![]() |
U.S. Department of the InteriorBureau of Land Management |
GLOSSARY
ACEC (Areas of Critical Environmental Concern):
ACECs are areas where special management is needed to protect important historical,
cultural, scenic, and natural areas; or to identify areas hazardous to human life and
property.
Acquired lands:
Lands in Federal ownership that were obtained by the Government through purchase,
condemnation, or gift; or by exchange. Acquired lands constitute one category of public
lands. (See Public lands.)
Administrative site:
A reservation of public lands for use as a site for public buildings, ranger stations, or
other administrative facilities.
Administrative State:
Bureau of Land Management State Office having administrative jurisdiction. For example,
the Montana State Office has administrative jurisdiction for Montana, North Dakota, and
South Dakota. See inside back cover for a complete list of State offices and the
respective areas of responsibility for each office.
Allocation of receipts:
Determination of moneys paid, or to be paid, to other funds, counties, or States out of
receipts collected during the fiscal year reported, as required and/or specified by law.
ANCSA:
Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of December 18, 1971 (Public Law 92-203, 85 Stat.
688).
Animal unit:
A standardized unit of measurement for range livestock that is equivalent to one cow, one
horse, five sheep, five goats, or four reindeer, all over 6 months of age.
Animal unit month (AUM):
A standardized unit of measurement of the amount of forage necessary for the complete
sustenance of one animal unit for a period of 1 month; also, a unit of measurement of
grazing privileges that represents the privilege of grazing one animal unit for a period
of one month.
Application:
A formal request for rights to use, or obtain eventual title to, public lands or
resources.
Archaeological and historical site:
A site that contains either objects of antiquity or cultural values relating to history
and/or prehistory that warrant special protection.
Big game habitat:
Habitat areas used by big game animals at some time during their yearly life cycle.
Boating:
Includes both motorized and non-motorized boats. Motorized boating includes tour boats,
power boating, river running (commercial and/or noncommercial), etc. Non-motorized boating
includes sailing, canoeing and kayaking, and river running (commercial and noncommercial),
and other non-motorized boats such as rowboats.
Bonus:
The cash consideration paid to the United States by the successful bidder for a mineral
lease, such payment being made in addition to the rent and royalty obligations specified
in the lease.
Cadastral survey:
A survey relating to land boundaries and subdivisions made to create units suitable for
management or to define the limits of title. The distinguishing features of the cadastral
surveys are the establishment of monuments on the ground to define the boundaries of the
land and their identification in the records by field notes and plats.
Camping:
Includes auto and trailer camping, along with other camping at developed sites, and back
country camping.
Candidate species:
Species designated as candidates for listing as threatened or endangered by the Fish and
Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service. (Also see Endangered species and
Threatened species.)
Carey Acts:
The acts of August 18, 1894 (28 Stat. 372), and March 15, 1910 (36 Stat. 237, 43 U.S.C.
Sec. 643), which provide for grants of desert lands to States for disposition to bona fide
settlers.
CCF:
Hundred cubic feet. 100 units of true volume that measures 1 X 1 X 1 foot or its
equivalent. This is the standard unit of measurement for Bureau of Land Management Timber
Sales. Does not include bark or air volume.
Ceded Indian lands:
Public lands to which Indian tribal title was relinquished to the United States by the
Indians on condition that part of all of the proceeds from their sale or other disposition
would be conveyed into the Treasury and held in trust for the Indians.
Certification:
The act of final approval of a State selection by the Director; also, the document that
passes title to the selected lands to the State; also, a document that attests to the
truth or authenticity of papers attached to it.
CFR:
Code of Federal Regulations.
Chaining:
Vegetation removal that is accomplished by hooking a large anchor chain between two
bulldozers; as the dozers move through the vegetation, the vegetation is knocked to the
ground. Chaining kills a large percentage of the vegetation, and is often followed a year
or two later by burning and/or seeding.
Color-of-Title Act:
The Act of December 22, 1928 (43 U.S.C. Sec. 1068), as amended. Under the terms and
provisions of this Act, a patent may be issued for a parcel of not more than 160 acres of
public lands in instances where claim to the lands has been based on a written instrument
containing defective evidence of title. The parcel must have been possessed in good faith
by a claimant, his ancestors, or grantors for a period of more than 20 years.
Color-of-title entry:
A cash entry made by an applicant under the Color-of-Title Act.
