United States Department
of
the Interior
BUREAU OF LA
ND MANA
GE
ME
NT
Wa
sh
in
gton, D.C. 20240
The Honorable Greg Abbott
Attorney General
of
Texas P.O. Box 12548
Aust
in
, Texas 7871
1-
2548 Dear Attorney General Abbott:
http://www. b Im.gov
JUN
9
2
H
As indicated
in
a letter to you on May I, 2014, we are providing additional information
in
response to your letter
of
Apr
il
22,20
14
, concerning the Bureau
of
La
nd
Management's (BLM) work al
ong
th
e Red River. We have, through the year
s
had a good relationship with Texas, and I would like to
reiterate the BLM's commitment to maintaining these relationships with the citizens, industry, a
nd
ot
h
er
interested group
s.
Your requests relate to two issues:
I)
the Resource Management Plan/Environmental lmpact
Statement process, and (2) ownership interests
of
the
Un
ited States and adjacent landowners
in
the area. I appreciate the 0ppOttunity to offer clar
ifi
cation. The Resource Management Planning (RMP) process is set forth
at
43 C.F.R. Part 1600.
The
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process associated with plans, including devel
op
ment
of
Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), is delineated at 40 C.F.R. Parts 1500-1508, with additional
Department
of
the Int
er
i
or
-specific
re
gulations at 43 C.F.R. Part 46.
To
summarize, the RM.PIEIS
process is designed to estab
li
sh general management goals, objectives, and directives for public
resources,
in
cluding lands and minerals, managed by the BLM. The process involves numerous steps
that allow for public input, analysis, and informed decision-making with regard to public resources.
In
order to ensure the appropriate consistency with other governmental planning efforts, the BLM
invited local, state, Federal, a
nd
tribal representatives to palticipate as cooperating agencies
in
the preparation
of
the BLM's RMP/EIS.
It
is my understanding that multiple county governments and
agencies
of
the States
of
Texas and Oklahoma have agreed to participate as cooperat
in
g agencies. Although the RMP does not apply to private lands, the process ensures full consideration
of
adjacent uses, includ
in
g local uses
ofre
sources from public lands.
The initial step
in
the public RMP/EIS process is the issuance
of
a Notice
of
Intent (NOI),
in
form
in
g the public that the BLM intends to initiate
it
s planning efforts. The NOI for the three-state planning
effort that
in
cludes the Red River area was published on July 26, 2013 (78 Fed. Reg. 45266-68). The
pub
li
cation
of
a NOI
in
iti
ates what is ca
ll
ed scoping, which is a public process that involves
id
entifying issues -those brought forward by individuals, state, and Federal agencies -for analys
is
during the RMP/EIS process. The BLM has collected a
ll
comments received during the scoping period and incorporated the
comme
nt
s into a publicly ava
il
able scoping report.
The next phase includes the development
of
an Analysis
of
the Management Situation (AMS),
followed by devel
opment
of
several potential management alternatives f
or
detailed consideration. The AMS
is
an assessment
of
current management and baseline conditions, which
assists
th
e agency and
th
e public in understandin
g
revi
ew
in
g, comparing, and weig
hi
ng the impacts
of
any proposed management alte
rn
atives. The BLM
th
en develops alternativ
es
based on
th
e comments rece
iv
ed during
th
e scoping process and
th
e management issues to be addressed.
Nex
t,
th
e BLM develops an analysis
of
th
e
ef
fects
of
each
of
th
e alte
rn
atives. A
ft
er analyzing,
comparin
g
and weighing the enviro
nm
e
nt
al a
nd
other effects
of
th
e a
lt
e
rn
a
ti
ves, the BLM
id
entifies a prefer
re
d a
lt
e
rn
a
ti
ve
. The analysis
of
a
ll
a
lt
e
rn
a
ti
ves and identification
of
a preferred alterna
ti
ve
are presented
in
a D
ra
ft
RMP/EI
S.
T
hi
s doc
um
ent is released to
th
e public
fo
r revi
ew
for at
le
ast a 90-day comme
nt
pe
ri
o
d.
Once the Dra
ft
RMP/EIS comment pe
ri
od closes,
th
e BLM re
vi
ews,
analyzes, and
in
corporates, to the exte
nt
practica
bl
e,
th
e
inf
o
rm
a
ti
on gathered from the comments
in
to
a Proposed RMP/F
in
al EI
S.
The Proposed RMP/F
in
al EIS is released
fo
r a 30-day pub
li
c protest
pe
ri
od and a 60-day Gove
rn
or's consistency revi
ew
pe
ri
od. To
fin
a
li
ze
th
e RMP, the BLM prepar
es
a Record
of
Decision/Approved RMP and releases
it
to
th
e public, a
ft
er wh
ic
h time the RMP w
ill
be impleme
nt
ed a
nd
monitored. The estimated date for a
signed Record
of
Decision for
th
e three-state
RM
P revision
th
at includes the Red River area is
January 20
18.
The map of the
pl
anning area is enclosed.
