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Last updated: 04/04/03

Contacts:

Tom Gorey, 202-452-5031
Gary Pavek, 202-452-7797

For Immediate Release: September 9, 1999

NEWS RELEASE

BLM To Hold Informational Meetings on Wildlife-Related Changes to Agency's Interim Policy on Managing Wilderness Study Areas

The Bureau of Land Management will hold four informational meetings to keep the public aware of proposed changes in the agency's Interim Management Policy for Wilderness Study Areas. The meetings, which will focus on the wildlife sections of the policy, will be held from September 13-16 in Portland, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; Denver, Colorado; and Washington, D.C.

"These sessions are aimed at explaining proposed wildlife-related changes in the interim policy manual that guides the Bureau's management of Wilderness Study Areas," said BLM Acting Director Tom Fry. "We hope that all interested citizens who can attend any of these four meetings will do so."

The BLM's Interim Management Policy guides the agency's management of Wilderness Study Areas (WSAs) pending congressional decisions on designating specific study areas as permanent Federal wilderness. The overall objective of the policy is to protect the wilderness characteristics of these areas while they are under consideration for permanent wilderness designation. (Under Federal law, these characteristics are defined as naturalness, opportunities for primitive and unconfined types of recreation, and opportunities for solitude.)

In making proposed changes to the wildlife section of its Interim Management Policy, the BLM has consulted with State fish and wildlife agencies, which share responsibility with the Bureau in managing wildlife resources in WSAs. The Bureau, which periodically updates its Interim Management Policy to reflect changes in law and policies, is revising the wildlife section by:

• updating the policy manual to reflect changes in the Federal process for evaluating Animal Damage Management (formerly Animal Damage Control) proposals affecting BLM-managed lands;
• incorporating provisions on the management of invasive (non-native) plant and animal species, as prompted by a Presidential Executive Order issued on February 3; and
• clarifying language relating to the BLM's and States' shared responsibility for wildlife management in Wilderness Study Areas.

The dates, places, and times of the four informational meetings are as follows:

• Monday, September 13, in Portland, Oregon, at the Oregon BLM State Office, 1515 S.W. 5th Avenue, 9th floor conference rooms A&B, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 14, in Reno, Nevada, at the Natural Resources Conservation Service State Office, 5301 Longley Lane, Building F, Room 201, 10 a.m.-12 noon
• Wednesday, September 15, in Denver, Colorado, at the BLM Colorado State Office, 2850 Youngfield Street, 2nd floor conference room, 10 a.m.-12 noon
• Thursday, September 16, in Washington, D.C., at the Department of the Interior's Main Building, 1849 C Street, N.W., Room 7000B, 1 p.m.-3 p.m.

The BLM, an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior, manages more land -- 264 million surface acres -- than any other Federal agency. Most of this public land is located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, which has a budget of $1.2 billion and a workforce of about 9,000 employees, also administers more than 560 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM preserves open space by managing the public lands for multiple uses, such as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and mining, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands.

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