Comments that are personalized from you have the most impact. But to count, your comments need to be substantive and specific, citing exactly what you want, where, and why. And establish your standing by stating if you are a resident, taxpayer, property owner, business owner, etc., or if you contribute to the local economy by visiting the area. Be sure to include your name and address and ask to be added to the WEMO notification list. Remember you can also use the COW Sample Comment letter, customized or as-is, but get it in by June 14, 2018!
ROUTE-SPECIFIC COMMENTS: Have a particular route or area you’re concerned about? To aid you in submitting route-specific, substantive comments you can use this WEMO Route Comment Form. Read the WEMO Route Form Orientation Document that we have prepared to help you with this, including using the BLM maps.
IF YOU KNOW OF A ROUTE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE DESIGNATED AS SOMETHING OTHER THAN “STREET-LEGAL ONLY” — e.g., “Motorized” (open to all vehicles), “Non-Motorized” (such as bicycles), “Non-Mechanized” (such as hiking or equestrian trails) or Closed —you should submit a route-specific comment specifically to that effect. See “Route-Specific Comments” above to learn how.
IF YOU SUBMITTED COMMENTS IN 2015-16 you should resubmit them to make sure they count in the final plan. Note that the ID numbers for the routes may have changed with this new draft plan; consult the new maps to confirm or update. If you have a copy of the comments that you made in 20105-16 email them to blm_ca_wemo_project@blm.gov. (Note that if you copied Community ORV Watch when submitting those comments we may have a copy of them to send back to you so send orvwatch@orvwatch.com a message with that request.) When resubmitting such comments include verbiage to the effect: “The undersigned submitted comments on the WEMO plan in 2015. All comments should be reviewed and applied to the current proposals where relevant. Please accept the resubmission of our collective comments – attached.”
COW RECOMMENDATIONS: Community ORV Watch’s (COW) recommended comment to this year’s WEMO plan is that residents in the Morongo Basin advocate that within Travel Management Area 3 any routes designated as “Motorized” should be sub-designated as “Street-Legal Only”, and that as Alternative 2 best supports this recommendation, Alternative 2 should be used as the basis of the WEMO plan and Alternative 4 rejected.
NEPA GUIDELINES FOR COMMENTS:
In any type of comment that you make it is critical that your comments are “substantive” (per BLM’s NEPA Handbook H-1790-1) and does one or more the following:
- Questions, with reasonable basis, the accuracy of information in the DSEIS
- Questions, with reasonable basis or facts, the adequacy of, methodology for, or assumptions used for the environmental analysis
- Presents reasonable alternatives other than those presented in the DSEIS
- Prompts the BLM to consider changes or revisions in one or more of the alternatives