Background

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), proposes to establish a Wind Energy Development Program to support wind energy development on public lands, and to amend selected BLM land use plans. The BLM has determined that amending land use plans and the establishment of a Wind Energy Development Program would be major federal actions as defined by the NEPA, and, thus, the BLM has prepared an EIS.

The BLM has prepared this Programmatic EIS to

1. assess the environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with wind energy development on BLM-administered land, and
2. evaluate alternatives to the proposed action to determine whether the proposed action is the best management approach for the BLM to adopt in terms of mitigating potential impacts and facilitating wind energy development.

For More Information

More background information is available in the Programmatic EIS Section 1.1 Purpose and Need (PDF, 32 KB).