Competitive leasing:
Refers to leases issued by the United States where there are known minerals (or other
resources such as oil and gas) or where inference of probable resources can be drawn from
knowledge of the geology of the land. The lands are offered for lease by competitive
bidding after publication of the offer of the lands for leasing. The lease is issued to
the highest bidder, who is determined at a sale by public auction. (See also Leasable
minerals and Noncompetitive mineral leasing.)
Contract fire protection:
Fire protection given lands owned, leased, or controlled by the United States and
administered by the Bureau of Land Management on which complete fire protection is
extended through the use of fire protection forces and facilities contracted for by the
Bureau.
Crossing permit:
An authorization issued for trailing livestock across Federal range for proper and lawful
purposes.
Cultural resources:
Remains of human activity, occupation, or endeavor, reflected in districts, sites,
structures, buildings, objects, artifacts, ruins, works of art, architecture, and natural
features that were of importance in past human events. These resources consist of (1)
physical remains, (2) areas where significant human events occurred, even though evidence
of the event no longer remains, and (3) the environment immediately surrounding the actual
resource.
Desert Land Entry:
An entry of irrigable arid agricultural public lands for the purpose of reclamation,
irrigation, and cultivation in part.
Disposition:
A transaction which leads to the transfer of title of public lands, and/or resources upon
or in these lands, from the Federal Government.
Eastern States:
Includes all states bordering on or east of the Mississippi River.
Early seral:
An ecological condition classification that means that the current vegetation is between
zero and 25 percent similar to the potential natural plant community. Early seral
describes vegetation that is in "poor" condition.
Emergency fire rehabilitation projects:
Any action taken to ameliorate the impacts of a wildfire to the land, including the
physical and biological resources. These actions can include exclusion fencing, soil
stabilization (such as revegetation), and watershed protection measures. Fire
rehabilitation actions are necessary to prevent unacceptable resource degradation,
minimize threats to public health and safety, prevent unacceptable off-site damage, and
minimize the potential for the recurrence of wildfire.
Endangered species:
Any animal or plant species in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant
portion of its range. (Also see Candidate species and Threatened species.)
Entry:
An application to acquire title to public lands.
Entry, allowed:
An application to acquire title to public lands that has been approved, either as an
original entry or a final entry.
Ephemeral streams:
Stream reaches where water flows for only brief periods during storm runoff events.
Exchange:
A transaction whereby the Federal Government receives land or interests in land in
exchange for other land or interests in land.
Exchange lease (coal):
An exchange of coal resources when it is in the public interest to shift the impact of
mineral operations from leased lands, or portions of leased lands, to currently unleased
lands to preserve public resource or social values, and to carry out Congressional
directives authorizing coal lease exchanges.
Federal land:
All classes of land owned by the Federal Government.
Field examination:
An on-the-ground investigation of selected public lands with regard to valuation, land
use, application for entry, mineralization, etc.
Fire suppression:
Fire control activities concerned with controlling and extinguishing a fire, starting at
the time the fire is discovered.
Fishable stream:
A stream that currently supports a sport fishery on public lands. These streams are not
necessarily accessible to the public.
Fishing:
Includes fishing from the shore, and from a boat when the boating is secondary to the
fishing activity. Included are warm-water, cold-water, and ice fishing; crabbing; seining;
and gigging.
FLPMA:
Federal Land Policy and Management Act of October 21, 1976 (Public Law 94-579, 90 Stat.
2743), commonly called the "Organic Act" for the Bureau of Land Management.
Force account fire protection:
Fire protection given lands owned, leased, or controlled by the United States and
administered by the Bureau of Land Management on which complete fire protection is
extended through the use of the protection forces and facilities supervised and operated
by the Bureau.
Free-use permit:
A permit to a governmental agency or nonprofit group to use mineral materials, such as
sand and gravel, or other resources at no charge.
Global Important Bird Areas:
Globally Important Bird Areas (IBAs) consist of a network of sites and areas in North
America identified and protected to maintain naturally occurring bird populations across
the ranges of those species. IBAs are important for maintaining critical habitats and
ecosystems. This network of areas encompasses lands critical to the conservation of some
bird species and may include the best examples of the species habitat. IBAs help
ensure species survival.
Grazing district:
An administrative subdivision of the rangelands under jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land
Management established pursuant to Section 3 of the Taylor Grazing Act to facilitate
management of rangeland resources.
