A concise statement explaining why the State Director’s decisions is believed to be
wrong:



Attachment 2

Resource Management Plan Protest
Critical Item Checklist
The following items must be included to constitute a valid protest
whether using this optional format, or a narrative letter.
(43 CFR 1610.5-2)

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying
information in your protest, be advised that your entire protest--including your personal
identifying information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask
us in your protest to withhold from public review your personal identifying information,
we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. All submissions from organizations and
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations and businesses, will be available for public inspection in their entirety.

Resource Management Plan (RMP) or Amendment (RMPA) being protested:

Name:
Address:
Phone Number: (_ )

Your interest in filing this protest (how will you be adversely affected by the approval
or amendment of this plan?):

Issue or issues being protested:

Statement of the part or parts of the plan being protested:

Chapter:
Section:
Page:
(or) Map:

Attach copies of all documents addressing the issue(s) that were submitted during the

planning process by the protesting party, OR an indication of the date the issue(s)
were discussed for the record.

Date(s):



United States Department of the Interior

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
‘Wyoming State Office
P.O. Box 1828
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82003-1828

In Reply Refer To:
1610

August 22, 2008

Dear Reader:

Attached is the Proposed Resource Management Plan (PRMP) and Final Environmental Impact Statement
(FEIS) for the Pinedale Field Office, Wyoming. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) prepared the
PRMP/FEIS in consultation with cooperating agencies, taking into account public comments received
during this planning effort. The PRMP provides a framework for the future management direction and
appropriate use of the lands and resources administered by the BLM Pinedale Field Office located in
Sublette and Lincoln County, Wyoming. The document contains both land use planning decisions and
implementation decisions to guide the BLM’s management of the Pinedale Resource Management Plan
Planning Area.

This PRMP and FEIS have been developed in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of
1969 (NEPA) and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976. The PRMP is largely based on
Alternative 4, the preferred alternative in the Draft Resource Management Plan/Environmental Impact
Statement (DRMP/DEIS), which was released on February 21, 2008. The PRMP/FEIS contains the
Proposed Plan, a summary of changes made between the DRMP/DEIS and PRMP/FEIS, potential
impacts of the Proposed Plan, a summary of the written and verbal comments received during the public
review period for the Draft RMP/EIS, and responses to the comments.

Pursuant to BLM’s planning regulations at 43 CFR 1610.5-2, any person who participated in the planning
process for this PRMP and has an interest which is or may be adversely affected by the planning decisions
may protest approval of the planning decisions within 30 days from date the Environmental Protection
Agency publishes the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register. For further information on filing
a protest, please see the accompanying protest regulations in the pages that follow (labeled as
Attachment No. 1). The regulations specify the required elements of your protest. Take care to
document all relevant facts. As much as possible, reference or cite the planning documents or available
planning records (e.g., meeting minutes or summaries, correspondence, etc.). To aid in ensuring the
completeness of your protest, a protest check list is attached to this letter (labeled as Attachment No. 2).
If your protest does not include all the elements outlined in 43 CFR 1610.5-2 the BLM will not respond to
your protest.

E-mailed and faxed protests will not be accepted as valid protests unless the protesting party also
provides the original letter by either regular or overnight mail postmarked by the close of the
protest period. Under these conditions, the BLM will consider the e-mailed or faxed protest as
an advance copy and will afford it full consideration. If you wish to provide the BLM with such
advance notification, please direct faxed protests to the attention of Brenda Hudgens-Williams-
BLM protest coordinator at 202-452-5112, and e-mailed protests to: Brenda_Hudgens-
Williams @blm.gov.


All protests, including the follow-up letter (if e-mailing or faxing) must be in writing and mailed
to the following address:

Regular Mail: Overnight Mail:

Director (210) Director (210)

Attention: Brenda Williams Attention: Brenda Williams
P.O. Box 66538 1620 L Street, N.W., Suite 1075
Washington, D.C. 20035 Washington, D.C. 20036

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in
your protest, be advised that your entire protest — including your personal identifying information — may
be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your protest to withhold from public
review your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

The BLM Director will make every attempt to promptly render a decision on each protest. The decision
will be in writing and will be sent to the protesting party by certified mail, return receipt requested. The
decision of the BLM Director shall be the final decision of the Department of the Interior.

Upon resolution of all land use plan protests, the BLM will issue an Approved RMP and Record of
Decision (ROD). The Approved RMP and ROD will be mailed or made available electronically to all
who participated in the planning process and will be available to all parties through the “Planning” page
of the BLM national website (http://www.blm. gov/planning), or by mail upon request.

Unlike land use planning decisions, implementation decisions are not subject to protest under the BLM
planning regulations, but are subject to an administrative review process, through appeals to the Office of
Hearings and Appeals (OHA), Interior Board of Land Appeals (IBLA) pursuant to 43 CFR, Part 4
Subpart E. Implementation decisions generally constitute the BLM’s final approval allowing on-the
ground actions to proceed. Where implementation decisions are made as part of the land use planning
process, they are still subject to the appeals process or other administrative review as prescribed by
specific resource program regulations once the BLM resolves the protests to land use planning decisions
and issues an Approved RMP and ROD. The Approved RMP and ROD will therefore identify the
implementation decisions made in the plan that may be appealed to the Office of Hearing and Appeals.

Sincerely,

Lita Ls

fir Rober A. Bennett
sf ove Director


Attachment 1

[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 43, Volume 2]

[Revised as of October 1, 2002]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 43CFR1610.5-2]

[Page 20]
TITLE 43--PUBLIC LANDS: INTERIOR
CHAPTER II--BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
PART 1600--PLANNING, PROGRAMMING, BUDGETING--Table of Contents
Subpart 1610--Resource Management Planning
Sec. 1610.5-2 Protest procedures.

(a) Any person who participated in the planning process and has an
interest which is or may be adversely affected by the approval or
amendment of a resource management plan may protest such approval or
amendment. A protest may raise only those issues which were submitted
for the record during the planning process.

(1) The protest shall be in writing and shall be filed with the
Director. The protest shall be filed within 30 days of the date the
Environmental Protection Agency published the notice of receipt of the
final environmental impact statement containing the plan or amendment in
the Federal Register. For an amendment not requiring the preparation of
an environmental impact statement, the protest shall be filed within 30
days of the publication of the notice of its effective date.

(2) The protest shall contain:

(i) The name, mailing address, telephone number and interest of the
person filing the protest;

(ii) A statement of the issue or issues being protested;

(iii) A statement of the part or parts of the plan or amendment
being protested;

(iv) A copy of all documents addressing the issue or issues that
were submitted during the planning process by the protesting party or an
indication of the date the issue or issues were discussed for the
record; and

(v) A concise statement explaining why the State Director's decision
is believed to be wrong.

(3) The Director shall promptly render a decision on the protest.
The decision shall be in writing and shall set forth the reasons for the
decision. The decision shall be sent to the protesting party by
certified mail, return receipt requested.

(b) The decision of the Director shall be the final decision of the
Department of the Interior.