On December 23^rd, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar issued a Secretarial Order (Order No. 3310) directing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to manage public lands with wilderness characteristics as Wild Lands. The Order calls for the BLM to develop a process for conducting wilderness inventories and considering lands with wilderness characteristics in land-use planning and project-level decisions, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

If designated as a Wild Land through the public land management-planning process, the BLM will manage the land for its wilderness characteristics. However, the designation could be changed based on a new public planning process.

"Simple principles guide this common sense policy," said Salazar. "First, the protection of wild lands is important to the American people and should therefore be a high priority in BLM's management policies. Second, the public should have a say in designating certain public lands as ?Wild Lands' and expanding those areas or modifying their management over time. And third, we should know more about which American lands remain wild, so we can make wise choices, informed by science, for our children, grandchildren and future generations."

According to the Interior Department, the Order is intended to provide guidance for the BLM, which has been without a policy since a 2003 out-of-court settlement between then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton and then-Governor of Utah Mike Leavitt. That agreement revoked a 1996 move by Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to reinventory 2.6 million acres of potential wilderness in Utah. In addition, the settlement?referred to by some as the "No More Wilderness" policy?promised that federal land would not be given wilderness level protection except through an act of Congress. As a result, the BLM's 2001 handbook "Wilderness Inventory and Study Procedures" was deemed inconsistent with the settlement and was rescinded, leaving the agency without a policy for nearly eight years.

"For too long, the value of preserving these uniquely American landscapes and ensuring their integrity and availability for outdoor recreation has taken a backseat to oil, gas and mineral extraction. The value of outdoor recreation has not been properly valued and considered in land management decision making," stated Peter Metcalf, founder and CEO of Black Diamond, an outdoor equipment and apparel company. "For years, those of us who are part of the outdoor industry have recognized that the tired old debate of jobs versus preservation was an insult to the 6.5 million Americans whose jobs are dependent on the active outdoor recreation economy.?"

The new policy does not affect existing congressionally designated wilderness areas within the National Wilderness Preservation System, nor does it impact Wilderness Study Areas (WSA) identified under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) wilderness-review process. Instead, it is designed to provide a process for updating existing inventory information and for inventorying lands that have not previously been inventoried, such as newly acquired lands. In addition, the BLM will initiate a land-use plan conformance review to identify which existing plans are inconsistent with the new policy.

Lands with Wilderness Characteristics (LWCs?a formal, new designation) will be evaluated in the planning process for a variety of management alternatives. After the formal planning process the LWCs that are to be protected will be termed Wild Lands. These lands will be protected to maintain the wilderness characteristics but will not have to meet the non-impairment standard established for WSAs under FLPMA. Instead, the Order outlines a process for making a decision to impair wilderness characteristics if appropriate and consistent with applicable requirements of law and other resource management considerations.

Notably, the new policy will apply to BLM public lands in Alaska where there has never been an inventory of lands with wilderness characteristics. The Order provides the Secretary with a mechanism as authorized under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, (ANILCA) to identify areas that are suitable as wilderness. Included in this will be an evaluation in the first comprehensive land use plan that is currently being developed for the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A). Various development alternatives are being evaluated for the environmental impact statement, but the 23.5 million acres also will be analyzed for its wilderness characteristics.

The new policy has met with substantial resistance from some members of Congress who accuse the Administration of public lands policies that have dramatically reduced domestic oil and gas production. Incoming Chairman of the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, Rob Bishop (R-UT) has indicated his intention to confront Secretary Salazar on the decision.

"Secretary Salazar's decision to change the existing policy is a blatant attempt to usurp Congress' role over public land management. The Constitution gives exclusive control of the public lands to Congress, and the only authority that the Executive branch agencies exercise over the federal lands is that which is delegated by Congress," Bishop commented in a formal statement. "Make no mistake about it, this decision will seriously hinder domestic energy development and further contributes to the uncertainty and economic distress that continues to prevent the creation of new jobs in a region that has unduly suffered from this Administration's radical policies. This is little more than an early Christmas present to the far left extremists who oppose the multiple use of our nation's public lands."

The Secretarial Order took effect immediately. Draft guidance has been submitted by BLM to its state offices for a 30-day review. A public comment process will follow and conclude 60 days from the issue of the Order. (jas)