| Contacts: | Vanessa Delgado, 303-239-3681 | |||
| John Bierk, 303-239-3893 |
Revised Camping and Occupancy Regulations for Public Lands (06-10-10)
Lakewood, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management is amending supplementary rules for camping on BLM lands in Colorado. These rules extend the time period and distance campers must move once the current 14-day stay limit is reached. These rules go in to effect July 12, 2010.
The amended language increases the distance campers must move after reaching the 14-day limit from three to 30 miles. It further amends the departure time frame by increasing it from seven to 30 days, once the 14-day limit has been reached. Additional language is included to limit the occurrence of unattended campsites that are being established for the purpose of securing campsite locations for later use. These supplementary rules apply to all BLM lands in Colorado.
“These rules go a long way in our efforts to effectively reduce the impact of long-term camping and illegal occupancy on public lands,” BLM Chief Ranger John Bierk said. “We hope these rules will resolve any inconsistency or confusion that existed in the past with respect to camping and occupancy on public lands.”
The current camping regulations, published in 1990, limit campers on any site to 14-days. After 14 days have passed, the camper must either leave the site or move to a new site more than three miles away for at least seven days before they can return. Unfortunately, a number of users took advantage of the existing language and established long-term residency under the pretext of camping. These uses often interfere with legitimate recreation use of public lands, create sanitation and other health concerns, cause damage to the resources by illegal campfires, vegetation trampling, vehicle use, trash dumping, and pose public dangers.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
2850 Youngfield Street Lakewood, CO 80215