Why is this plan being prepared?

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Idaho

Jarbidge Resource Management Plan Revision

What is a resource management plan?

The land use planning process is the primary tool used by the BLM to provide for use and protection of resources on public lands in consultation with the Tribes and coordination with State and local governments, land users, and the interested public.

A resource management plan (RMP) is a land use plan that describes broad multiple-use guidance for managing public lands administered by the BLM. The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) directs the BLM to develop such land use plans to provide for appropriate uses of public land. Decisions in land use plans guide future land management actions and subsequent site-specific implementation decisions. RMPs are intended to guide management activities for a 15 to 20 year period. Toward the end of this timeframe, the BLM usually prepares a new plan or revises the existing one to reflect the continually evolving public land use patterns, needs, and issues in a geographic area.

Why is this plan being prepared?

Lands in the Jarbidge Field Office are currently managed under the 1987 Jarbidge RMP. A 2001 evaluation pointed to the need for an update. In the intervening 19 years, resource conditions have changed, new issues and concerns have been raised, and the demands on public land resources have increased. Many of the decisions made in this plan are no longer appropriate. A revision of the 1987 Jarbidge RMP is needed to provide a comprehensive plan that further restores or maintains resource conditions and provides for the economic needs of local communities over the long term and accomplish the following:

Respond to resource conditions that have changed;
Respond to new issues, programs, and policies;
Prepare a comprehensive framework for managing public lands administered by the Jarbidge Field Office for the foreseeable future; and
Respond to the September 30, 2005 Stipulated Settlement Agreement (SSA) in the case of Western Watersheds Project v. K Lynn Bennett, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court, District of Idaho. Updating the RMP is one of the requirements identified in the SSA.