Project Overview
BLM and BIA are preparing the RMPA/EIS to examine changing oil and gas development patterns in the Mancos Shale and Gallup Sandstone formations, including innovations in horizontal drilling technology and multistage hydraulic fracturing.
The BLM will use this EIS to consider amending decisions in the 2003 RMP related to impacts of oil and gas development, rights-of-way, lands with wilderness characteristics, and vegetation. The BLM’s 2003 RMP is still valid and guides their management decisions; however, they using this EIS to amend their RMP to provide the agency with additional management tools within the BLM decision areas defined for the FMG RMPA EIS, including leasable fluid minerals; vegetation management; lands and realty; and lands with wilderness characteristics
Binajih Naanish Aalnehii Baahane'
Listen to information about this virtual open house station in Navajo.
BLM Decision Area near Pierre’s Ruin
The BIA will be using the FMG RMPA/EIS to evaluate alternatives and resource impacts related to its authority over mineral leasing and associated activity decisions within the planning area
Planning Area
The planning area consists of 4,189,460 acres of the BLM FFO and BIA NRO, including lands managed by the BLM, the BIA (Tribal trust lands and individual Indian allotments), the State of New Mexico, the Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and New Mexico Game and Fish; it also includes private property and Navajo Tribal fee lands. The planning area is based on the physical location of the Mancos/Gallup formations in northwestern New Mexico large enough that the BLM and BIA could evaluate the reasonably foreseeable development of these formations regardless of the owner or manager of the land.
Decision Areas
The BLM and BIA decision areas comprise about 62 percent of the planning area and consist of the surface land (surface decision areas) and subsurface mineral estate (mineral decision areas) under the BLM’s and BIA’s authority to make land use and management decisions.
Much of the mineral estate in the BLM and BIA decision areas is already leased, with approximately 2,300 leases on BLM-managed minerals and 560 leases on BIA-managed minerals. Leased and unleased portions of the BLM and BIA mineral decision areas are provided in the following figure.
Leased and Unleased Acreage in the Mineral Decision Areas
BLM Decision Areas
The total BLM decision area is made up of approximately 2 million acres of BLM-managed surface lands and federal mineral estate. Because the surface and minerals of some lands are owned or managed by two different entities, the BLM has divided its decisions for the FMG RMPA/EIS into surface decisions and mineral decisions. The BLM surface decision area includes all surface land that it manages, regardless of the subsurface owner or manager. The BLM mineral decision area includes federal mineral estate managed by the BLM, regardless of the surface owner or manager. The Forest Service determines the stipulations for the lands it manages; because of this, those lands and the federal minerals beneath them are not part of the BLM surface or mineral decision area for the FMG RMPA/EIS. Similarly, NPS lands and the minerals beneath them are withdrawn from mineral entry and are not part of the BLM surface or mineral decision area for the FMG RMPA/EIS.
BLM Surface and Mineral Decision Areas
BIA Decision Areas
The BIA decision area includes approximately 900,000 surface and mineral estate acres divided between Navajo Tribal trust and individual Indian allotments for which the BIA NRO has authority to make decisions regarding mineral leasing and associated activities. Tribal trust lands of the Jicarilla Apache Nation and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, which are adjacent to BLM-managed lands and federal mineral estate in the FFO, are not part of the BIA decision area, although they are part of the planning area. Because there are areas where the surface and minerals are owned or managed by two different entities, the BIA has divided its decisions for the FMG RMPA/EIS into surface decisions and mineral decisions. The BIA surface decision area includes all Navajo Tribal trust and individual Indian allotment surface land, regardless of the subsurface owner or manager.
BIA Surface and Mineral Decision Areas
Comparing Alternatives
The BLM and BIA jointly developed their own alternatives for the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS in collaboration with stakeholders, including cooperating agencies, and in response to the issues and concerns identified during two rounds of public scoping. The first round was in 2014 and the second round was conducted from 2016 to 2017 after the BIA joined as a co-lead agency.
The BLM and BIA each have developed one no action alternative and four action alternatives. The action alternatives—A, B (and its two BLM sub-alternatives, B1 and B2), C (and its six BLM sub-alternatives, C1-C6), and D—offer a wide range of possible management approaches for responding to the planning issues identified during the public scoping periods.
Each alternative addresses resource management goals in varying ways, with the potential for different long-range outcomes and conditions. The relative emphasis given to particular resources and resource uses also differs for each alternative. For example, the areas where certain uses are allowed may vary by alternative, or the mitigation measures applied to protect sensitive resources may vary. A summary of each agency’s range of alternatives analyzed for the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS is included below.
Comparison of BLM and BIA alternatives
The BLM and BIA also used the scoping processes in 2014, 2016, and 2017 to develop the range of analysis in the Draft RMPA/EIS. Issues raised in the 2017 scoping report, which can be accessed here, are described below along with the locations in the Draft RMPA/EIS where those issues are addressed.
Comparison of the issues raised in the 2017 scoping report and where they are discussed in the Draft RMPA/EIS
Next Station
For more information on the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS, please contact Sarah Scott (505-564-7689) or Robert Begay (505-863-8515).
If you have questions about the Draft FMG RMPA/EIS or wish to be added or removed from the mailing list, please email blm_nm_ffo_rmp@blm.gov.