USDA Forest Service Releases Final Record of Decision for Thunder Basin National Grassland Plan...
Media Contact: Aaron Voos, (970) 819-2898
(DOUGLAS, Wyo.) December 1, 2020 – The USDA Forest Service has released the final record of decision (ROD) to amend the Thunder Basin National Grassland Land and Resource Management Plan. The plan amendment will address the management of black-tailed prairie dog colonies on National Forest System lands to allow federal land managers to respond to a variety of environmental and social conditions on the grassland. A notice of grassland plan amendment approval will publish in the Federal Register on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.
The final environmental impact statement and draft record of decision (ROD) were released in May 2020, followed by a 60-day objection filing period and an opportunity for interested parties to request to participate in the objection resolution process. The objection resolution process was completed in October 2020. It included a meeting among the objection Reviewing Officer, Deputy Regional Forester Jacque Buchanan, objectors, and interested parties and a full review of the project record by Forest Service specialists unaffiliated with the project. The objection resolution process resulted in instructions to the Responsible Official, Forest Supervisor Russ Bacon. Instructions address a broad range of interested party concerns and include clarification of decision and analysis points to ensure decision rationale are well documented in the ROD.
The ROD represents the U.S Forest Service final decision for the plan amendment. The decision addresses long-standing issues related to prairie dog management, including viability of at-risk wildlife species, recovery of the endangered black-footed ferret, forage for permitted livestock, prairie dog encroachment onto private and state lands, and social and economic issues.
The amended grassland plan establishes prairie dog management zones along boundaries between National Forest System lands and private and state properties, allows broader application of tools for colony control, maintains 10,000 acres of prairie dog colonies managed for conservation and wildlife habitat, and increases emphasis on management of sylvatic plague.
The final ROD, project reference materials and maps are available on the project web site at: http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/nepa_project_exp.php?project=55479.
Current information related to restoration work and prairie dog colony management efforts on the
Thunder Basin National Grassland is posted at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/MBRTB/PrairieDogs.
For more information, contact Planning Team Leader Monique Nelson at (307) 275-0956, or monique.nelson@usda.gov.