TSCRA attended a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public scoping meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 14 in Fort Worth. The BLM held the meeting to hear feedback on drafting a joint BLM/Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Resource Management Plan. The plan is intended to provide alternatives for how the agencies will manage property that the federal government claims belongs to them in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.
TSCRA members in the region also attended the meeting and expressed their serious concerns on the BLM Red River issue, where the federal government is claiming they own 30,000 acres of land along a 116-mile stretch of the Texas-Oklahoma border. TSCRA will continue to closely monitor this issue and help to protect the private property rights of members on this issue.
The BLM will host 2 more public scoping meetings to take additional public comments in Oklahoma and Kansas. Details on these meetings are provided below:
Oklahoma Meeting
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015
5:30-7:30 pm
University of Oklahoma – National Weather Center
120 David L Boren Blvd., Rm 1350
Norman, OK 73072
Kansas Meeting
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015
5:30-7:30 pm
Lionel D. Alford Branch Library 3447 S. Meridian Ave.
Wichita, KS 67217
When the draft and final joint BLM/BIA Resource Management Plan becomes available in the summer of 2016, the public will have an additional 90 days to review and comment. The BLM and BIA expect to finalize the plan in the Summer of 2017, take more public comments, and submit it for final approval in the Winter of 2017.