Speak Up On How Bureau of Land Management Lands Should Be Managed! - Attend an in-person or online public meeting June 1st (in Reno, NV), or 5th (online), and offer YOUR public comments on the BLM's draft Public Lands Rule, a once-in-a-generation change on the Bureau's land management priorities; and/or - Submit written comments by the June 20th deadline! | |
What's Happening? In late March of this year, our nation’s largest land manager, the Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, released a draft rulemaking called the Public Lands Rule that would reprioritize its multiple-use mandate to put conservation and recreation on equal footing with grazing and resource extraction. The multiple-use mandate was first established through the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976. However, the BLM has continued to favor extractive uses over conservation and recreation, with 90% of BLM-managed public lands in the lower 48 states remaining open to development such as hard-rock mining. The Public Lands Rule would rebalance the BLM’s priorities towards recreation, conservation, and tribal co-stewardship, fomenting the types of changes needed to ensure the preservation of BLM lands so they can continue to support healthy ecosystems now and well into the future. The 75-day comment period on the draft Public Lands Rule closes June 20th. This open comment period provides an opportunity for the BLM to gather feedback about important ways it should better balance its mission to focus on cultural lands protection, conservation, recreation, wildlife, and climate impacts for the lands and waters that support communities largely in the Western portion of the United States. | |
Key Dates & Links to Help You Take Action! Thursday, June 1 (That's TOMORROW!) - In the Eastern Sierra Region, attend an in-person meeting from 5 to 7 p.m. Pacific Time at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center, 4950 S, Virginia Street, in Reno, Nevada. Next Monday, June 5 - Attend a virtual (online) meeting from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. Register here to attend. Tuesday, June 20 - By this deadline, submit written comments on conservation and landscape health via the Federal Register portal, or the Act Now For Public Lands portal. Close to 70,000 comments have been received so far through the Federal Register portal—and these can be viewed. (The number of comments received has more than doubled since we sent out our original Action Alert two weeks ago. Other conservation organizations throughout the West are also appealing to their supporters to submit comments before the deadline.) | | | |
