CODY - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is revising its Big Horn Basin resource management plan, a document that guides many of the policies about how public lands will be administered for the next decade or more.

The agency will hold scoping meetings on the issue in three local communities this week, and Park County Commissioner Jill Shockley Siggins said she wants to make sure residents show up to voice their opinions.

"They revise this plan about every 20 years, and they've been doing it all over the West, and now it's our turn," she said.

Siggins said she often hears from residents about public land issues, and with much of Park County under BLM management, this week's scoping meetings are an important venue where people should speak up.

"People are very thoughtful in the things they are talking to me about, and it covers a wide spectrum from sage grouse to wild horses to oil and gas to wind farms," she said.

County commissioners have launched a comprehensive campaign to raise awareness about the meetings. In addition to radio and newspaper advertisements, commissioners are sending notices by e-mail, speaking on talk radio, contacting various interest groups and even using an automated telephone system.

The so-called code red system is a computer-controlled auto-dialer that can contact 14,000 county residents by phone with a recorded audio message.

About 7,000 residents were called over the weekend, but the system failed to contact another 7,000 Siggins said, adding that the system is new, and the meeting notification was an important test of its capabilities.

While the code red notice has raised a few eyebrows among those who said it ought to be reserved for emergency messages, Siggins said she had heard only one complaint.

The message was informational, passing along meeting dates and times, but it did not advocate a position on any issue.

Commissioners have also launched a blog where residents can post messages and ask questions about the BLM plan revision process.

"If there's anything we've learned in this last election it's that the Internet is a terrific tool for us to have conversations with people," Siggins said.

"All we want right now is to hear what people think," she said, adding that there will be time later in the process for commissioners to debate specific land management issues.

Scoping meetings are scheduled 3-8 p.m. on the following days:

n Today in Cody at Big Horn Federal Savings, 1701 Stampede Ave.;

n Thursday in Powell at America's Best Value Inn, 777 East Second St.;

n Friday at the Lovell Community Center, 1925 U.S. Highway 310.

For more information about revisions to the BLM resource management plan for the Big Horn Basin, go to:

http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/Planning/rmps/bighorn.html]]->