Number: 1985-12
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is responsible for the management of over 270 million acres of wildlife habitat, which is more than any other single Federal or state government agency; and
WHEREAS, these lands contain an abundance of big game and non-game animal species, including deer, antelope, elk, moose, bighorn sheep, grizzly, black bear, fox, cougar, bobcat, and a wide variety of birds and waterfowl; and
WHEREAS, the BLM is responsible for the management of hundreds of thousands of miles of riparian habitat containing important sport and commercial fisheries; and
WHEREAS, the BLM is responsible for the management of at least 58 animal species and 21 plant species which are listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened or endangered; and
WHEREAS, the BLM is in the process of preparing approximately 120 land use plans that will govern how BLM’s Federal lands are used for decades to come, including how fish and wildlife are managed; and
WHEREAS, the BLM’s land use plans and management have given favored treatment to commodity use for the public lands such as energy production, mining, and grazing over non-commodity uses such as outdoor recreational activities including hunting and fishing; and
WHEREAS, the BLM has not fully implemented the requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act that BLM manage the public lands “in a manner that will protect … habitat for fish and wildlife” nor has the BLM managed the public lands in accord with the principles of multiple use and sustained yield;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 14-17, 1985, in Arlington, Virginia, calls upon the BLM to undertake significant land use decisions only after completion of Resource Management Plans prepared in full accord with the requirements of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the BLM redirect its land use planning efforts to adequately protect fish and wildlife resources and environmental values and assure more balanced treatment of other non-economic uses of the public lands.