BLM Finally Endorses Conservation

Unlike the National Forests that are managed under a principle of "multiple use" endorsed by the fourth head of the Service, Gilfor Pinchot, who shared the conservation views held by Theodore Roosevelt, the Bureau of Land Management has traditionally been focused on natural resourcee extraction from agriculture to miniing and petroleum. The agency is the country's largest landowner with 245 million acres under its management. On Thursday the Department of Interior announced a proposed rule that may change that shortsighted imbalance in policy. Conservation is becoming more urgent all the time as the world confronts the consequences of two centuries of unbridled fossil fuel burning. The new rule will allow the agency to balance conservation on an equal footing with development for the first time.

   

In its announcement on Thursday, the Department of Interior said, "The proposed rule would build on the historic investments in public lands, waters and clean energy deployment provided by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act by directing land managers to identify and prioritize lands and waters through the land management process that require habitat restoration work, such as removing invasive species or restoring streambanks." Part of this effort will be facilitated through conservation leasing by cooperating partners such as states, localities and tribes. The agency will be put into alignment with other natural resource agencies that are inventorying and assessing the health of public lands to identify those in need of restoration, mitigation or protection from development. This tool may accelerate establishment of wildlife migration corridors and carbon markets. Once the rule making is published in the Federal Register, a seventy-five day public comment perior will begin. Show your support of conservation by submitting a comment commending the agency's shift to balanced policy making.