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Last updated: 04/04/03

BLM Proposes New Manual and Handbook Guidance

Relating to Land-Use Planning,

Seeks Public Review and Input

To improve its management and protection of public land resources, the Bureau of Land Management today proposed new manual and handbook guidance relating to the BLM's preparation and updating of its land-use plans. The proposed guidance, which would encourage greater public participation throughout the planning process, would affect manuals and handbooks used by BLM land managers. The proposal, announced in today's Federal Register, is open for public review until July 10.

The proposed planning guidance is aimed at promoting planning across land-ownership and administrative boundaries; it also emphasizes the BLM's need to work in conjunction with communities located near the public lands. The BLM's proposal would also make it easier for land managers to update and amend land-use plans as necessitated by new information (such as the listing of a threatened or endangered species) or because of changing conditions and trends that affect vegetation, soil, water, and other resources.

"This proposed guidance seeks to advance the BLM's mission of ensuring the health and productivity of the public lands," said BLM Director Tom Fry. "During the public review period that begins today, I hope that all who use or care about the public lands will review the proposed guidance and give us their comments and suggestions. The BLM's Field Offices will also conduct an outreach effort to inform the public of the proposed guidance."

Fry added, "It's clear that the BLM faces some formidable land-management challenges in the New Millennium. The proposed guidance concerning our land-use planning is intended to help our land managers deal more effectively with numerous resource-related issues, including the phenomenon of wildland-urban interface or suburban sprawl. This issue is particularly relevant to both the fast-growing West and the BLM, which manages and protects more land and more open space than any other Federal agency."

Under Federal law, the BLM prepares land-use plans that serve as the basis for all activities -- including livestock grazing, energy development, recreation, and natural resource protection -- that occur on BLM-managed lands. The proposed guidance updates a land-use planning manual that the BLM prepared in the 1980s, shortly after the BLM published its planning regulations in 1983.

"The BLM needs broad public participation to make sure we get a wide range of input during the development of land-use plans," Fry said. "We also need partnerships with other agencies, organizations, and individuals so we can carry out landscape management while addressing site-specific resource issues. The guidance we are proposing today will help the BLM meet these public participation and partnership needs."

The proposed guidance is accessible from the BLM's Internet Home Page at www.blm.gov. Copies of the proposed guidance are also available from any BLM Field Office or from the BLM's Planning, Assessment, and Community Support staff in Washington, D.C., at 202-452-5110. Written requests for copies should be directed to the BLM's Planning, Assessment, and Community Support Group, 1849 C Street, N.W., MS 1050 LS, Washington, D.C. 20240-0001. Comments on the draft land-use planning manual and handbook will be accepted until July 10. Written comments should be submitted to Ted Milesnick, Planning, Assessment, and Community Support Group, at the same address. Comments may also be sent electronically to wo210@blm.gov.

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, with a budget of $1.4 billion and a workforce of some 8,700 full-time permanent 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, including outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, and mining, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources found on the public lands.

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