Commissioners approve Natural Resource Management Plan
The county commission voted to approve the natural resources planning document after two public comment periods and several revisions.
The Albany County Commission approved a new plan detailing its hopes for natural resource management on federal lands within the county.
The Natural Resource Management Plan went through a series of revisions and public comment periods. The commissioners flatly rejected a first draft, saying it showed a “lack of original research” and failed to focus on Albany County specifically. A second draft was received more warmly, but commissioners sent it out for yet another public comment period.
Now the commissioners have approved the results of this latest round of comments and revisions.
“I remember the document when it was presented to us and where we have come now,” Commission Chair Pete Gosar said. “Largely the changes have been made because of the people who were working on it.”
The plan was approved on a unanimous vote during the commissioners’ meeting last week.
Commissioner Sue Ibarra said the plan will be updated as needed.
“It’s a working document,” Ibarra said. “We will constantly be editing it as things change and as the years go on.”
The natural resources management plan outlines Albany County’s natural resources and the value they bring to the county. The goal of the document is to create a collaborative format for local and federal agencies to use when considering the natural resources available in the county.
“The federal public lands are integral to life in Albany County,” the plan states. “They play a vital role in the area’s economy, are a source of enjoyment and freedom, and for more than 150 years, have been an inseparable part of the county’s culture and customs. How these lands are managed and what occurs on them directly impacts the lives of many, if not most, county residents.”
Albany County is made up of 2.75 million acres, or 4,274 square miles. About 7% of that is owned by the state, and the vast majority — 67% — is made up of private property.
But about 24% of land in the county is managed by the federal government, including roughly 14% by United States Forest Service, 11% by the Bureau of Land Management, and less than 1% by United States Fish and Wildlife Services. The natural resource management plan applies only to these federal lands – not private or state lands.
The version passed by commissioners is available for the public to read.