The U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) invite the public to provide comments regarding the proposed 20-year withdrawal of federal minerals from national forest system lands on the Superior National Forest within the Rainy River Watershed. Public comments received during project scoping will inform development of an environmental impact statement (EIS) to study the proposed mineral withdrawal.
Requests for public comments began with the January 13, 2017 publication in the Federal Register of the Forest Service’s notice of intent to prepare an EIS. A public meeting was held on March 16, 2017 in Duluth. Due to substantial public interest and the complexity of the proposal, the Forest Service extended the 90-day project-scoping period for an additional 120 days to allow more time for public input and additional public meetings.
In addition to commenting via email and U.S. mail or courier, the following two public meetings will provide an opportunity for attendees to submit verbal comments: Tuesday, July 18, 2017, Saint Paul River Centre (Exhibit Hall A), 175 West Kellogg Blvd. Suite 501, Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The second meeting will take place Tuesday, July 25, 2017, at Virginia High School (auditorium), 411 S. 5th Ave., Virginia, Minnesota.
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