This Record of Decision ( ROD ) approves the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) proposal to manage the BLM-administered public lands within the Bradshaw-Harquahala Planning Area as presented in the attached Approved Resource Management Plan (Approved RMP). This Approved RMP was described as Alternative E in the Agua Fria National Monument and Bradshaw-Harquahala Proposed Resource Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement (PRMP/FEIS), which was released in August 2008 (BLM 2008). While the PRMP/FEIS also addressed management of the Agua Fria National Monument, which is also administered by the Hassayampa Field Office, this ROD applies only to those decisions for management of the Bradshaw-Harquahala area.

The Bradshaw-Harquahala Planning Area encompasses lands north and west of Phoenix in central western Arizona. The planning boundaries encompass more than 3 million acres in Maricopa, Yavapai, and La Paz counties. The area includes remote and undeveloped zones of desert and mountain ranges, as well as urban interface zones near Phoenix, Prescott, Buckeye, Wickenburg, and other communities. These lands sustain a wide range of activities and resources.

The Bradshaw-Harquahala Planning Area includes 896,100 surface acres of BLM-administered lands and subsurface (mineral) rights to 346,300 additional acres within the planning area boundaries (shown on in the Approved RMP). The BLM also retains and administers mineral rights to another 181,200 acres in Coconino County in northern Arizona, which are addressed in the Approved RMP . The decisions in the Approved RMP only apply to BLM-administered lands and resources.

This ROD provides an overview of the alternatives considered; a summary of protests received and clarifications made in response; a summary of the types of decisions and the key decisions in the plan; management considerations and rationale for the decisions; and an overview of public involvement in the planning process.