Grazing-fee year:
March 1 of a given calendar year through the last day in February of the following year.
Grazing lease:
An authorization that permits the grazing of livestock on public lands outside the grazing
districts during a specified period of time (Section 15 of the Taylor Grazing Act).
Grazing lease lands:
Lands outside grazing districts that are owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the
United States and administered by the Bureau of Land Management, and that are subject to
leasing for grazing purposes under the Alaska Grazing Law of March 4, 1927; Section 15 of
the Taylor Grazing Act of June 28, 1934; the Oregon Timber Conservation Act of August 28,
1937; or the Reindeer Act of September 1, 1937.
Grazing permit:
An authorization that permits the grazing of a specified number and class of livestock on
a designated area of grazing district lands during specified seasons each year (Section 3
of the Taylor Grazing Act).
Habitat disking and chaining:
Involves use of heavy equipment to remove undesirable vegetation such as juniper trees
(chaining) and sagebrush (disking). Usually done to induce the growth of more
desirable species.
Hardrock minerals:
Locatable minerals that are neither leasable minerals (oil, gas, coal, oil shale,
phosphate, sodium, potassium, sulphur, asphalt, or gilsonite) nor saleable mineral
materials (e.g., common variety sand and gravel). Hardrock minerals include, but are not
limited to, copper, lead, zinc, magnesium, nickel, tungsten, gold, silver, bentonite,
barite, feldspar, fluorspar, and uranium.
Herd Management Areas:
The Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act of 1971 requires that wild free-roaming horses
and burros be considered for management where they were found at the time Congress passed
the Act. The BLM identified 264 areas of use as herd areas, and then established Herd
Management Areas (HMAs) for wild and free-roaming horses and burros through its land use
planning process.
Homestead entry, original:
An original entry under the homestead laws; also, the first homestead entry that was made
by an individual; also, a homestead entry that was made pursuant to the first homestead
law, the Act of May 20, 1862 (12 Stat. 392) as codified in Sec. 2289 of the Revised
Statutes. (Also see Entry, original; Stockraising homestead.)
Hunting:
Includes big- and small-game hunting, waterfowl hunting, and trapping.
Indian allotment:
An allocation of a parcel of public lands or Indian reservation lands to an Indian for
individual use; also, the lands so allocated.
Inland water area:
Includes permanent inland water surface, such as lakes, ponds, and reservoirs having 40
acres or more of the area; streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals 1/8 of a statute mile
or more in width; deeply indented embayments and sounds, other coastal waters behind or
sheltered by headlands, or islands separated by less than 1 nautical mile of water; and
islands having less than 40 acres of area.
Lake (or pond):
A natural standing body of water.
Lake improvements:
Consists of many different techniques to improve water temperature, oxygen content, silt
load, etc. This may include the planting of ground cover in the lake watershed and
planting shade trees.
Lake Todatonten Special Management Area:
The U.S. Congress authorized the creation of the Lake Todatonten Special Management Area
-- a 37,579-acre parcel of public land in Interior Alaska for the protection of fish,
wildlife and habitat -- in its Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996
(Public Law 104-333). The area was withdrawn by Public Land Order No. 7372 on December 15,
1998.
Late seral:
An ecological condition classification that means that the current vegetation is between
51 and 75 percent similar to the potential natural plant community. Late Seral means that
the vegetation is in "good" condition.
Land area:
Includes dry land and land temporarily or partially covered by water, such as marshlands,
swamps, and river flood plains; streams, sloughs, estuaries, and canals less than 1/8 of a
statute mile in width; and lakes, reservoirs, and ponds having less than 40 acres of
water-surface area.
Lease:
An authorization to possess and use public land for a period of time sufficient to
amortize capital investments in the land. (See also Competitive leasing and Noncompetitive
leasing).
Leasable minerals:
Oil and gas; oil shale; coal; potash; phosphate; sodium; sulfur in Louisiana and New
Mexico; gold, silver, and quicksilver in certain private land claims; and silica deposits
in certain parts of Nevada.
License:
An authority granted by the United States to do a particular act or series of acts upon
public lands without the licensee possessing any estate or interest in the land itself.
Locatable minerals:
Whatever are recognized as minerals by the standard authorities, whether metallic or other
substances, and are found in sufficient quantity and quality to justify their location
under the Mining Law of 1872, as amended. (See also Hardrock minerals.)
