The BLM conducted environmental analysis of applications to renew livestock grazing permits on allotments in the Owyhee Field Office in southwestern Idaho.
Efforts focused on analyzing grazing management and permit renewals on BLM-managed lands in the Field Office to meet requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Earlier environmental analysis of the effects of grazing was, in many cases, conducted on an allotment-by-allotment basis and did not consider potential inter-relationships between grazing and other multiple-use activities in the surrounding area. Today, for example, power transmission and wind energy are becoming part of the southwestern Idaho landscape. The Field Office is also increasingly popular for recreation and is valuable habitat for wildlife, including bighorn sheep and sage-grouse.
The permit renewals were processed in groups, generally based on geographic location within the Field Office and resource values that are present (see map left, CLICK to enlarge). In most cases, the analysis was reported in an environmental assessment (EA), while permits in one group were analyzed in an environmental impact statement (EIS).
In every case, updated NEPA analysis allowed the BLM to fully explore the interaction among grazing,
other activities in the area, and additional factors that are now part of the landscape in this corner of Idaho.