NEW-2022 Public Access Parcel Nomination Effort

All lands nominated for inclusion on the BLM’s priority access list must be managed by the BLM, encompass at least 640 contiguous acres and have significantly restricted or have no public access. BLM must also consider the likelihood of resolving identified access issues when determining whether to include parcels on the list. When submitting nominations, the public must include the location of the nominated land or parcel, total acreage affected (if known), a description or narrative describing the lack of access, and any additional information the BLM should consider when determining if the land should be on BLM’s priority list. BLM will not include any personally identifiable information concerning owners or ownership of any parcels in preparing the priority list or related congressional reports.   

The BLM is working to implement Dingell Act tasks assigned in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Utah, Montana/Dakotas, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon/Washington, and the Eastern States Office (Louisiana and Minnesota).  Implementing the Dingell Act will continue the Department of the Interior’s work to strike proper balance for land and resources management, increase access for hunting, fishing, and recreation, and create economic prosperity while protecting and preserving America’s treasures.    

To learn more about the Dingell Act and how it affects your public lands, please visit https://www.blm.gov/about/laws-and-regulations/dingell-act. 

The BLM’s final priority access list includes a total of 712 distinct parcels spread across 13 western states (AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, ND, NM, NV, OR, SD, TX, UT, and WY). These parcels represent nearly 3.5 million acres of legally inaccessible or significantly restricted public lands with exceptional recreational values. Some of the 5,434 public nominations received had been previously identified by the BLM for inclusion on the priority access list, while other parcels were nominated multiple times by different stakeholders and members of the public. Due to insufficient or incomplete data, 157 of these public nominations were removed from further analysis. Additionally, a high number of public nominated parcels were not carried forward onto the priority access list, because they were: (1) parcels that did not meet the Dingell Act criteria for the minimum 640 contiguous acres; (2) parcels that were not located on public lands open to recreation; (3) parcels that were determined to have sufficient legal public access for planned recreational purposes; or (4) parcels that were determined to be in conflict with existing land use plans or resource management objectives. 

A total of 2,332 nominated parcels (2,323 public nominated parcels) remain under agency consideration for future updates of the priority access list. The majority of these parcels represent nominations of “checkerboarded” lands, which are comprised of multiple 640-acre sections connected only at the corners and may not have legal public access. The checkerboard of private ownership on all sides between these lands often impedes both public and BLM administrative access. Although the Wyoming State Office received most of these types of parcel nominations, the challenge of providing public access to checkerboard public lands occurs in other western states. The complexity of land ownership patterns associated with checkerboarded lands requires additional time to carefully evaluate and prioritize recreation and resource values, as well as potential opportunities to improve public access. In addition to easements and fee acquisitions, the BLM may consider land exchanges with willing landowners to help resolve access issues associated with checkerboarded lands. Table 2 presents the total number of priority access parcel nominations received from the public and current disposition status by state office. 

More information on the 2020 Dingell Act Priority Access Parcel list