Lode claim:
A mining claim located for "veins or lodes of quartz or other rock in place" (30
U.S.C. 23). Lode claims may extend for 1,500 feet along the strike of the vein or lode and
to a maximum of 300 feet on either side of the vein or lode.
Logical mining unit (LMU):
An area of land in which the recoverable coal reserves can be developed in an efficient,
economical, and orderly manner as a unit with due regard to conservation of coal reserves
and other resources. An LMU may consist of one or more Federal coal leases and may include
intervening or adjacent lands in which the United States does not own the coal. All lands
in an LMU are under the control of one operator or lessee, can be developed as a single
operation, and are contiguous. Formation of LMUs was authorized by the Federal Coal
Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, which amended the Mineral Leasing Act (30 U.S.C. 181 et
seq.).
LU project lands:
Privately owned submarginal farmlands incapable of producing sufficient income to support
the family of a farm owner and purchased under Title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant
Act of July 22, 1937. These acquired lands became known as "Land Utilization
Projects" and were subsequently transferred from jurisdiction of the U.S. Department
of Agriculture to the U.S. Department of the Interior. They are now administered by the
Bureau of Land Management.
MBF:
Thousand board feet. A board foot is a unit of lumber measurement 1 foot long, 1 foot
wide, and 1 inch thick, or its equivalent. It is the standard unit of measurement in the
logging and lumber industry by which standing timber is measured and sold and manufactured
lumber is merchandised.
Mid seral:
An ecological condition classification that means that the current vegetation is between
26 and 50 percent similar to the potential natural plant community. Mid Seral describes
vegetation that is in "fair" condition.
Mill site:
A site located on non-mineral land and used for mining or milling purposes (30 U.S.C. 42).
Mill sites are limited to 5 acres and may be located either by metes and bounds or by
legal subdivision.
Mineral:
Organic and inorganic substances occurring naturally, with characteristics and economic
uses that bring them within the purview of mineral laws; a substance that may be obtained
under applicable laws from public lands by purchase, lease, or preemptive entry.
Mineral materials:
Minerals such as common varieties of sand, stone, gravel, pumice, pumicite, and clay that
are not obtainable under the mining or leasing law but that can be obtained under the
Materials Act of 1947, as amended.
Mineral permit:
A permit that authorizes prospecting for certain leasable minerals on public lands
described in the permit.
Mineral reservation:
Retention of the mineral estate by the grantor of a property; the grantee or patentee owns
the land surface but not the minerals.
Mining claim:
A mineral entry and appropriation of public land under the Mining Law of 1872, as amended
(30 U.S.C. 22 et seq.). There are four types of mining claims: lode claims, placer claims,
millsites, and tunnel sites. Only tunnel sites may not be patented. A valid lode or placer
claim contains a discovery of a valuable mineral deposit subject to location under the
Mining Law of 1872. A valid mill sites is one that is being used for the support of a
mining or milling operation. A valid tunnel site is one that is being diligently worked
and maintained.
Mining claim location:
The staking and recordation of a lode or placer claim, mill sites, or tunnel site on
public land. A valid location is one that is properly located, recorded, and maintained
under Section 314 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of October 21, 1976, and
the mining laws of the State where the claim or site is located.
Multiple use:
A combination of balanced and diverse resource uses that takes into account the long-term
needs of future generations for renewable and nonrenewable resources, including, but not
limited to, recreation, range, timber, minerals, watershed, and wildlife and fish, along
with natural scenic, scientific, and historical values.
National Back Country Byways
The Back Country Byway program was developed by the BLM to complement the National
Scenic Byway program. BLMs Byways show enthusiasts the best the West has to offer --
from the breathtaking thunder of waterfalls to geology sculpted by ancient volcanoes,
glaciers, and rivers. Back Country Byways vary from narrow, graded roads, passable only
during a few months of the year, to two-lane paved highways providing year-round access.
National Conservation Areas:
The BLM manages eight National Conservation Areas (NCAs) totaling almost 12 million acres.
Congress designates NCAs so that present and future generations of Americans can benefit
from the conservation, protection, enhancement, use, and management of these areas by
enjoying their natural, recreational, cultural, wildlife, aquatic, archeological,
paleontological, historical, educational, and/or scientific resources and values.
