BLM CONSOLIDATES ITS GAINS:
The 1980s

There's no pressure like multiple use pressure.

—George Turcon

In the 1980s, the Bureau of Land Management consolidated the legislative gains it had made in previous decades and implemented cooperative resource management programs with land users in the field. A legislative mandate for multiple use management of the public lands was in place. Now the Bureau's challenge was to apply its authorities wisely and appropriately. According to former Assistant Director Irving Senzel, "Adequate law facilitates effective management, but does not guarantee it." How BLM implemented its mandates in the field was crucial to its goal of effective land management.

Director Robert F. Burford continued to decentralize Bureau operations to the field and implemented a "good neighbor" program intended to improve relations with local land users and state governments. BLM streamlined its regulations, inviting land users to increase their participation in managing the public lands. The use of cooperative agreements was expanded to get land users actively involved in solving resource management problems. In addition, the Bureau expanded its use of volunteers, whose contributions in funds and labor totalled $7.5 million in 1987. With these efforts, attempts to privatize the public lands in the Sagebrush Rebellion came to a close.

Although BLM transferred its responsibilities for managing offshore minerals to the Minerals Management Service in 1982, onshore functions were consolidated with the Bureau a year later. Federal responsibilities for classifying onshore mineral lands, overseeing exploration and development activities, and inspecting field operations were consolidated for the first time. BLM began to manage mineral resources on an equal footing with renewable resources.

The Bureau's planning system became a reliable tool for examining land uses and resource issues together, allowing both managers and users to participate in the decisionmaking process. While the participants in BLM's planning process—both inside and outside the Bureau—did not always agree on the Bureau's management priorities, at least they came to understand the system and their roles in it. BLM encouraged participants in the process to develop resource partnerships in a multiple use context rather than advocating preservation or development of separate resources.

The nation's change to an information society, together with increasing demands on public lands and resources, provided BLM a new challenge in the 1980s. The Bureau's rapid growth over the last four decades included massive increases in the information it maintained. Just managing this data and creating meaningful summaries—for both land managers and the public—proved to be difficult. In the 1980s, BLM recognized its data was a significant national asset and began to develop an automated Land Information System. The Bureau began to modernize its ADP equipment, standardize its data, and integrate its information systems to more efficiently process its workload and to make its information on federal land and mineral resources more readily available to the public.

Except for the transfer of 800 employees from the Minerals Management Service in early 1983, the number of Bureau employees remained fairly constant in the 1980s, as did its budgets. But in some programs, budgets actually declined for the first time in 40 years. To ensure that BLM accomplished its management objectives and fairly allocated its budgets, Director Burford strengthened the role of BLM's Management Team in overseeing Bureauwide program development and implementation. The "BMT," consisting of Associate Directors in Washington, State Directors, and the Directors of the Boise Interagency Fire Center (BIFC) and the BLM Service Center, has since played a major role in identifying present needs and future priorities.

Burford also asked several veteran State Directors to serve as Associate Directors in Washington "because people with recent field experience are often the best advisors, especially in top management." According to Burford, it was critical that the Bureau have State Directors rotate to headquarters "to help whoever sits in the Director's chair and the Assistant Secretary's office understand how their decisions affect day-to-day management of the public lands."

In 1979, the Nevada Assembly passed a bill that called for state control of BLM lands. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming passed similar legislation within a year. Six other western states (California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and South Dakota), however, defeated or vetoed "Sagebrush" bills. During the 1980 Presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan said "Count me in as a Sagebrush Rebel," but by 1981 the issue had almost disappeared.

According to historian Phillip Foss, the "good neighbor" policy of Secretary James Watt helped defuse the rebellion. Traditional public land users—ranchers and mineral interests—were assured they would have a continued presence on the public lands and be included with other interests in cooperative efforts to develop land use plans. But the idea of privatization of federal assets remained. In 1981, Senator Charles Percy of Illinois introduced S.R. 231 asking the federal government to sell off excess lands and properties to reduce the national debt. On February 25, 1982, President Reagan issued Executive Order 12348 establishing a property review board to identify federal assets no longer needed by the government. Included were buildings and other "real property," plus isolated, scattered tracts of the public lands.

A governmentwide "Asset Management" program was established to dispose of these holdings. Although it was not a new idea (disposal of scattered, isolated tracts of public land was common in the 1950s and 1960s), the program generated a great deal of controversy. Many agencies argued that excess properties identified under the program might be needed under federal ownership in the future. Conservation groups distrusted the Interior Department's motives in disposing of federal lands and criticized what they perceived as the program's broad scope. Most BLM land users, when confronted with the prospect of purchasing land at fair market value, found they preferred that the lands remain in public ownership.

