Background
BLM’s 162 resource management plans form the basis for every action and approved use on the public lands, including 262 million acres of surface lands and 700 million acres of mineral estate. Planning emphasizes a collaborative environment, in which local, State, and Tribal governments, the public, local user groups, and industry work with the BLM to identify appropriate multiple uses of the public lands. Because the decisions in RMPs typically are adequate for a particular area for approximately 15-20 years, there is often a need to revise older RMPs. In addition, RMPs are often amended as well to address a particular issue or respond to new information. Plan amendments are written on both an Environmental Assessment and Environmental Impact Statement level of NEPA analysis, depending on the complexity of issues and level of impact on the environment.

Before 1985, BLM’s land use plans were referred to as Management Framework Plans (MFPs). Since 1985, BLM’s land use plans are called Resource Management Plans (RMPs). RMPs are prepared for relatively large areas of public lands, called planning areas, which tend to have similar resource characteristics.

Purpose
The primary method BLM uses to establish the balance between land use and resource protection is land use planning. Firmly established in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, planning is designed to project present and future land uses and identify management practices needed to achieve desired conditions. Planning provides BLM with the opportunity to collaborate with other agencies, Tribes, and State and local governments, and many customers and stakeholders to develop a common vision for how the public lands should be used and protected and how various land use allocation issues should be resolved. Purpose
Land Use Plans are used by managers and the public to accomplish the following:

• Allocate resources and determine appropriate multiple uses for the public lands;


• Develop a strategy to manage and protect resources; and


• Set up systems to monitor and evaluate status of resources and effectiveness of management practices over time.

BLM’s land use plans are developed using an interdisciplinary approach that considers competing values and uses and weighs long and short-term benefits. The land use plans establish management direction for areas that typically contain from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 acres of public land. Developed with extensive public involvement, land use plans are prepared in conjunction with an analysis of environmental impacts to increase public understanding of the decision-making process and disclose the consequences of plan decisions.

Resource management issues are more complex, more sensitive, and in many ways more important than ever, yet BLM’s mission essentially remains the same: to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.