National Historic Trails:
The National Historic Trails designated by Congress and managed by the BLM are part of a
national treasure that benefits all Americans. National Historic Trails are established to
identify and protect historic routes; they follow as closely as possible the original
trails or routes of travel of national historic significance.
National Monument:
A National Monument is an area designated to protect objects of scientific and historic
interest by public proclamation of the President under the Antiquities Act of 1906, or by
the Congress for historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures, or other objects
of historic or scientific interest situated upon the public lands; designation also
provides for the management of these features and values.
National Natural Landmarks:
These special management areas are of national significance because they represent one of
the best known examples of a natural regions characteristic biotic or geologic
features. National Natural Landmarks must be located within the boundaries of the United
States or on the Continental Shelf and are designated by the Secretary of the Interior. To
qualify as a National Natural Landmark, the area must contain an outstanding
representative example(s) of the Nations natural heritage, including terrestrial
communities, aquatic communities, landforms, geological features, habitats of native plant
and animal species, or fossil evidence of the development of life on earth.
National Outstanding Natural Areas:
National Outstanding Natural Areas are protected lands designated either by Congress or
administratively by an agency to preserve exceptional, rare, or unusual natural
characteristics and to provide for the protection and/or enhancement of natural,
educational, or scientific values. These areas are protected by allowing physical and
biological processes to operate, usually without direct human intervention.
National Recreation Area:
A National Recreation Area is an area designated by Congress to assure the conservation
and protection of natural, scenic, historic, pastoral, and fish and wildlife values and to
provide for the enhancement of recreational values.
National Recreation Trails:
National Recreation Trails do not require congressional approval; they are established
administratively by the Secretary of the Interior. These trails are intended to provide
for a variety of outdoor recreation uses in or reasonably close to urban areas. They often
serve as connecting links between the National Historic Trails and National Scenic Trails.
National Scenic Areas:
The BLM manages one national scenic area: the Santa Rosa Mountains National Scenic Area in
California, which encompasses approximately 101,000 acres. This area was designated by the
Secretary of the Interior in 1990 to provide for the conservation, protection, and
enhancement of scenic, recreation, and pastoral values.
National Scenic Trails:
The National Scenic Trails, established by an Act of Congress, are intended to provide for
maximum outdoor recreation potential and for the conservation and enjoyment of nationally
significant scenic, historical, natural, and cultural qualities of the areas through which
these trails pass. National Scenic Trails may be located to represent desert, marsh,
grassland, mountain, canyon, river, forest, and other areas, as well as land forms that
exhibit significant characteristics of the physiographic regions of the Nation.
National Wild and Scenic Rivers:
Rivers designated in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System are classified in one of
three categories, depending on the extent of development and accessibility along each
section. In addition to being free flowing, these rivers and their immediate environments
must possess at least one outstandingly remarkable value: scenic, recreational, geologic,
fish and wildlife, historical, cultural, or other similar values.
Noncompetitive leasing:
Refers to leases issued to qualified applicants for lands not specifically known or
presumed to contain mineral or petroleum deposits in quantity. Such leases can be issued
on a first-come, first-served basis or through a random drawing procedure. (See also
Competitive leasing and Leasable minerals.)
Nonconsumptive trips:
Wildlife-associated recreation which is not fishing, hunting or trapping. Non-harvesting
activities, such as feeding, photographing and observing fish and other wildlife,
picnicking, camping, etc. are non-consumptive wildlife activities.
Nonexclusive sites:Mineral material disposal areas, such as community pits or common use areas, that are designated, maintained, and managed by the Bureau of Land Management and from which many small disposals are authorized under the Materials Act of 1947, as amended.
Nonoperating revenue:
Receipts of a miscellaneous nature, such as incidental receipts from taxes, fines, etc.,
that are not related specifically to, or received in the process of, conducting normal and
regular business of the Bureau of Land Management as it pertains to the management of
public lands and resources.
Nonuse:
An authorization issued to an applicant for nonuse of grazing privileges in whole or part;
usually issued for one grazing season.
O&C lands:
Public lands in Western Oregon that were granted to the Oregon central railroad companies
(later the Oregon & California Railroad Company) to aid in the construction of
railroads but that were later forfeited and returned to the Federal Government by
revestment of title. The term "O&C" lands, as often used, also refers to the
reconveyed Coos Bay Military Wagon Road lands, which are public lands in Western Oregon
that were once granted to the State of Oregon to aid in the construction of the Coos Bay
Military Wagon Road but that were later forfeited and returned to Federal ownership by
reconveyance.
