Butte Field Office
| Contacts: | Contact David Abrams 406-533-7617 |
BLM Seeks Comments On Proposed Requirement For Campsites
The Bureau of Land Management’s Butte Field Office is seeking public comment on proposed requirements for campers using its recreation sites, primarily around Holter and Hauser lakes.
If adopted, the requirements would impact campers using BLM fee campgrounds located in Lewis and Clark, Silver Bow, and Beaverhead counties. Users of non-fee campgrounds or day-use sites would not be affected by this requirement.
The first proposed requirement would require all campers at established fee campgrounds to stay at their campsite every night beginning at 10 p.m. This new requirement is intended to eliminate the common practice of leaving personal property at a camp spot in order to save it for future use.
The second proposed requirement would limit camping at the highly-desired lakefront camp units (numbers 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18 and 19) at the Holter Lake Recreation Site to 14 days per season/per camping vehicle.
These two requirements would be in effect during the high-use season beginning the Wednesday prior to Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Both of these requirements are intended to maximize the availability of campsites for all visitors, enhance equitable opportunities and experiences, improve manageability, and reduce the incidents of unattended, unsecured personal property being left in campsites.
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.
Butte Field Office 106 North Parkmont Butte, MT 59701