The growing, changing West
The public lands, once considered remote and of little value, are now one of the last-remaining guarantees of open space. In 1945, one year before the BLM became an agency, the West’s population stood at about 17 million. Today, more than 63 million people live in the West, and the growth is expected to continue. When NEPA and FLPMA were passed more than 25 years ago, few anticipated this dramatic growth and the increasing demands it would place on the public lands.

Critical to the success of multiple use land management is creative and cooperative management. With over 22 million people living within 25 miles of the public lands, the BLM can only be effective by working closely with local and state governments and the private sector. Through close collaboration and partnerships, the BLM determines how best to manage these lands so as to meet the needs of both Western communities and the Nation as a whole.

As part of its work to support local communities, the BLM must significantly strengthen and update its land-use plans—the backbone of the process needed to make sound resource decisions. These plans, which are prepared with extensive public involvement, are intended to identify the current condition of the land, appropriate uses of its resources, and the public's needs and desires. Most of the BLM's land-use plans were completed at least a decade ago. Because of the rapid pace of change in the West and the recent expansion of communities into rural areas, these plans need to be updated, as they no longer reflect current on-the-ground conditions or do not adequately address the public's emerging needs.

As the West has changed over the past two decades, so have the demands and expectations of public lands administered by the BLM. With changing local economies, rapid population growth, shifting demographics, and the expansion of residential areas into lands once considered remote, the western United States represents an environment where BLM lands are often the center of both conflict and opportunity.

The need for Updated Land Use Plans
Accurate, up-to-date land use plans are integral to effective management of America’s public lands administered by the BLM. Land use plans and planning decisions are the basis for every action the BLM takes and serve as its primary tool for building consensus and providing the public a voice in our land and resource management programs.

To keep pace with the public’s demands for a variety of uses on the public lands, current land use plans are essential to addressing new management challenges and providing good customer service to public land users. Land use plans provide the basis for sound and legally defensible resource decisions.

Most of BLM’s LUPs were completed in the 1980s and early 1990s. As a result of changing resource and socio-economic conditions, increased demand for energy and other minerals, evolving land use patterns, and technological advancements, these plans are becoming increasingly outdated. As a consequence, many plans no longer provide the management guidance needed to process land use authorizations and are increasingly subject to legal challenges. Some plans do not address new environmental standards or congressional, judicial, or administrative mandates. For example, Congress has designated 14 National Conservation Areas and a National Monument, and a number of new National Monuments have been established by Presidential proclamation; all of these areas need new plans. Recent legislation has withdrawn public lands for six military reservations in Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico, requiring new land use plans or plan revisions.

As requested by Congress, the Bureau included in its fiscal year 2001 budget request the results of an ongoing analysis of the status of land use planning and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) adequacy and the actions needed to correct identified deficiencies, including the level of funding and other resources that would be required. These findings were documented in the “Report to Congress - Land Use Planning for Sustainable Resource Decisions”, completed and submitted to Congress in February 2000. The Bureau realized a budget increase of $19 Million for FY 2001 consistent with this report to Congress. Long-term Bureau funding needs in planning are projected to be $50 million per year.

In the report, the Bureau identified a total of 162 existing land-use plans and associated NEPA analyses covering most of the 262 million acres of public lands that the BLM administers. Some of these plans are current, but many are older-generation plans dating back to the 1970s. A number of these earlier plans, as well as some of the more current plans, do not adequately meet the new demands and mandates that have emerged:

• Changing demographics, pace of change is accelerating (rapid population growth in the West)
• Rural/urban interface issues
• Old plans are outdated and ineffective
• Listing of new threatened and endangered species
• Few trained planners within BLM
• New Land Use Planning Handbook
• New planning approaches and techniques
• Pressure to complete plans in less time
• Interest in collaborative, landscape-based plans
• Opportunities for “on-the-ground” management based on plans
• Designation of National Monuments and National Conservation Areas

As a result of plan deficiencies, shortfalls in the emerging areas, and conflicting public uses, the Bureau faces increased litigation. It is imperative that land-use plans are updated not only to comply with judicial decisions and meet the demands of these emerging issues and shortfalls, but also to meet the nation’s energy and minerals needs while preserving and protecting other public land resources.

Time Sensitive Plans
The BLM is committed to updating its entire planning base. In particular, the agency has identified 21 “Time Sensitive Plans” that merit immediate attention in addressing high priority issues. The BLM is moving quickly to develop these 21 land use plans, and, in order to ensure the success of this initiative, will continue to increase coordination and consultation with the public, local and national interest groups, state government, and Congress. BLM is developing compressed project schedules, implementing efficiencies in processes, and dedicating financial resources. The BLM is directing its resources toward completing these critical plans within the next three years to address the most urgently needed plan revisions and amendments.

The Time Sensitive Plans (TSPs) address a number of complex issues, including:

• Increasing demands on the wildland-urban interface in the rapidly urbanizing West, including recreation and open space;
• Growing numbers of listed and candidate species;
• Increased demands for domestic energy supply, new mineral extraction technologies, and the need for a modernization of energy transmission infrastructure;
• The need to plan for fire management; and
• New Congressional and Administrative designations of National Conservation Areas, National Monuments, Wilderness, Wilderness Study Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, and National Scenic and Historic Trails.

The table below lists the twenty-one Time Sensitive Plans, as well as the planning lead contacts. For more information on the TSP initiative, please visit the BLM home page and check out our newsletters: http://www.blm.gov/planning/handouts/tsp_news.htm