In an effort to make the land use planning process more transparent and to engage local communities, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finalized their ?Planning 2.0? rule on December 1. The new rule updates 30-year old regulations that governed how land use plans were developed and resulted in a slow and cumbersome planning process. The goal of the new process is to increase public involvement and provide an avenue for the most current data and technology to be incorporated into the process. The new rule incorporates the lessons the agency has learned over the past decades about how to address landscape-scale planning for land use, wildfire, energy development, recreation, and more. Through the new planning process, stakeholders such as state and local governments, tribes, partner agencies, non-profit organizations, and the public will be engaged at the very beginning of the process. The agency anticipates that the early engagement of diverse partners will allow more opportunities to express and address concerns, which will make the planning process more efficient.

?Under the current system, it takes an average of eight years for the BLM to finish a land use plan. Too often, by the time we?ve completed a plan, community priorities have evolved and conditions on the ground have changed as well,? said BLM Director Neil Kornze. ?This update to our planning rule allows for a more streamlined process that also increases collaboration and transparency.?