BLM seeks input on proposed Sonoran Desert National Monument grazing plan
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PHOENIX – The Bureau of Land Management is seeking public comment on a land use planning proposal regarding livestock grazing within the Sonoran Desert National Monument. The proposal would make six allotments in the monument available for brief periods of grazing based on the availability of forage and subject to additional, allotment-specific analysis.
The 2001 presidential proclamation establishing the monument directed the BLM to determine the compatibility of livestock grazing on monument lands north of Interstate 8. The BLM completed a resource management plan and record of decision for the monument in 2012, which addressed grazing among other resource uses. In 2016, the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona remanded a portion of the 2012 plan back to the BLM. In 2020, the BLM issued a resource management plan amendment specific to livestock grazing. A legal challenge to that plan amendment prompted this new planning effort.
The comment period is scheduled to close June 10, 2024. Comments may be submitted via email to BLM_AZ_PDO_SDNMGrazing@blm.gov, online at the BLM National NEPA Register, or via mail to Lower Sonoran Field Office, Attn: SDNM Grazing, 2020 E. Bell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85022.
Draft documents, maps, and information on the planning process are available at the BLM National NEPA Register.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.