Public scoping meeting held on Muddy Mountain travel management plan

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

About 50 people attended a meeting on Thursday, April 27 to discuss the development of a Travel Management Plan for the nearby Muddy Mountains Special Management Area. The first public scoping meeting, which was the opening portion of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, was held in the Overton Community Center.

The planning area for the proposed project entails a vast expanse of about 123,000 acres of BLM-managed lands about 25 miles southwest of the Moapa Valley.
Assistant Field Manager Steve Leslie, of the BLM Las Vegas Field Office, emphasized that the meeting was all about listening to the public.

“Our purpose tonight is to provide you with information on the project and to answer your questions to the best of our ability,” Leslie said. “We really want to hear your concerns and get your comments and talk about the planning process.”
“We want you to be a part of this planning process and have input into how the BLM moves forward,” Leslie added. “We do recognize that these are your public lands.”

BLM project lead Kenny Kendrick detailed the process for the plan’s development. He explained that the BLM had hired environmental planning contracting company Logan Simpson to complete a full inventory of the routes through the area. This was completed in December 2022.

“The purpose tonight is to allow you to review that route inventory and provide input on potential uses and resources of concerns that will be used during the evaluation process,” Kendrick said.

The next stage of the project would be the full evaluation of the routes. During that phase a series of alternatives would be developed.

Then the group would complete a full Environmental Impact Study to analyze impacts in implementing the various alternatives. This is expected to be completed in the fall of this year when the BLM will again hold input meetings on the draft document.

Finally, the BLM will release a final record of decision and implementation of the plan will begin, Kendrick said.

A large tabletop map of the area was provided during the meeting to allow attendees to mark some of their input directly on the map. This could include features and recreational opportunities that were often visited; areas of traditional significance to local families; and routes that may not have been included on the map.

In addition, an online map has been provided for members of the public, not able to attend the meeting, to provide similar types of comments. This online map is available at http://arcg.is/1zDWjr.
The floor was soon open to members of the public to make formal comments. About a dozen people stood in turn to speak.

Most commenters emphasized that they wanted no roads closures in the planning process.
“We don’t want any of those roads closed,” said Moapa Valley Town Advisory Board (MVTAB)member Jill Perkins. “You keep closing down so many places in the region that you send all the people from Las Vegas out here to find recreation. And like you said, since 1998 compared to now, there is a lot more usage. Of course there is! You’ve closed everything else down.”
Perkins said that she would like to see management for this area more similar to the Paiute Trail in Utah. “We should embrace this wonderful area and manage it properly so people can enjoy it,” she said. “Because that is really your job, to manage it so that the public can enjoy our public lands.”
Overton resident Mendis Cooper also commented in opposition to closures.

“The routes in that area are in washes and they create no problems for travel because those washes change constantly all the time,” said Overton resident Mendis Cooper. “So there is no reason why they should be closed.”

Cooper also expressed concern about the term that BLM was using: “managing the area.”
“I don’t know what that means,” he said. “There is no maintenance, enforcement or anything that is being done in that area now. So I would like a further understanding of what management means.”
Cooper suggested that perhaps signage to mark roads and tell where routes lead would be a good way to manage the area. “But that is about the extent of the management that I would like to see out there,” he said.

MVTAB member Lori Houston expressed frustration that the community had not been included in the process earlier.
“I feel like there should have been local folks involved in your December inventory process,” Houston said. “No disrespect to the company you hired, but I think that the BLM should have partnered with local people as well who use those trails on a regular basis. That could have been helpful to you. To bring us in at this point by just pointing to a map and asking us to give input is less valuable.”

Houston added that the comment period should be extended to allow more time for the public to review the documents and give feedback. The comment deadline of May 12 does not provide enough time, she said.

MVTAB member Lois Hall was unhappy that the town board had not been notified or advised that the project was underway.
“This affects our community tremnendously, financially and physically,” Hall said. “We have already lost tourism at the Lake. If we lose any of the trails it will have an impact. We have been lied to so many times, I’m afraid that for every trail you leave to us, you’re going to take four or five away.”
Logandale resident Marc Jensen emphasized that the BLM should use education about the resource rather than closing sensitive areas down.

“I really believe that the best way to keep things under control out there is through education, not through regulation,” Jensen said. “You should get the community involved in building a better education base. And when I say community I mean not only Moapa Valley but our partners in the federal government and elected officials throughout Clark County.”

Overton resident Melbourne Perkins urged the BLM to provide continued access to historic and cultural areas. “Instead of just closing them, the BLM should celebrate the history and put plaques out there telling the about it,” he said. “So when people go out there to enjoy the country, they can learn a little bit about it as well and gain a respect for it. But please don’t close any of them! They are all historical routes that people have travelled and prospected on and located mines on.”

The comment period is open until May 12. More information about the project and routes can be found at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2023975/510.

Comments can be submitted by email to BLM_NV_LVFO_Muddy_Mt_TMP@blm.gov; online at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2023975/510; or by mail to BLM Las Vegas Field Office, Attn: Kenny Kendrick, Supervisory Resource Management Specialist, 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89130.