Obligations:
Payments, and amounts which the Government is obligated to pay, for goods and services
received (or contracted for future delivery) made from appropriations during the fiscal
year indicated.
Operator:
An individual, group, association, or corporation authorized to conduct livestock grazing
on public lands.
Original survey:
A cadastral survey that creates land boundaries and establishes them for the first time.
Paleontology:
A science dealing with the life of past geological periods as known from fossil remains.
Patent:
A Government deed; a document that conveys legal title to public lands to the patentee.
Public domain lands are patented; acquired lands are deeded by the Government.
Permit:
A revocable authorization to use public land for a specified purpose for up to 3 years.
Placer claim:
A mining claim located for "all forms of deposits, excepting veins of quartz or other
rock in place" (30 U.S.C. 35). A placer claim must generally be located by legal
subdivision in conformance with the public land survey rather than by metes and bounds. A
placer claim is limited to 20 acres per individual, although a placer claim may be up to
160 acres for an association of eight or more persons. Corporations are limited to 20-acre
claims.
Plugged and abandoned:
This refers to new wells that have been drilled to total depth during the reporting period
and did not encounter oil or gas in paying quantities. (Approved plugging and abandonment
may or may not have yet occurred.)
Prescribed burning:
See Prescribed Fire Projects.
Prescribed fire projects:
Includes the Bureaus efforts to utilize fire as a critical natural process to
maintain and restore ecosystems, rangelands, and forest lands, and to reduce the hazardous
buildup of fuels that may threaten healthy lands and public safety.
Private leases:
Private leases (acquired) refer to oil and gas leases between private parties that are in
existence at the time the Federal government purchases the mineral estate along with the
surface as part of a Federal Government acquisition, for which a BLM serial number is
assigned.
PLO:
Public land order. An order affecting, modifying, or canceling a withdrawal or reservation
that has been issued by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to powers of the President
delegated to the Secretary by Executive Order 9146 of April 24, 1942, or 9337 of April 24,
1943.
Potential natural community:
An ecological condition classification that means that the current vegetation is between
76 and 100 percent similar to the potential natural plant community. Potential natural
community describes vegetation that is in "excellent" condition.
Producible completions (oil and gas):
Separate completions existing on producible (i.e., physically and mechanically capable of
production of oil and/or gas) or service wells at the end of the reporting period; or,
separate completions that are made during the reporting period on newly drilled wells.
Producible leases:
Leases that have at least one producible well actually located within the lease, as of the
last day of the reporting period; includes producible leases that received allocated
production from wells located off the lease and which have no producible wells actually
located on the lease, as of the last day of the reporting period.
Producible and service holes:
Wells with one or more producible oil or gas service completions.
Protraction diagram:
A diagram representing the plan of extension of cadastral surveys over unsurveyed public
lands based upon computed values for the corner positions.
Public auction:
A sale of land through competitive, usually oral, bidding.
Public domain lands:
Original public domain lands that have never left Federal ownership; also, lands in
Federal ownership that were obtained by the Government in exchange for public domain lands
or for timber on public domain lands. One category of public lands.
Public lands:
Any land and interest in land owned by the United States that are administered by the
Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management, without regard to how the
United States acquired ownership, except for (1) lands located on the Outer Continental
Shelf, and (2) lands held for the benefit of Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos. Includes public
domain and acquired lands. (See definitions.)
Public Land States:
Refers to the 30 states that made up the public domain at its greatest extent. These
states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho,
Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri,
Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota,
Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
R&PP:
See Recreation and Public Purposes Act.
Receipts:
All money received and credited to the proper account as required by law. Does not include
collections held by the U.S. Treasury pending future determination of disposition by the
Bureau of Land Management.
Reclamation homestead entry:
An entry initiated under the Act of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 338; 43 U.S.C., Sec. 43 et
seq.), that provides for the issuance of patents to applicants who settle upon and improve
agricultural public land parcels not exceeding 160 acres within reclamation projects.
Recreation and Public Purposes Act:
Act of June 14, 1926 (44 Stat. 741), as amended, that provides for the purchase or lease
of public lands by (a) Federal, State, or local governmental units for any activity that
serves the interest of the general public consistent with public policy or (b) nonprofit
organizations if the lands are to be used for recreation purposes in an established or
proposed recreation project area.
