Plan to manage BMGR natural resources gets OK

  • Published
  • By Teresa Walker
  • 56th Range Management Office
The Record of Decision for the Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan for the Barry M. Goldwater Range has at long last been signed. It took an act of Congress and seven years have passed, but it's finally accomplished. 

The Military Lands Withdrawal Act of 1999 withdrew the majority of the Goldwater Range for military use and delegated land management responsibility for the eastern portion to the Air Force, specifically, the 56th Range Management Office, and the western portion to the  Marine Corps. The Air Force, Navy and Interior departments were to prepare a plan to manage the natural and cultural resources within the range while supporting and sustaining the military mission. 

Sound impossible? Agency representatives at the local level were directed by Congress to complete the complicated and laborious INRMP. 

Federally-mandated public scoping meetings were held throughout the state to solicit input from concerned citizens. In this case, the level of concern of the public for the Goldwater Range was intense, and the process was extensive. 

The final EIS is a composite of 17 proposed actions or management strategies, the combination of which creates the INRMP. The Record of Decision records the joint decision of the departments to adopt the management strategies outlined in the INRMP. 

The Goldwater Range INRMP sets precedence for Department of Defense agencies developing their own land management strategies, according to Mr. Jim Uken, 56th RMO director. 

"While there are several INRMPs in some stage of preparation DOD-wide, it is generally recognized the scope and complexity of the Goldwater Range INRMP is clearly at the upper end of the spectrum, the 'turbo version' of all INRMPs," he said. "Bottom line, it is now up to us and the Marine Corps to implement the management strategies as the federally delegated stewards of the Goldwater Range. We will ensure the continued ability to train on one of the busiest, most important training ranges in the DOD." 

Management practices shift from single focus concerns to the broader range of ecosystem management for the RMO. Existing elements will be continued and new actions that include special interest areas, motorized access, rock hounding, wildfire management, encroachment and others will be implemented. 

"The Barry M. Goldwater Range is in the core of the Sonoran Desert," said Maj. Garcia. "Why did it take seven years? In part, because we had all those agencies involved and there were some sticky issues we had to work through. But the end result is that we have a better plan because we had all those people involved." 

Luke Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma represented the departments of the Air Force and Navy, respectively. The Department of the Interior was represented locally by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge and the Bureau of Land Management's Phoenix and Yuma field offices. The Tucson-based Nature Conservancy and Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument were also represented.