Congress moves to restrict public input on public land planning

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Ryan Richards
Feb 8
Congress moves to restrict public input on public land planning
Another Congressional Review Act moves forward, this time thwarting progress at the Bureau of Land Management.


Hundreds of sportsmen, outdoor business owners and supporters of the great outdoors rallied in states across the West last week, raising their voice in support of protecting public lands. Congress responded by moving to restrict citizen input on public land use planning.

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to roll back a rule that gives local citizens a greater voice in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) planning process, a process that directs how 245 million acres of public land are utilized.

“Our citizens and local economies depend on these lands for sustainable multiple uses, from outdoor recreation to livestock grazing to mineral exploration and development,” Mike Brazell, Commissioner for Park County, Colorado, wrote in a public comment letter to BLM. “This early public involvement will hopefully help resolve conflicts and produce RMPs [Resource Management Plans] that better reflect the needs of our citizens as well as others who use the public lands and have a stake in their future.”

Brazell’s views are widely shared in the west. Many local communities support the planning rule that the House voted to roll back, counting it as a tool to strengthen their voice in land use planning.

The rule was also hoped to make land use planning more flexible and responsive. Prior to the new rule, land use plans required an average of eight years to complete.

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https://thinkprogress.org/congress-moves-to-restrict-public-input-on-public-land-planning-e8461a41dfd4#.z375dlmxx