Sent comments via email to:
[email protected] February 8, 2017 Cindy Ledbetter Bureau of Land Management Richfield Field Office 150 East 900 North Richfield, UT 84701 RE: Comments to the Utah BLM June 2017 Oil and Gas Lease Sale EA and Parcels UT-0517-004, 005, 018, 020, 021, 022 and 025. Dear Ms. Ledbetter, Please accept the following comments on the Utah BLM’s Color Country Environmental Assessment (EA) for Parcels UT-0517-004, -018, -020, -021, -022, and -025 proposed for the June 2017 oil and gas lease sale. These parcels are located within the Richfield BLM Field Office. We appreciate the opportunity to comment on this sale. Trout Unlimited (TU) has 154,000 members nationwide and approximately 1,500 members associated with eight chapters throughout Utah including chapters in the areas these parcels are located. Our mission is to protect and restore coldwater fisheries and their habitats in Utah and across the West. Consistent with that mission, it is TU’s policy to encourage energy development in a way that meets the needs of people while eliminating, minimizing, or mitigating the impacts to coldwater fisheries and their watersheds. Our members enjoy fishing and hunting on these lands in addition to working on restoration projects in order to maintain and improve fisheries habitat. On behalf of our members, we offer the following comments. Concerns Regarding Lack of Fisheries and Watershed Information in EA We are concerned about the lack of analysis for watersheds and the associated fisheries in the June 2017 EA. Many of the parcels being offered for lease have a nexus to streams that bear coldwater fisheries and a state of Utah Blue Ribbon designation.