Book excerpt: It is the policy of the Department of Defense and the Department of the Air Force to make government lands available for mineral exploration and extraction to the maximum extent possible, consistent with military operations and national defense activities. Because the development of oil and gas on Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB) could adversely affect the base's missions, and, in addition, result in environmental impacts that could adversely affect the quality of the environment, the Air Force has determined that allowing such development to proceed constitutes a major federal action and therefore requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The Bureau of Land Management was a cooperating agency in developing this EIS. The EIS evaluates the possible environmental impacts associated with the adoption of a Mineral Resource Management Plan (MRMP) for the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas resources on VAFB. The proposed action is to implement the MRMP for oil and gas development on VAFB. None of VAFB would be excluded from consideration for development; however, restrictions (standards and guidelines) placed on applicants may make development more costly. Four alternatives are considered in addition to the no action alternative. Alternatives 1 through 3 assume the MRMP will be adopted. The difference among these three alternatives is based primarily on the area on VAFB that would be excluded from development.