Recreation concession lease:
A lease that is a long-term authorization for private parties to possess and use public
land to provide recreation facilities and services for a fixed period. These leases are
authorized under 43 CFR 2920 and the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act. Recreation
concession leases establish the obligations that the BLM and the concessionaire agree to
in providing visitor services necessary for full enjoyment of the public lands and/or
related waters.
Recreation visit:
A visit to Bureau of Land Management lands and waters by an individual for the purpose of
engaging in any activities, except those that are part of or incidental to the pursuit of
a gainful occupation, whether for a few minutes or a full day.
Reforestation:
The re-establishment of forest cover, either naturally or artificially.
Rental:
The amount paid periodically (usually annually) by the holder of a lease or right-of-way
grant for the right to use land or resources for the purposes set out in the lease or
grant.
Research Natural Areas:
Research Natural Areas are special management areas designated either by Congress or by a
public or private agency to preserve and protect typical or unusual ecological
communities, associations, phenomena, characteristics, or natural features or processes
for scientific and educational purposes. They are established and managed to protect
ecological processes, conserve biological diversity, and provide opportunities for
observation for research and education.
Reserved lands:
Federal lands that are dedicated or set aside for a specific public purpose or program and
that are, therefore, generally not subject to disposition under the operation of all of
the public land laws. (See Revocation and Withdrawal.)
Reservoir:
A man-made, standing body of water whose water levels may be controlled.
Resurvey:
A cadastral survey to identify and re-mark the boundaries of lands that were established
by a prior survey.
Revocation:
Generally, an action that cancels a previous official act; specifically, an action that
cancels a withdrawal. Revocation is usually done in conjunction with restoration, which
opens the public lands.
Right-of-way:
A permit or an easement that authorizes the use of lands for certain specified purposes,
such as the construction of forest access roads or a gas pipeline.
Riparian areas:
Riparian areas are lands adjacent to creeks, streams, and rivers where vegetation is
strongly influenced by the presence of water. Excluded are such sites as ephemeral streams
or washes that do not exhibit the presence of vegetation dependent upon free water in the
soil. Riparian areas may constitute less than 1 percent of the land area in the western
part of the United States, but they are among the most productive and valuable of all
lands.
Saleable minerals:
Sand, gravel, stone, soil, and other common-variety mineral materials disposed of through
sales at not less than their appraised price or through free-use permits (see definition).
Sale of materials:
A competitive or noncompetitive sale by contract at not less than the appraised price of
materials (timber and mineral) under the Materials Act of 1947, as amended.
Santini-Burton Act:
Act of December 23, 1980 (Public Law 96-586, 94 Stat. 3381), that provides for the orderly
disposal of Federal lands in Clark County, Nevada, and also provides for the acquisition
of environmentally sensitive lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
Sawtimber:
Logs of sufficient size and quality to be suitable for conversion into lumber or veneer.
Section 3:
(See Grazing permit.)
Section 15:
(See Grazing lease.)
Service completion or hole:
Separate service completions that are for the benefit of oil and gas operations, e.g.
water disposal, salt water disposal, water injection, gas injection, water source, steam
injection, or monitoring.
Site-based recreation activities (other than camping, hunting, or non-motorized
travel):
Includes sightseeing (the viewing of scenery; natural, historic, and archaeological sites;
landscapes; or other features), picnicking, nature study and photography, mountain
climbing and caving, gathering and collecting activities (mushrooms, rocks, and flowers),
interpretation (guided and unguided touring, talks, and programs), and other environmental
education events.
Small game habitat:
Habitat areas used by small game animals (including upland game species) at some time
during their yearly life cycle.
Small tract lease:
A parcel of public lands of 5 acres or less that has been found to be chiefly valuable for
sale or lease as a home, cabin, camp, recreational, convalescent, or business site under
the Act of June 1, 1938.
Spawning bed development:
Consists of efforts made to improve spawning conditions for fish. May include additional
of appropriate natural materials, cleaning of gravels, creating shelter, etc.
Special land use permit:
A permit that authorizes the use of public land for a purpose not specifically authorized
under other regulation or statute.
Special recreation permit:
A permit that authorizes the recreational use of an area and is issued pursuant to the
regulations contained in 43 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Subpart 8372, and 36 CFR
Part 71. Under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act, implemented by these regulations,
special recreation permits are required for all commercial use, for most competitive
events, and for the individual, noncommercial use of special areas where permits are
required.
