Desert Messenger

September 5, 2018 www.DesertMessenger.com 15 SEE 10 WEST PAGE 16 BLM FROM PAGE 3 BLM releases Ten West Link draft with a valid LTVA long-term or short-visit permit and decal: ● Hot Spring LTVA ● Imperial LTVA ● La Posa LTVA ● Midland LTVA ● Mule Mountain LTVA ● Pilot Knob LTVA ● Tamarisk LTVA Once purchased, you must print your LTVA permit receipt and ex- change it at one of the following locations during normal business hours, excluding holidays, to receive a valid LTVA permit and decal(s): ● La Posa LTVA - Tyson Wash Con- tact Station, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., daily, Sept 15 – Apr 15 ● Imperial LTVA Contact Station, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., daily ● Yuma Field Offi ce, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Mon-Fri The Yuma Field Offi ce, located at 7341 E. 30th Street in Yuma, Ari- zona, is the only location that will accept electronic receipts. The LTVA long-term permit allows use of BLM LTVAs continuously from September 15 to April 15 (a total of seven months), or for any length of time between those two dates. The LTVA short-visit permit allows use of BLM LTVAs for any 14 consecutive day period from Sep- tember 15 to April 15, which begins on the day the receipt is exchanged for the offi cial permit and decal. The LTVA short-visit permit may be renewed an unlimited number of times for the cost of the permit. The LTVA permits are special rec- reation area permits authorizing permit holders to use the LTVAs. As a result of this special designation, no discounts apply to the LTVA long term or short-visit permit fee. For use of the LTVAs between April 16 and September 14, please visit: https://www.blm.gov/visit/ search/0/0/LTVA/1 for more in- formation. To view the LTVA rules, see the LTVA Supplementary Rules handout (https://www.blm.gov/ download/fi le/fi d/26887). Cellular and Wi-Fi services may be available at some long-term camping loca- tions, depending on your service provider's coverage. "NIC is excited to add BLM Yuma Field Offi ce to the YourPassNow family," said Sandi Miller, NIC Federal General Manager. "By of- fering an easy and convenient way to purchase recreation permits in advance through YourPassNow, the Bureau of Land Management is helping to enhance the experience of its visitors." Yuma Field Offi ce joins the follow- ing public lands currently provid- ing electronic passes and permits through YourPassNow: Acadia, Ev- erglades, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Theodore Roosevelt, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yo- semite National Parks; Castillo de San Marcos and Colorado National Monuments; Whiskeytown Nation- al Recreation Area; Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area; Wayne National Forest; the Bureau of Land Management's Lake Havasu Field Offi ce; and the State of Arkansas' historic Eureka Springs. About YourPassNow Developed in cooperation with the National Park Service, YourPass- Now makes it easy and convenient for visitors to purchase entrance passes and land access permits to public lands online. YourPassNow streamlines a paper- based pur- chase process that was previously only available at park locations or approved resellers. YourPassNow provides visitors a new level of recreation access to America's public lands. For more information, please visit www.your- passnow.com. The Ten West Link Draft Environ- mental Impact Statement (DEIS) and Draft RMP Amendments are now available for Public Review and Comment. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has prepared a Draft Envi- ronmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to analyze and disclose the potential effects of a transmission line proj- ect proposed by DCR Transmission, LLC (DCRT). The agency has selected as its pre- ferred alternative in Arizona a route that largely follows Interstate 10 in a BLM West-wide Energy Corridor (WWEC) that was designated as a preferred location for transmission lines and pipelines on federal lands. The BLM's Preferred Alternative is Alternative 2, the BLM Utility Corri- dor Route, with some route segment modifi cations. The Preferred Alter- native spans 126 miles and is most- ly located within BLM-designated utility corridors or parallel to exist- ing infrastructure. Of the 126-mile route, 64% is on BLM-managed pub- lic lands, 20% is on private land, 15% on state land, and 1% on Bureau of Reclamation-managed public lands. According to a Press Release is- sued by the Wilderness Society, "The WWEC is the result of a multi- stakeholder and multi-discipline analysis to determine more appro- priate corridors for infrastructure development on federal lands. The BLM has done the right thing in this case, taking advantage of this work and choosing the WWEC. This WWEC route avoids many of the negative environmental impacts as- sociated with the original proposed route, which would have cut through sensitive wildlife habitat in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Ten West Link is a proposed 500 kV, 125-mile transmission line between Tonopah, Arizona and Blythe, Cali- fornia, described in BLM's materials as a line that is intended to strength- en the electrical grid and provide im- proved reliability. The Wilderness Society's Alex Daue, Assistant Director for Energy & Cli- mate, notes "Planning ahead pays off – this route, that mostly follows I-10, demonstrates the promise and value of the BLM's West-wide En- ergy Corridors to facilitate infra- structure development, while steer- ing it to places with fewer negative environmental impacts to our wild public lands." "While transmission development is important, we should maximize the use of our existing grid, upgrade lines whenever possible, and build new lines only when necessity dic- tatesc" Daue said. "The Wilderness Society is pleased the BLM has se- lected its preferred alternative in the WWEC, responding to feedback from both cooperating agencies and the public." The proposed project would be sited on state, private and Federal lands, and would provide a connection be- tween the Arizona Public Service Company's Delaney Substation in Tonopah, Arizona, and the South- ern California Edison Company's (SCE) Colorado River Substation in Blythe, California, by largely follow- ing the existing SCE Devers-Palo Verde 500-kV No.1 transmission line in an established utility cor- ridor. The proposed action would involve approximately 83 miles of public lands along a route spanning roughly 114 miles, with approxi- mately 97 miles in Maricopa and La Paz Counties, Arizona, and 17 miles in Riverside County, California.

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