BLM and Forest Service Land-Use Planning Efforts
Creating a "Perfect Storm" for Conservationists
by Bruce Pendery
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service are moving aggressively to revise at least eight different land-use plans that govern activities on millions of acres of public lands in Wyoming, creating a "perfect storm" convergence that stretches the ability of conservationists and members of the public to respond.
Changes to many of these plans are being driven by the administration’s desire to increase drilling for oil and gas on the public lands and to minimize environmental protections when drilling occurs. The volume, complexity and common schedules of the plans compromise the ability of organizations like WOC, and of citizens like you, to meaningfully and effectively participate in the planning process.
How land-use plans work
Land-use plans (technically, "Resource Management Plans" on BLM lands and "Land and Resource Management Plans" on Forest Service lands) provide guidance for all activities on public lands. They are intended to implement the concept of "multiple use and sustained yield." They govern protection of fish and wildlife habitat, identify potential wilderness areas, specify what areas are open to oil and gas leasing and livestock grazing, and provide for many other facets of land management.
On BLM lands, these plans are typically developed at the Field Office level and on National Forests, they are developed by each forest. They provide general guidance that subsequent activities must follow. For example, a land-use plan might specify what areas are open and closed to oil and gas leasing, and it allows the agency to lease specific parcels within the open areas with limited additional environmental analysis.
Plans driven by energy development
BLM field offices and the national forests in Wyoming have existing land-use plans that were developed in the mid-1980s to early 1990s. There is no doubt many of them are out of date and need to be revised. Unfortunately, however, many of the current revision efforts are being driven primarily by the administration’s desire to increase energy extraction on public lands while downgrading almost all other multiple uses, particularly those related to protection of wildlife, wilderness, clean air, and clean water.
The BLM has prioritized revision or creation of certain land-use plans nationwide by expediting 21 "Time-Sensitive Plans" (TSPs). According to the BLM, "the TSPs were selected because they are related to development of energy resources, respond to nationally significant lawsuits, or have legislatively mandated time frames."
In Wyoming, the Jack Morrow Hills Coordinated Activity Plan and the Pinedale and Great Divide/Rawlins Resource Management Plan (RMP) revisions are TSPs. In addition, the Buffalo/Powder River Basin RMP amendment, which is complete and under legal challenge, and the Snake River RMP, which is also complete, are TSPs.
Besides identifying TSPs, the BLM has created a National Energy Office "to facilitate the development of the nation’s energy resources . . ." as part of its efforts to implement the administration’s May 2001 National Energy Policy.
The National Energy Office has identified 53 specific tasks BLM will complete to implement the administration’s energy policy, including one that calls for BLM to identify the TSPs mentioned above "to facilitate energy development and… ensure that those plans are completed within two to three years."
Clearly, giving primacy to energy development is driving many of the land-use plan revisions.
 Public input hampered by volume and timing of plans
Many of the land-use plan revisions in Wyoming are on a common timeline in terms of when drafts of the plans will be released and the public given an opportunity to comment.
For example, drafts of the BLM Pinedale and Rawlins field offices’ land-use plans and the Jack Morrow Hills Coordinated Activity Plan (Green River field office) are all expected this summer.
When the draft environmental impact statements for these
land-use plans are released, the public will be given 90 days to comment on the Pinedale and Rawlins draft plans and 30 days to file protests of the Jack Morrow Hills plan. Obviously, being asked to comment on three very voluminous and complex environmental impact statements/land use plans at the same time impedes the ability of citizens to provide the detailed, meaningful input to the agency envisioned by the National Environmental Policy Act and agency land-use planning statutes.
To add insult to injury, in the Pinedale field office, two "project level" environmental impact statements may be released at virtually the same time as the Pinedale land-use plan—one for the 210-well South Piney coalbed methane project, and the other for the 3,100-well Jonah infill project. And in the Rawlins Field Office, the BLM has released and is taking comments on the 385-well Desolation Flats environmental impact statement, and public comments on the mammoth Atlantic Rim and Seminoe Road oil and gas projects will likely be due during the same general time as comments on the draft Rawlins land-use plan.
The perfect storm
This "perfect storm" convergence of all of these planning efforts begs the question of whether the agencies are doing this intentionally so as to thwart or limit public involvement. WOC does not know whether this is true, although this administration’s antipathy toward environmental protection and its aversion to public involvement in all facets of government decision-making are well established. But WOC does know this: just as in the movie "The Perfect Storm," when the right elements come together in alignment, efforts must be redoubled to protect that which is precious. We hope you too will batten down the hatches and prepare to help us with the coming storm.
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