Comments sought for Bears Paw to Breaks permit renewals

Livestock grazing is at the heart of the Bureau of Land Management and its multiple use mission, all the way back to the origins of the bureau, which was founded from the combination of the U.S. Grazing Service and the General Land Office.

Livestock in Montana has long been raised on America’s public lands. Ranchers who use these lands for livestock production are authorized to do so through the grazing permit process.

The BLM North Central Montana District is in the process of renewing the grazing permits on 114 grazing allotments in the Bears Paw to Missouri River Breaks planning area. This planning area contains 298,668 acres of public land which is mainly located in the southern portion of Phillips, Blaine and Chouteau counties in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument and the BLM Havre Field Office.

The BLM is conducting an Environmental Analysis for the permit renewal. Part of the process includes a 30-day public scoping comment period starting March 12, 2018. “Public scoping comments are being requested to identify relevant issues for renewing the grazing permits and leases,” explained Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument Manager Josh Chase. “The scoping comments are most useful when they are specific, cite relevant issues and determine the extent of those issues.”

Members of the American public may submit written scoping comments postmarked by April 10, 2018 to: Bureau of Land Management Havre Field Office, 3990 Highway 2 West, Havre, MT 59501. Comments can be hand-delivered during regular business hours, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

The BLM strives to be a good neighbor in the communities we serve, where we provide opportunities for economic growth with space for traditional uses such as ranching, mining, logging, and energy development as well as hunting and fishing.

For more information, see the Bears Paw to Missouri River Breaks Planning Area Evaluation Report at: 1. BLM e-planning website - https://eplanning.blm.gov; 2. Select Text Search; State: Montana/Dakotas; 3. Office: MT-Havre FO; 4. Document Type: EA; 5. Fiscal Years: 2018; 6. Click “Search”; 7. Select NEPA # DOI-BLM-MT-L070-2018-0006-EA; 8. the evaluation report is located under Documents at the bottom of the page, or contact the Havre Field Office at (406)-262-2840.