The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently issued final regulations which require the agency to treat conservation the same as (but not a priority over) all other uses the agency permits, such as recreation as well as oil and gas development. 89 Fed. Reg. 40308 (May 9,2024). In response to concerns raised by outdoor recreation advocates that conservation goals may improperly preclude existing or future recreation opportunities, BLM added to the regulation’s objectives the goal of “provid[ing] for healthy lands and waters that support sustainable outdoor recreation experiences for current and future generations.” BLM also added several provisions to ensure sustainable recreation was clearly recognized as an important use of BLM lands which was compatible with conservation.
As BLM states in the preamble to the regulations:
The rule is not intended to prevent or decrease outdoor recreation use; rather it ensures that recreation on public lands can be managed and grow sustainably while benefitting from the conservation of healthy lands and water.
A somewhat controversial aspect of the new regulations is a provision authorizing BLM to enter into “conservation leases” in a manner similar to its entering into grazing or gas leases. In its preamble to the regulations, BLM notes that many uses, such as sustainable recreation, are compatible with conservation and should not be precluded under a conservation lease. Furthermore, in those situations where a particular existing recreation activity is not compatible with conservation, the recreational activity is to continue. As BLM states, the regulations do not “enable conservation use to occur in places where an existing, authorized and incompatible use is occurring.”
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May 22, 2024 1:51:11 PM