{"id":104726,"date":"2016-06-07T22:41:31","date_gmt":"2016-06-08T04:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/blm-district-realignment-worries-san-juan-county-officials\/"},"modified":"2016-06-07T22:41:31","modified_gmt":"2016-06-08T04:41:31","slug":"blm-district-realignment-worries-san-juan-county-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/blm-district-realignment-worries-san-juan-county-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"BLM district realignment worries San Juan County officials"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The mountain near Silverton, in San Juan County, are part of the Alpine Loop \u2013 a recreational network of 14,000-foot peaks and trails between Silverton and Lake City in Hinsdale County. A reconfiguration of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blm.gov\/co\/st\/en.html\">Bureau of Land Management<\/a> district lines in Colorado has San Juan County officials worried.
The mountain near Silverton, in San Juan County, are part of the Alpine Loop \u2013 a recreational network of 14,000-foot peaks and trails between Silverton and Lake City in Hinsdale County. A reconfiguration of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.blm.gov\/co\/st\/en.html\">Bureau of Land Management<\/a> district lines in Colorado has San Juan County officials worried.<\/span>JERRY McBRIDE\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

A reconfiguration of Bureau of Land Management district lines in Colorado has roused San Juan County officials, who fear the new arrangement will hinder access to the federal agency.<\/p>\n

In an effort to create equity among Colorado\u2019s three BLM districts, jurisdiction over San Juan County will transfer from the Tres Rios field office to the Gunnison field office.<\/p>\n

The change takes effect Oct. 2. The restructure will place the Alpine Loop<\/a> \u2013 a recreational network of 14,000-foot peaks and trails between Silverton and Lake City in Hinsdale County \u2013 entirely within the Gunnison field office.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a tremendous natural resource, so we think managing it out of one field office makes a lot of sense,\u201d said Steven Hall, spokesman for the BLM state office in Denver.<\/p>\n

But in a May 20 letter to State Office Director Ruth Welch, San Juan County Commission Chairman Ernie Kuhlman wrote that the governing body is disappointed with the lack of communication about the change, and that topography will thwart San Juan County\u2019s accessibility to the BLM offices.<\/p>\n

\u201cSan Juan County is very concerned that this proposed change will place an increased burden on the community while decreasing service,\u201d Kuhlman wrote. \u201cTen hours of driving or a trip over Red Mountain Pass in the winter prove to be a strong deterrent.\u201d<\/p>\n

The redistricting comes as San Juan County is in the throes of planning for Superfund, a process tied to federal agencies.<\/p>\n

Hall said the realignment was an internal staffing decision in the hands of management, not the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a concern that somehow by changing the district boundary, it will make it difficult for the people of San Juan County to interact with BLM leadership,\u201d Hall said. \u201cThey will not see a decline in quality of service, and like with most counties, we\u2019re happy to come to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall said there is no official process for notifying the public, but information about the change was leaked prematurely and inaccurately. He added that San Juan County officials will be able to maintain relationships with the same BLM officials.<\/p>\n

But the Colorado delegation stands behind the locals on this.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur office has heard significant concerns from local elected officials about the redistricting and its effect on San Juan County,\u201d said Erin McCann, spokeswoman for Sen. Michael Bennet\u2019s office. \u201cWe\u2019ve spoken with BLM leadership in Colorado to ensure they\u2019ve heard those concerns. We always prefer that this kind of public land management decision is crafted with local input. We have asked the BLM to work directly with communities on this matter to explain their plans and receive feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n

Citizen and environmental groups routinely in contact with the BLM, such as the San Juan Citizens Alliance, also see the realignment as a problem. Because water management is critical to the arid West, federal land mapping has shifted in the past couple of decades where boundaries cater to watersheds, said Jimbo Buickerood, lands and forest protection program manager for the group.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you do land management planning, working around watersheds is so logical,\u201d he said. \u201cIn this part of the arid West, land management, natural resources and water districts \u2013 they are all oriented around watersheds. It\u2019s the most elemental part of all our planning. To do this is short-sighted.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the request of local officials, Front Range district manager Tom Heinlein, Gunnison field manager Elijah Waters and Tres Rios field manager Connie Clementson will meet in San Juan County at 10 a.m. June 15.<\/p>\n

A meeting with the state office will follow in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re being told it\u2019s a done deal, but we never had the chance to interact with officials,\u201d County Commissioner Pete McKay said. \u201cAccording to the BLM, they have no obligation to do that, but we all have a really big stake in this.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel dismissed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

BLM changes<\/h4>\n

The
\n Bureau of Land Management Colorado State Office
\n is realigning the state\u2019s three districts \u2013 Southwest, Northwest and Front Range \u2013 to be more equal in terms of size and distribution of resources.
\n Under the new rules, which take effect Oct. 2, the Southwest district will be restructured to include the Grand Junction field office, while the Front Range district will include the Gunnison field office.
\n The Alpine Loop, currently split between the Gunnison and Tres Rios field offices, will be consolidated under the Gunnison field office.
\n The Front Range district will be renamed the Rocky Mountain district.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meeting with agency set for June 15<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104727,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[13,1562,195],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-104726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-san-juan-county-colorado","tag-u-s-bureau-of-land-management"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104726"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=104726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}