The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Northern California District, Arcata Field Office (AFO) and Redding Field Office (RFO), are beginning pre-Notice of Intent (NOI) work starting Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 for the Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan (NCIP).

The NCIP would replace and update current management direction set forth in the Arcata and Redding FOs’ respective RMPs: Arcata Resource Area Resource Management Plan and Record of Decision (1992 Arcata RMP), and the Redding Resource Management Plan and Record of Decision (1993 Redding RMP). The NCIP would satisfy National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements by analyzing the effects of proposed management decisions through development of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and single ROD and meet the land use planning requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).

The Arcata and Redding Field Offices (FOs) recognize that land management planning over larger geographic scales can result in planning, collaboration and management efficiencies and that development of RMPs requires a collaborative approach among federal agencies, Tribes, and state and local governments. By developing a joint RMP, the Arcata and Redding FOs can utilize the opportunity to work across administrative boundaries and move forward as efficiently as possible with RMP revisions by sharing resources, contractors, and inter-office coordination throughout the planning process. Initial planning for the NCIP began in 2016. A NOI to prepare the RMP/EIS was published on November 7, 2016. On April 5, 2019 a Notice of Termination was published in the Federal Register explaining that the termination was due to recent catastrophic wildfires—Carr and Camp fires—which damaged a significant portion of the planning area. The BLM decided to focus resources on post-fire rehabilitation efforts in the planning area.

The notice in the Federal Register explained that the termination was due to recent catastrophic wildfires—Carr and Camp fires—which damaged a significant1 portion of the planning area. The BLM decided to focus resources on post-fire rehabilitation efforts in the planning area. The planning area for the Arcata and Redding FOs cover 14.5 million acres and includes 400,000 surface acres along with 300,000 mineral estate acres. The planning area for the NCIP (Figure 3) includes AFO to the west, RFO to the east, and encompasses BLM-administered land in eight counties in northwestern California except for the four National Conservation Lands (NCL) units with separate RMPs.