Number: 2002-05
WHEREAS, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the largest land manager in the United States, managing 264 million acres of land that belongs to all Americans and provides a broad array of public benefits including outdoor recreation, scenic vistas, solitude and healthy watersheds; and
WHEREAS, BLM lands provide habitat for more than 600 species of wildlife, fish and plants that are threatened, endangered or otherwise considered sensitive or rare, as well as habitat that is seasonally critical to a number of wildlife species; and
WHEREAS, many BLM lands are degraded due to poorly managed and monitored uses such as livestock grazing and energy development for a variety of reasons including insufficient funding and staff; and
WHEREAS, the majority of BLM land-use plans, which are supposed to direct responsible land stewardship, are out of date, and several BLM initiatives to protect and restore land health remain unfulfilled; and
WHEREAS, the establishment of the National Landscape Conservation System has increased public expectations about the BLM stewardship of the public lands; and
WHEREAS, the recent energy debate has increased pressure to develop BLM lands; and
WHEREAS, all these factors contribute to the BLM’s current inability to effectively accomplish its mission to protect the long-term health of the public lands.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, at its Annual Meeting assembled March 7-9, 2002 in Stone Mountain, Georgia, calls upon the BLM to identify existing BLM programs, policies, rules and initiatives that were created – in whole or in part – to protect and/or enhance wildlife habitat and environmental quality, but have yet to be adequately implemented; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the BLM to create an agenda that identifies the infrastructure and a firm schedule to achieve the goals of its unfulfilled programs, policies, rules and initiatives; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the BLM to include the following items among the policies, programs and initiatives that it will strive to implement:
- revisions of outdated land-use plans;
- requirements for ample monitoring to ensure wildlife and the environment are adequately protected by land-use plans and other land-use authorizations;
- evaluations of BLM grazing allotments as soon as possible to ensure they meet the fundamentals of rangeland health contained in BLM’s regulations, and if not, promptly implementing remedies;
- the undertaking of suitability analyses before authorizing livestock grazing or issuing mineral leases or authorizations to ensure (a) the lands are not more valuable for another use, and (b) any use will not unnecessarily damage wildlife and environmental values;
- identification of specific opportunities to properly manage the National Landscape Conservation System units as “centers of excellence”; and
- pursuing specific actions that must be taken to fully implement BLM’s Riparian-Wetland Initiative for the 1990s; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the BLM, in order to facilitate the implementation of these unfulfilled programs, policies, rules and initiatives, to publish this agenda, including:
- a list of the activities the BLM intends to implement,
- the infrastructure the BLM intends to use to achieve implementation,
- BLM’s staffing and budgetary needs required for prompt implementation, and
- a schedule for achieving that implementation; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation urges the U.S. Department of Interior to aggressively seek funding and staffing authorization from Congress to ensure the agenda’s accomplishment.