Project Name: Lewistown Field Office Resource Management Plan and EIS

Pursuant to the BLM’s planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.5-2), the Proposed RMP/Final EIS was subject to a 30-day protest period that ended on March 16, 2020. The BLM received 150 protest letters protesting the proposed planning decisions. Consistent with the delegation of authority provided by BLM manual section 1203, the BLM’s Acting Assistant Director for Resources and Planning worked with BLM Headquarters staff to resolve these protests. Specifically, the Acting Assistant Director concluded that the BLM Montana State Director followed the applicable laws, regulations, and policies, and considered all relevant resource information and public input. The Acting Assistant Director resolved the protests without making significant changes to the Proposed RMP, though one minor modification was made and is explained in Section 1.2.1, Clarifications and Modifications.

On June 9, 2020, the BLM issued a Protest Resolution Report and each protesting party was notified in writing of the BLM’s findings and the disposition of their protests. The Protest Resolution Report was made available on the BLM website.

On September 25, 2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana ruled that BLM Deputy Director for Policy and Programs William Perry Pendley has unlawfully served as the Acting BLM Director for the last 424 days and enjoined him from exercising the authority of the BLM Director. Bullock v. Bureau of Land Management et al., 4:20-cv-00062, (D. Mont. September 25, 2020). On October 16, 2020, after further briefing by the parties, the Court set aside the Missoula and Lewistown RMP Revisions – as well as the Miles City RMP Amendment – on the grounds that Mr. Pendley “exercised the Director’s exclusive authority to resolve protests” on all three plan decisions. Further, the Court determined that “[o]nly the Secretary of the Interior can perform functions or duties of the BLM Director.” Bullock v. Bureau of Land Management et al., 4:20-cv-00062, *4 (D. Mont. October 16, 2020). Following issuance of the October 16, 2020 Order, the Secretary independently reviewed the protests and a proposed Protest Resolution Report prepared by the BLM. Following that review, on December 28, 2020, the Secretary independently approved a Protest Resolution Report and issued a protest resolution response to protesting parties. The Protest Resolution Report was also made available on the BLM’s website https://eplanning.blm.gov.

The Record of Decision for the Approved Resource Management Plan was signed January 4, 2021.  The Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan can be found in the Documents tab to the left.  

Questions or Comments

If you have questions or comments about the Lewistown Resource Management Plan (RMP),  you may contact our office between 8 AM and 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday.

Address: Bureau of Land Management
                 Lewistown Field Office
                 920 NE Main
                 Lewistown, MT 59457

Phone: (406) 538-1981
 

Media Inquiries

For all media inquiries contact:

               Al Nash, Chief of Communications
               (406) 896-5260
               [email protected]                                                  

Brett Blumhardt; Field Manager, Lewistown Field Office (406) 538-1918
Mark Albers; District Manager, North-Central Montana District Office (406) 791-7794
Corey Meier; Assistant Field Manager (Non-renewable Resources), Butte Field Office (406) 533-7600

The Lewistown RMP interdisciplinary team consists of the following key personnel: