Goals (continued)

Goal 3 - Provide amenities that enhance communities as places to live and work.

• Provide cultural resources for the benefit of present and future generations.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act requires public lands to be managed for historical and archeological values.

The National Historic Preservation Act (as amended through 1992) requires BLM to administer federally owned, administered or controlled prehistoric and historic resources in a spirit of stewardship for the inspiration and benefit of present and future generations. These benefits include cultural, educational, esthetic, inspirational, economic, and energy.

• Provide a broad spectrum of recreation opportunities.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act requires public lands to be managed for scenic values and to provide for outdoor recreation.

The BLM policy calls for a broad spectrum of resource-dependent recreation opportunities to meet the needs and demands of public land visitors, while ensuring continued availability of public lands and related waters for a diversity of resource- dependent outdoor-recreation opportunities.

Additionally, the O&C Act states that one expected benefit of managing timberlands for permanent forest production, according to sustained forestry principles, is the provision of recreation facilities.

• Make public lands available for special uses and needed rights-of-way.

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act provides for conservation and management of the public lands and authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to provide for the use, occupancy, and development of the public lands through permits, easements, and rights-of-way.

• Protect public health and welfare by mitigating the impacts of air pollution emissions from wildland and prescribed fire on air quality and visibility.

The underlying purpose of the Clean Air Act is to establish minimum national standards for air quality. The Clean Air Act most commonly affects planning and implementation of the Bureau of Land Management’s wildland and prescribed fire program.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s interim guidance on Wildland and Prescribed Fire (1998) integrates two public policy goals:

(1) Allow fire to function, as nearly as possible, in its natural role in maintaining healthy wildland ecosystems, and
(2) Protect public health and welfare by mitigating the impacts of air pollutant emissions on air quality and visibility.