BLM WILD

Some members of Congress want to give public input to the dark side

The recent release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story isn’t the only thing we may soon have in common with 1983, when Return of the Jedi reigned at the box office. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is anticipated to vote on a resolution (H. J. Res. 44) that would overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) “Planning 2.0” rule and set land use planning back 34 years — a time when the public was kept in the dark until very late in the process.

Americans are fortunate to own millions of acres of incredible public lands, many of which are overseen by the BLM. We all have a say in how these lands are managed through the ability to participate in a public process to develop land use plans. Last year, the BLM established Planning 2.0, which provides earlier openings for public input in the process. The new rule gives all land users more opportunities to make their voices heard, whether they are recreationists, ranchers, scientists, local governments, or the energy industry.

Planning 2.0 also includes steps to ensure that important fish and wildlife habitats, such as migration corridors and intact habitats, are identified early in the planning process so these important areas can be managed and conserved as the agency makes decisions about development, recreation and other public land uses.

What’s more, members of Congress are using a law called the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to undermine Planning 2.0. Under the CRA, once a regulation is disapproved by Congress, the agency cannot write a new rule that is “substantially the same” unless Congress enacts a new law permitting that. As a result, the BLM would be forced to use outdated guidelines from 1983, delaying the point in the land use planning process when public input is valued.

But we all, as the public, still have a voice in how our lands will be managed in the future. Click here to tell your Representative to vote NO on H. J. Res. 44 — and maybe the ending to this story will be more like Return of the Jedi than Rogue One, with public input living on.

6 Reasons to Protect Northwest California #BLMWild Treasures

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Arcata and Redding Field Offices in northern California are tasked with caring for about 400,000 acres of public lands in Mendocino, Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Butte, and Tehama counties on behalf of the American people. The BLM is currently seeking public input on how these lands should be managed over the next decade or more. Why we should care about protecting #BLMWild places in the region:

1. These public lands are stepping stones for wildlife and are among the most untouched in the region. The surrounding areas have suffered a long history of logging, mining, road construction and other development activities. In some places, these lands are all that’s left of a watershed.

2. Tucked between National Forest lands and private property, these “wild islands” are treasures to the northern California way of life as important habitat for wildlife, the source of clean drinking water, areas of recreation and places with cultural significance to Native Americans.

3. Connecting Islands of Habitat — These islands of public lands range from approximately 30,000 acres to as little as 40 acres. But the importance of these lands is outsized. They help connect habitat for bald eagles, river otters, salmon and steelhead and many more species of wildlife.

4. Safeguarding Sources of Clean Water — The rivers and streams that originate or run through these public lands contribute to the region’s supply of water for drinking as well as what’s needed for municipal and agricultural use. Protecting these lands is an investment in the area’s water supply. These rivers and streams also provide habitat for salmon and steelhead and their conservation is critical for the region’s fisheries.

5. Experiencing the Outdoors — As the BLM updates their blueprint for the region, we have a chance to conserve sensitive public lands from development and enhance opportunities for people to experience the outdoors. These lands include places that are suitable for recreation activities like hiking, camping, mountain bike riding, horseback riding, kayaking, rafting and canoeing.

6. Recognizing Culturally and Historically Significant Lands — The public lands that will be considered during this process include places that are historically and culturally important for the region’s Native American tribes, including the Cahto, Karuk, Wintun and Yurok nations and the peoples represented by the Round Valley Indian Tribes. Input from these communities will be critical during this process.

If you care about how your public lands are managed, this is your opportunity to make your voice heard! Make your comments by February 3 on the California Wilderness Coalition’s action page, and learn more on our website.

On Jan. 3, 2017, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized its land use plan for Alaska’s Eastern Interior, a region of vast landscapes and complex river systems spanning 6.5 million acres of some of America’s most remote and beautiful land. Why this milestone is something to celebrate:

A Win for Wildlife: BLM’s plan protects habitat for internationally important fish and other wildlife, including moose, caribou, grizzly bears, wolverines, eagles, and dozens of fish species such as chinook salmon.

A Win for Wild Places: BLM’s plan safeguards millions of acres of incredible public land from the impacts of mining, including wild places in the Steese National Conservation Area, the White Mountains National Recreation Area and the Upper Draanjik River watershed.

A Win for Clean Water and Rivers: BLM’s plan establishes protections for rivers like the Upper Black or Draanjik River, the Wood River and Bull Creek based on comments from tribes, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Gwich’in Tribes, all expressing strong concerns about protecting these important watersheds, water quality on the Yukon Flats, and important subsistence resources.

A Win for Traditional Lands: BLM’s plan protects traditional land of 8 federally recognized Tribes, allowing local Alaska Native communities to sustain their relationship with an environment that has long provided food, water, shelter and cultural resources.

We’re the PUBLIC in public lands 

Our national parks have been called America’s best idea, but they are just one piece of the larger, extraordinary concept of U.S. public lands — millions of acres owned in part by each and every American. From snow-capped mountains to the sagebrush sea, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees over 200 million acres of our shared natural heritage. Forty years ago, Congress passed legislation called the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLMPA), which set the course for how the BLM manages our public lands today.

