The Bureau of Land Management NEWS |
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The Bureau of Land Management NEWS |
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Last updated: 04/04/03
Release date: July 31, 1995
Contact: Celia Boddington (cbodding@wo0033wp.wo.blm.gov)
The Bureau of Land Management today released a report detailing the fundamental role of our public lands and the numerous benefits that all Americans receive from public lands, which are managed by the BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The report is titled "Public Rewards from Public Lands."
"Our public lands are a national asset, rich in cultural, natural and scenic resources," Acting BLM Director Mike Dombeck said. "We manage these lands for multiple uses, which means that every American benefits. And that's why it is so important that we pass this heritage on to future generations."
"The report issued today by the BLM shows the wide and rich variety of resources that can be found on BLM-managed public lands," Dombeck said. "These resources include livestock forage, energy and minerals, timber, fish and wildlife habitat, wilderness areas, and archaeological and historic sites. Tens of millions of Americans enjoy hunting, fishing, camping, hiking and other recreational activities on the public lands each year.
"Public Rewards from Public Lands" notes that BLM-managed public lands contain one-third of the nation's coal supply, 12.5 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, 1.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, 170 million acres of rangeland, 48 million acres of forestland, and thousands of recreational, archaeological, historic and cultural sites that are open to the public.
More than 65 million recreational visits -- for such activities as hunting, fishing, camping and hiking -- occur each year on BLM-managed lands. The various commercial activities that take place on these public lands will generate more than $1.2 billion for the nation's taxpayers in fiscal year 1996. The estimated value of all future oil, gas and coal royalty receipts from BLM-managed public lands is $16.4 billion for oil, $11.3 billion for gas and $5.4 billion for coal.
Legislation introduced in the 104th Congress would transfer the public domain to individual states. The legislation does not place restrictions on state management of the lands; states could retain or dispose of them. In addition, the legislation does not provide for compensation to the American taxpayers for the loss of revenue from the commercial activities on the public lands, the loss of assets on these lands, or the loss of the land itself.
Among other things, the BLM report points out that states acquiring BLM-managed lands would lose millions of dollars in Federal funds by doing so. In the last fiscal year, the BLM spent the following amounts on programs that benefit states and local governments: $99.3 million on the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program; $10 million on range improvements; $235.7 million on wildland firefighting; $25.1 million on recreation resource management; and $53 million on oil and gas leasing.
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