Special surveys:
Cadastral surveys that involve unusual application of, or departure from, the rectangular
system. They often carry out the provisions of a special legislative act and include such
work as small tract surveys; townsite surveys; island and omitted land surveys; homestead,
homesite, trade and manufacturing site surveys; also the survey and resurvey of portions
of sections. Alaska special surveys are metes and bounds surveys of areas settled upon or
applied for under certain special land laws applicable to the State of Alaska.
State Office:
The first-level administrative unit of the Bureau of Land Management field organization.
It comprises a geographic area consisting of one or more States.
Streambank stabilization:
Accomplished for severe cases of erosion that is not natural, to include efforts to reduce
streambank movement by adding materials to deflect water, planting vegetation, etc.
Stockraising homestead:
A homestead not exceeding 640 acres initiated under the Stockraising Homestead Act, which
provided for the homesteading of lands chiefly valuable for grazing and raising forage
crops. Minerals in these lands were reserved to the United States. The provisions for
stockraising homesteads were by implication repealed by the Taylor Grazing Act.
Stream with fishery potential:
A stream that currently does not support a sport fishery but that could be changed into a
fishable stream with management (i.e., stocking, removal of barriers, etc.).
Sustained yield:
The achievement and maintenance in perpetuity of a high-level annual, or regular periodic,
output of the various renewable resources of the public lands consistent with multiple
use.
Threatened species:
Any animal or plant species likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future
throughout all or a part of its range. (Also see Candidate species and Endangered
species.)
Trespass:
An unauthorized use of Federal lands and/or resources.
Tunnel site:
A site located for the development of a vein or lode or for the anticipated discovery of
previously unknown veins or lodes. The locator of a tunnel site is given the right to all
veins cut by the tunnel within 3,000 feet of its portal, and to 1,500 feet along the
length of each blind vein or lode cut. A tunnel site location lapses if not worked for a
period of at least 6 months.
Unlawful enclosures or occupancy:
Enclosures of public lands made or maintained by any party, association, or corporation
without valid claim.
U.S.C.:
United States Code.
Vacant public land:
Public land that is not reserved, appropriated, or set aside for a specific or designated
purposes. Such land is not covered by any non-Federal right or claim other than permits,
leases, rights-of-way, and unreported mining claims.
Visitor hour:
A unit used to measure duration of recreation use. A visitor hour involves the presence of
a person on a recreation area or site for the purpose of engaging in recreation activities
for either continuous, intermittent, or simultaneous periods of time aggregating 60
minutes.
Water sports (other than boating or fishing):
Includes swimming, general water play, waterskiing, ski jumping, platter riding, and other
similar activities that occur outside a boat.
Waterfowl habitat:
The total acreage of all wetlands, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs on BLM lands. Uplands used
for nesting are not included.
Wetlands:
Permanently wet or intermittently flooded areas where the water table (fresh, saline, or
brackish) is at, near, or above the soil surface for extended intervals, where hydric wet
soil conditions are normally exhibited, and where water depths generally do not exceed 2
meters (about 6 ½ feet). Marshes, shallows, swamps, muskegs, lake bogs, and wet meadows
are examples of wetlands.
Wetland improvements:
Consists of techniques to restore wetlands to their proper functioning condition.
Improvements may consist of establishing vegetation, such as willow, to reduce erosion and
improve water retention.
Wild free-roaming horses and burros:
All unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros using public lands as all or part of their
habitat.
Wilderness:
An area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence,
without permanent improvement or human habitation, that is protected and managed so as to
preserve its natural conditions and that (1) generally appears to have been affected
primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially
unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined
type of recreation; (3) has at least 5,000 acres of land or is of sufficient size as to
make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also
contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or
historical value.
Winter sports:
Includes ice skating, skiing (downhill and cross-country), snowshoeing, sledding,
snowmobiling, and tobogganing as well as activities such as snow sculpture and general
snow play.
Withdrawal:
An action that restricts the disposition of public lands and that holds them for specific
public purposes; also, public lands that have been dedicated to public purposes. (See also
Reserved lands and Revocation.)
Woodlands:
Forest lands usually supporting open-grown, widely scattered trees of marginal
merchantability and generally more valuable for watershed or wildlife protection purposes
than for the production of timber for commercial purposes.