Most Americans have probably never heard of FLMPA, but it is a law that affects all who love and cherish our BLM wild public lands. Prior to 1976, the lands currently managed by the BLM were not necessarily viewed as America’s crown jewels like the national parks or U.S. Forest Service managed wilderness areas. FLPMA notably included conservation and managing areas for wilderness characteristics as priority uses for BLM public lands, in addition to activities like mining, grazing, energy development, and recreation. Fans of wild places can thank FLPMA for directing the BLM to take inventory of the lands it oversees and determining which areas should be managed for conservation.

In order to decide which uses were of the highest value to specific places managed by the BLM, FLPMA importantly created a process to allow citizens to have a say in how their public lands are managed. Each region is governed by a “Resource Management Plan”, which takes into account how the public — YOU — wants to see these lands managed for the next 20–30 years. Should we protect an area’s wilderness character or allow development for energy or minerals? Should motorized recreation be allowed in an untrammeled area?

Recently conservationists toured the rare desert grasslands of Otero Mesa, New Mexico, called the Serengeti of the Southwest due to its large herds of pronghorn antelope, mule deer, and bighorn sheep.  The Bureau of Land Management - New Mexico is revising its management plan for the area in the coming years, providing a rare opportunity to protect special places across the region. 

Fun Fact About Your Public Lands!

(h/t New Mexico Wilderness Alliance)

Parks Ranch Cave, managed by the Carlsbad, New Mexico Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field Office, is the second longest gypsum cave in the U.S. at more than four miles (6.6 km) long!

The longest gypsum cave in the U.S. is the D.C. Jester Cave System in Oklahoma at 6.25 miles (10 km) long.

In the world, Optimisticheskaya in western Ukraine tops them all, with more than 146 miles (236 km) of surveyed passage!

5 Reasons the DRECP is a win for California Desert #BLMWild Public Lands

On September 14, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and the California Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the final Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (also known as the DRECP), culminating an eight year collaborative effort to find a balance between renewable energy development and conserving important public lands in the California Desert. Here’s why all of us who love #BLMWild places have something to cheer about:

1. The DRECP will result in one of the largest protected landscapes in the lower 48 states. The plan stitches together previously protected areas that were not connected, now forming a substantial conservation area that encompasses much of the California desert.

2. California Desert National Conservation Lands identified by the DRECP are now permanently protected for this and future generations to enjoy. The DRECP will also preserve important habitat for wildlife such as bighorn sheep and desert tortoises. 

3. Stunningly beautiful places that were previously threatened by development, such as the Silurian Valley, are now safeguarded. 

4. If or when future renewable energy projects are proposed, they will now be located in selected areas that will minimize development impacts. 

Big news!  Today U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and the Bureau of Land Management - California announced the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP), a landmark collaborative effort that will ensure a brighter future for the California Desert by balancing public land conservation with renewable energy development.  

#BLMWild Notes from the Field: Island Park, Idaho

#BLMWild Notes from the Field: Upper Snake region, Idaho

A great group of folks joined Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s Janna Coulter and Idaho Fish and Game's (IDFG) Rob Cavallaro to learn about wildlife habitat on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands east of Victor, Idaho earlier this month. The group hiked a gorgeous route and discussed opportunities to submit public comments on the Upper Snake BLM's travel planning effort. Many thanks to all who attended!

Photos:

1) Attendees listen to IDFG’s Rob Cavallaro while hiking on BLM lands east of Victor, Idaho.

2) IDFG’s Rob Cavallaro points out where a front grizzly claw slipped above his hand and the smaller hind-foot prints marked below his hand on this Aspen tree on BLM land east of Victor, Idaho.

At the end of July, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its land use plan for Alaska’s Eastern Interior, a region of vast landscapes and complex river systems spanning 6.5 million acres of some of America’s most pristine land.  This plan will determine the future of the Steese National Conservation Area, the White Mountains National Recreation Area, the Fortymile Wild & Scenic River region, and the Upper Draanjik River (also known as the Black River) region for the next 20 years.

In a draft management plan released in February of 2012, the BLM had identified areas important for conservation – but left Areas of Critical Environmental Concern open to development such as mining.  In the years following, thousands of advocates sent messages urging the BLM to protect areas set aside for conservation from development.  Local tribal leaders traveled to Washington, DC to ask the BLM to safeguard lands critical to sustaining their communities and culture.

And the BLM listened. The proposed final plan released this year strikes the right balance between development, protection of traditional land uses, and conservation of BLM wild places in Alaska’s Eastern Interior.  Over 4.8 million acres of incredible public land would be protected from the impacts of mining, and roughly 1.7 million acres would be open to mining.  

BIG NEWS: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) just released its land use plan for Alaska’s vast & wild Eastern Interior. While the plan is still being analyzed, we commend BLM for listening to the region’s Alaska Native communities and making apparent plan improvements that sustain traditional land uses.  Please check back in the coming weeks for ways you can help ensure #BLMWild areas are protected from mining in the final “Record of Decision!”

More info: www.blm.gov/ak/eirmp