Bureau of Land Management - Bishop Field Office

Mission:

• Dispose of difficult, unmanageable, low resource value lands.
• Acquire manageable, high resource value land.
• Increase the efficiency of land management.
• Provide appropriate lands for community purposes and expansion, where no other practical alternatives are available to communities.
  

Related Policies:

• A site specific environmental analysis will be conducted prior to disposal of any BLM lands.
• Only parcels identified in the BLM Resource Management Plan (RMP) may be disposed of. Other potentially suitable lands may be considered for disposal through an amendment to the RMP.
• Will acquire land from willing sellers only.
• The preferred method of land ownership adjustment is through exchange.
  

Land Tenure Goals:

• Increase the efficiency of BLM land management.
• Balance disposals and acquisitions to avoid decrease in private property tax base.
• Accommodate desired community public purpose and expansion needs where feasible and appropriate
  

• Understand communities' and other agencies' land ownership policies and needs.
  

• Cannot dispose of certain high value lands, Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs), Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs), watersheds and wetlands, and other lands encumbered with environmental constraints including resource value issues (i.e. sensitive plants, animals, cultural history, etc.)
• Much of BLM land in the Owens Valley is subject to watershed withdrawls in support of LADWP operations, which must be rescinded prior to disposal.
  

May consider Ridgecrest Field Office of the BLM lands as an opportunity to improve the overall land exchange pool.

Larry Primosch, Realty Specialist
351 Pacu Lane, Suite 100
Bishop, CA 93514
(760) 872-5031
larry_primosch@ca.blm.gov