UPDATE:

The U.S. Forest Service will announce today that it has extended the comment period on the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Oil and Gas Leasing on our Little Missouri National Grasslands. The 30-day extension means comments will be accepted on the Draft SEIS, outlined below, until Jan. 16, 2019.

Although the announcement comes Dec. 7, Pearl Harbor Day, as far as I can tell, there is no connection between the two events, but don’t discount the possibility that the Forest Service wanted to get it out there before the celebration Saturday, Dec. 8, of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Both the Lord and the U.S. government work in mysterious ways.

The Forest Service got a lot of requests for the comment period to be extended to give people time to wade through the 194-page document and share their feelings on it with the people who will be making the decision on the future of oil and gas leasing on the Little Missouri National Grasslands, our public lands in western North Dakota, where oil development has been running rampant without much planning for most of the last decade.

The granting of the extension is welcome and shows that sometimes government officials do respond to requests from the public. For everyone who sent in a request to have the comment period extended, thanks. Good job. To the Forest Service, thanks to you, too. Our thoughts on your job will be reflected in our comments.

Also, if you’re in the neighborhood next week, don’t forget the public meetings on the SEIS. Dates, times and locations are in my original post:

http://www.unheralded.fish/2018/12/04/jim-fuglie-view-from-the-prairie-watching-out-for-our-national-grasslands-protecting-the-places-we-hunt-and-play/