Wi
th
regard to the issue
of
ow
nership interests,
th
e Supreme Court and o
th
er judicial decisions
fr
om
th
e 1920s up until Congressional consent to
th
e Red River Boundary
o
mpact
es
tab
li
shed the
boundary between Texas and O
kl
ahoma as the gradient
lin
e along the south bank
of
th
e Red
Rive
r.
Congressional consent to
th
e Compact
in
2000 esta
bli
shed
th
e boundary between the two
states as
th
e vegeta
ti
on
lin
e on
th
e south bank of
th
e Red
Ri
ve
r.
The Compact, however, did not
change t
he
United States' exis
ti
ng interests
in
any public doma
in
lands along
th
e Red
Ri
ver ( The
full title a
nd
ownership of so much
of
th
e bed
of
th
e river as
li
es south
of
it
s medial
lin
e are
in
th
e United States. Oklahoma
v.
Texas, 261 U.S. 345,346 (1923)). Accord
in
g to the
pl
a
in
te
rm
s
of
A
rti
cle
VII
, the Compact does not change: (I)
th
e
ti
tle
of
any person
or
entity, public or private, to
any of
th
e lands ad
jace
nt to the Red River; (2)
th
e
ri
ght
s in
cluding ripa
ri
an
ri
ghts,
of
any person or
ent
it
y
public
or
pri
va
te, that exist as a res
ul
t
of
th
e person's
or
entity's title to lands adjacent to
th
e Red
Ri
ver; or (3) the boundaries
of
th
ose la
nd
s. Therefore, any s
hi
fts
in
th
e boundary between
Texas and O
kl
ahoma as a result of
th
e Compact may mean
th
at public lands that are
ow
ned by the
United States now are within Texas
th
at were
fo
rm
e
rl
y
in
Oklahoma. The BLM will determine
th
e uses and exte
nt
of
these public lands through the cur
re
nt public
pl
anning process and any necessary
surveys.
The RMP/E
IS
process encourages substantial partic
ip
a
ti
on by
th
e public and important par
ti
cipa
ti
on by cooperating agenc
ie
s,
in
cluding county governme
nt
s a
nd
State agencies. Any further inquiries
may be addressed to me or to Steve Tryon, who oversees operations
in
Texas, Oklahoma, and
Kansas. Mr. Tryon can be reached at
th
e BLM's Oklahoma Field O
ffi
ce (918-62
1-
4
10
0)
or
by ema
il
at sttyon@blm.gov.
Thank you for
th
e opportunity to respond to your inquiries.
Ne
il
Kornze
Director
United States Department
of
the Interior
BUREAU
OF
L
ND
M N G M
NT
Washington. D.C. 20240
The
Honorable
Greg
Abbott Attorney General
of
Texa
s
.0.
Box 12548 Austin
Texas
7871
1
2548 Dear
Anorney
Ge
neral Abbott:
http:
//
www.hlm.gov
M Y
1
2 n
u
_
Thank you for
yo
ur letter dated April 22
20
1
4,
which sets forth your questions and concerns
about the Bureau
of
Land Management
s
wo
rk
along the Red River.
The Bureau
of
Land Management has a long his
tor
y and good relationship with Texas as well
as
the many indust
ri
es groups and citizens that
ca
ll
Texas
home.
We
have a
number
of active and successful efforts
ongoing
in Texas.
For exa
mple
we
are
proud to be working with the oil and gas industry and
su
rrounding
commu
nities in areas where oil and
gas
development
is taking place on federal
propenies
throughout the state.
The
area north
of
Burkburnett is
one
of
those areas. We are committed to maintaining the
se
good
relationships. Regarding your
co
ncerns first and foremost I
wa
nllO emphasize that the Bureau
of
Land Management is not expanding federal holdings along the Red River. Work is underway to
review and respond to your specific questions about the U.S. Supreme Court decision and the
Red River Boundary Compact.
The
work
we do
at the Bureau
of
Land
Management
is guided
by
long-term plans that are
r
ef
r
es
hed every 10 to 20 years. Rigbt
now
the
Bureau
of
Land
Management
is in tbe initial
stages
of
developi
ng
a
mana
gement plan t
hat
will apply to public lands including mineral
interests in
Texas
and
Oklahoma
and Kansas and wi
ll
include
some
limjl
ed
areas along the Red
River thai the courts have previously determined
to
be public lands. During this planning process we rely on the public to h
el
p us
detennine how
best to
manage
the public lands f
or
the
ne
xi many years.
Our
goal and co
mmitment
is to work
close
ly with you
local and state government officials congressional delegation members and the public to
determine the best management options for the public lands in these thr
ee
states.
We have a gr
ea
t deal
of
nexibility in devel
oping
options and we look forward
10
obtaining input
fTom
you and others throughout the process.
Members
of
the public and interestcd parties will have many
opponuni
ties to review the ideas that
are
considered al various steps along the way.
The planning process is expected to last until 2018 or beyond.
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