JIO Newsletter makes its debut
Joint Interagency Mitigation and Reclamation Office
by Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
August 21, 2007
The Joint Interagency Mitigation and Reclamation Office (JIO) recently unveiled its inaugural newsletter. The newsletter will be available on the JIO webpage as part of the Pinedale BLM’s homepage.
“We are happy to make this information product accessible to the public. The newsletter will provide current overall information on the JIO as well as specific information on projects and progress within the four interagency team members. The JIO comprises the Wyoming Department of Agriculture (WDA), Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ), the Wyoming Game & Fish Department (WGFD), and the BLM,” said Mike Stiewig, JIO project coordinator.
The Jonah Natural Gas Field is an area of west central Wyoming, south of the town of Pinedale, in the Upper Green River Basin. Jonah’s 30,000 acres of rolling sagebrush are 94 percent federally owned. The area has one of the richest concentrations of natural gas in the United States, more than 12 trillion cubic feet. EnCana funded $24.5 million to fund compensatory mitigation as part of the BLM decision. These funds will be used for off-site compensatory mitigation, including monitoring of surface disturbance and reclamation activities within the field. The funding also covers the cost of operating the interagency project office.
According to Stiewig, a newsletter should be posted quarterly. “We will often use press releases, interviews with the media and public presentations in between newsletters to keep the public well-informed of who we are and what we’re doing,” he added.
Stiewig is joined by Lisa Reinhart (WDA), Dan Stroud (WGFD), and Jennifer Frazier (WDEQ) in reaching JIO goals and objectives. The JIO Newsletter is available on-line at http://www.wy.blm.gov/jonah_office/jio_news.htm.
For more information on the JIO Newsletter, contact Mike Stiewig at 307-367-5363.
|
