Other News
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Mar 11, 2024: Queers in Unexpected Places: Searching for (and Finding) Gender and Sexual Non-Conformity in the Rural and Early PNW
Mar 7, 2024: DRAFT Richardson Marsh Preserve Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
Dec 5, 2023: County Council Member Jane Fuller and Senator Liz Lovelett to Host Public Meeting on Lopez
Nov 3, 2023: County and Town Send Open Letter to State Officials Regarding Impacts of Poor Ferry Service
Sep 29, 2023: Conservation Land Bank Announces Special Meeting to Discuss Watmough Bay Preserve Addition
Sep 14, 2023: The mobile dental van is coming to Lopez! // ¡La camioneta dental móvil ya llega a López!
Aug 22, 2023: San Juan County Adopts 32-Hour Work Week in the Name of Fiscal Health, Recruitment, and Islander Wellness
May 25, 2023: Recap of Lopez Neighborhood Meeting Regarding the Relocation of Public Works Facilities
May 23, 2023: District 3 Councilmember Jane Fuller Opens Office on Lopez and Hosts Community Conversation
Apr 17, 2023: Give Lopez Starts April 17th - A two week fundraiser benefiting 15 Lopez Island Non-Profits
Sep 22, 2022: Interim Watmough Preserve Addition Stewardship and Management Plan Now Open for Public Comment
No resource management plan yet for San Juan Islands National Monument
Dec 4, 2022
By Sally Reeve, Islanders for the San Juan Islands National Monument
The next San Juan Islands National Monument Advisory Committee (MAC) meeting is on December 7th
This is a zoom meeting (see attached agenda for link). Public comments can be submitted prior to the meeting by sending email to Jeff Clark jeffclark@blm.gov or made during the public comment period on the zoom call.
The public may want to comment on the ongoing value the public sees in having the MAC continue to advise the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in its management of the San Juan Islands National Monument and how best for the MAC to engage with the public.
Thank you to the Department of the Interior and to BLM for ensuring the Monument Advisory Committee has sufficient membership to have a meeting. BLM's recent work associated with the Monument includes community outreach at the San Juan County Fair, participating in National Public Lands Day, hiring a seasonal ranger for summer 2023, and office change. Brie Chartier, Monument Manager, will give an update at the MAC meeting.
The San Juan Islands National Monument still does not have a resource management plan (RMP). This process started in 2015. The RMP will guide BLM in the decisions it makes and actions it takes regarding the use and management of the San Juan Islands National Monument lands for many, many years. Until the RMP process is completed, BLM is constrained from taking actions that change or impact Monument lands except for emergency actions.
RMPs are developed over time with input from local communities, tribes, local government, state and federal agencies and others. The RMP for the San Juan Islands National Monument, despite being a unit of small size with no issues such as grazing or mining rights, has taken a while to complete.
BLM Spokane District Office has indicated for many months that the RMP would be coming out soon. It has not been published to date, and it is possible that the plan adopted by BLM will not be in agreement with the Governor's Consistency Review (attached for reference). Should that be the case, the Governor has a 30 day period to appeal to BLM.
When the RMP is finally announced - will it be a celebration for protection of Monument lands or not? Thank you to the many who participated in the public scoping process and submitted comments and protests.
The public may want to comment on the ongoing value the public sees in having the MAC continue to advise the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in its management of the San Juan Islands National Monument and how best for the MAC to engage with the public.
Thank you to the Department of the Interior and to BLM for ensuring the Monument Advisory Committee has sufficient membership to have a meeting. BLM's recent work associated with the Monument includes community outreach at the San Juan County Fair, participating in National Public Lands Day, hiring a seasonal ranger for summer 2023, and office change. Brie Chartier, Monument Manager, will give an update at the MAC meeting.
The San Juan Islands National Monument still does not have a resource management plan (RMP). This process started in 2015. The RMP will guide BLM in the decisions it makes and actions it takes regarding the use and management of the San Juan Islands National Monument lands for many, many years. Until the RMP process is completed, BLM is constrained from taking actions that change or impact Monument lands except for emergency actions.
RMPs are developed over time with input from local communities, tribes, local government, state and federal agencies and others. The RMP for the San Juan Islands National Monument, despite being a unit of small size with no issues such as grazing or mining rights, has taken a while to complete.
BLM Spokane District Office has indicated for many months that the RMP would be coming out soon. It has not been published to date, and it is possible that the plan adopted by BLM will not be in agreement with the Governor's Consistency Review (attached for reference). Should that be the case, the Governor has a 30 day period to appeal to BLM.
When the RMP is finally announced - will it be a celebration for protection of Monument lands or not? Thank you to the many who participated in the public scoping process and submitted comments and protests.
December 7th Monument Advisory Committee Agenda
Governor's Consistency Review Letter