UPLA has completed our submission of comments for the Sand Mountain Land Exchange, you can read the entire document here.
While we are very pleased with our results in getting an acceptable resolution verbally, we still have a ways to go to get an agreement we feel comfortable with legally. Comments Close Wednesday April 19-Do It Now or Again Please!
In summary, UPLA’s position on the Land Exchange is conditioned on several considerations:
There have been many issues in the past associated with BLM Land Exchanges, as documented in the Congressional Research Services review of 2016. This Exchange is further complicated by the lack of an intended use of the BLM parcel. The presumed purpose of the WCWCD is to build a reservoir, which UPLA acknowledges has a legitimate need and purpose. Our Position is thus dependent on the intended uses being clearly stated in the agreement as follows:
If the Reservoir is built, UPLA is agreeable to the Exchange with the following considerations and binding legal documentation:
- Preserve Open OHV Access for all the land above the 2980’ elevation level on the Eastern side to the BLM border
- Maintain OHV access from the Washington Dam area to the trail system above, either via the current Ridgeline Trail or another trail that Washington County Water Conservancy would construct
- Prohibit Building and Development or any zoning changes allowing it on top of the ridge, except for necessary infrastructure for the reservoir or OHV recreation.
- Allow construction of a minimum 3 acre staging area in the Washington Dam Area, including installation of a restroom
- Maintain or relocate the current restroom on Pipeline Road
- Maintain access to the above facilities without any fees
- Dispersed camping in Warner Valley often attracts up to 300 campers that have enjoyed camping there for years without any charges. Develop a plan that would allow camping and Open OHV use to continue in the Valley until Dam construction begins, and when construction begins, offer alternatives for reasonable alternatives for campers displaced by the Land Exchange.
If the Reservoir is not built, UPLA is strongly opposed to the Exchange, as a large, but unknown number of consequences would emerge that would result from future division of lands, sales, annexation, and development.
UPLA strongly recommends that this Exchange be evaluated as a Connected Action dependent upon whether the Reservoir is built or not.
UPLA recommends the Exchange only be approved by BLM as a connected action and be evaluated in the same NEPA study as the potential construction of the reservoir. BLM provides the definition and handling of a “Connected Action” as follows:
Connected actions are those proposed Federal actions that are “closely related” and “should be discussed” in the same NEPA document (40 CFR 1508.25 (a)(1)). Proposed actions are connected if they automatically trigger other actions that may require an environmental impact statement; cannot or will not proceed unless other actions are taken previously or simultaneously; or if the actions are interdependent parts of a larger action and depend upon the larger action for their justification (40 CFR 1508.25 (a)(1)). Connected actions are limited to Federal actions that are currently proposed (ripe for decision). Actions that are not yet proposed are not connected actions but may need to be analyzed in the cumulative effects analysis if they are reasonably foreseeable.
If the connected action is also a proposed BLM action, we recommend that you include both actions as aspects of a broader “proposal” (40 CFR 1508.23), analyzed in a single NEPA document. You may either construct an integrated purpose and need statement for both your proposed action and the connected action, or you may present separate purpose and need statements for your proposed action and the connected action. Regardless of the structure of the purpose and need statement(s), you must develop alternatives and mitigation measures for both actions (40 CFR 1508.25(b)), and analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative effects of both actions (40 CFR 1508.25(c)).
WCWCD should conduct the technical evaluation of the feasibility, costs, mitigations, and to satisfy themselves of the suitability of the Exchange land for construction of a reservoir before the Exchange is approved, and no change in use be permitted until they have completed their review and approval of the site. In the event the Exchange is approved before this evaluation is made, it should be only approved with a Reversion clause that would prohibit any change in use and revert ownership back to BLM if the decision to proceed has not been made within a specific time period.
