Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s new “Planning 2.0” rule and set public land management back 30 years — to a time when the public was kept in the dark about land management decisions. The Senate will be casting their own vote on the rules in the next few days.
Planning 2.0 was developed over years by the BLM after listening to concerns from a variety of stakeholders. The new rule makes the planning process more collaborative and transparent by strengthening opportunities for other federal agencies, state and local governments, Indian tribes, and the public to be involved in the development of resource management plans earlier and more frequently.
The new planning rule gives the BLM flexibility to plan at a larger scale that makes sense and allows consideration of the full context of resource values and the best available science. The rule also includes steps to ensure that important fish and wildlife habitats, such as migration corridors and intact habitats, are identified early in the planning process so these important areas can be managed and conserved as the agency makes decisions about development, recreation and other public land uses.
In throwing out Planning 2.0, Congress is using a law called the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Under the CRA, once a regulation is disapproved by Congress, the agency cannot write a new rule that is “substantially the same.” As a result, the BLM would be forced to go back to using outdated guidelines from 1983 – guidelines that every stakeholder had issues with – and would be unable to make any attempt to revise them again, without a specific act of Congress.
Americans are blessed to own millions of acres of incredible public lands across our nation. We all should have a say in how these lands are managed. Planning 2.0 provides all land users with more occasions to make their voices heard: hunters and anglers, ranchers, skiers and snowmobilers, scientists, local governments, and energy and mining companies.
Congress should leave the Planning 2.0 in place. If there are areas that need improvement, let the new Interior Secretary decide how to move forward. The Bureau of Land Management’s new standard of listening to the concerns and ideas of a diverse group of stakeholders and local communities early in the process should not be sent into the dark ages.
Please take two minutes to ask Senator Steve Daines to drop his support for using the Congressional Review Act to throw out the new BLM planning rules!
