designated comment periods. Issues raised in objections must be based on previously submitted comments unless based on new information arising after designated opportunities to comment.
The Santa Rosa Rangeland Management Project’s draft Decision Notice/Finding of No Significant Impact and final Environmental Assessment and other project documents are available at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=52282.
Objections must be mailed to Reviewing Officer, Intermountain Region U.S. Forest Service, 324 25th Street, Ogden UT, 84401, or facsimiles can be sent to 801-625-5277.
Electronic objections must be submitted in a format such as an email message, pdf, plain text (.txt), rich text format (.rtf), or Word (.doc) to: objections-intermtn-regional-office@usda.gov. Please put “Santa Rosa Range” in the subject line.
For more information on this project, please contact Santa Rosa District Ranger Boyd Hatch, at boyd.hatch@usda.gov or 775-623-5025 Ext 4.
For additional information on the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, please visit https://fs.usda.gov/htnf or participate in the conversation at https://twitter.com/HumboldtToiyabe and https://facebook.com/HumboldtToiyabeNF/.