Since the Asset Management program never generated broad support from the public and was not tied to ongoing Bureau initiatives—such as BLM land exchange programs—the effort was abandoned during President Reagan's first term in office. The idea of forming more logical management units on the ground, however, found widespread support; BLM's land exchanges grew in importance.

Consolidating federal land ownership and management among agencies has been a recurring theme on the public lands. When President Carter's proposal for creating a Department of Natural Resources was abandoned, the BLM and Forest Service in May 1980 proposed a "Jurisdictional Transfer Program" to consolidate their lands into larger blocks, with the goal of reducing management costs, increasing management efficiency, and improving service to the public. The program continued through the change in administration, and in 1982 preliminary estimates indicated that the program would save the government about $30 million a year.

BLM and the Forest Service could not agree on the size or scope of the program, however, and in January 1983 suspended work on the program. The General Accounting Office studied the program and recommended that the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior "resolve the disagreement so that the program can be resumed." In addition, the General Accounting Office found that the agencies' efforts to comply with the Asset Management program also hindered the transfer program by "diverting many needed field resources" from its implementation.

In February 1986, BLM and the Forest Service issued a "BLM/FS Interchange" proposal that would have transferred more than 24 million acres of land between the agencies and given minerals management authority to the Forest Service for its area of jurisdiction. The Reagan administration submitted a bill to Congress, the Federal Lands Administration Act of 1986. In their legislative proposal, BLM and the Forest Service reported that there were 71 towns throughout the West in which both maintained offices. After the Interchange, that figure would have dropped to 36 towns—each of the 71 towns would have retained at least one of the two offices. Concern and some distrust from user groups and the public, however—all of whom were at least comfortable with the status quo—combined to prevent the bill's passage as of September 1988.

On December 3, 1982, Interior Secretary James Watt transferred onshore minerals responsibilities of the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to BLM. Earlier that year (in February 1982), BLM's offshore mineral operations were moved to MMS when Watt moved the Conservation Division out of the U.S. Geological Survey. Consolidation of minerals functions in the Department had been discussed for many years— going back to the early 1960s—with support steadily growing for such a proposal.

The Conservation Division was formed in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1925 to lease minerals, inspect field operations, and collect royalties on federal lands. BLM managed surface resources on the public lands and could veto USGS leasing actions if it felt sensitive resources were endangered by exploration or development. A major reason for changing this arrangement was that when BLM and the Conservation Division didn't agree on mineral leasing, the issues were taken up by different Assistant Secretaries in the Department, who raised problem cases to the Secretary for final decisions. In addition, the minerals industry had to deal with two agencies during leasing and development. As a result, it was not an established client of either agency, the way renewable resource interests were in BLM.

Specific proposals to merge the Conservation Division with BLM were made under President Nixon (in the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources) and again under President Carter. A major reason for the failure of these proposals was their scope: inclusion of a BLM-Forest Service merger in each proposal brought up numerous other issues. In addition, Congress didn't like the idea of being reorganized by the Executive Branch—these proposals would have required Congress to rearrange its committees on Interior and Agriculture.

When the Reagan administration's transition team studied the merger issue, it was well aware of the potential benefits—and fate—of previous proposals. Under Secretary Watt, the Interior Department decided to limit any merger proposals to "in-house" measures. Discussion first centered on whether BLM should gain minerals duties from USGS or whether the Conservation Division should be elevated to an independent agency.

In February 1982, Secretary Watt removed the Conservation Division from USGS, establishing the Minerals Management Service. On December 3, 1982, onshore minerals functions (managed by 800 MMS employees) were transferred to BLM under Secretarial Order No. 3087—leaving MMS responsible for royalty management and offshore mineral leasing. Section 5 of the order states that "all functions related to royalty and mineral revenue management, including collection and distribution, within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) are the responsibility of the MMS. All MMS onshore minerals management functions on non-Indian lands, including resource evaluation, approval of drilling permits and mining or production plans, inspection and enforcement, are transferred to the BLM." The order was amended on February 7, 1983, to add onshore Indian lands to the Bureau's responsibilities.

Secretary Watt intended his action to ensure "full consideration" of mineral resources in accordance with BLM's multiple use mandate, adding that "BLM has long-established expertise in resolving potential conflicts among legitimate but competing interests in onshore resource management." With the merger, minerals were placed on an equal footing with other public land resources.

Since 1981, BLM State Offices signed cooperative agreements with seven western states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana) to create a single point of contact for approving mining operations and to create joint inspection and compliance programs. BLM also issued regulations requiring miners to submit mining notices and develop plans of operation to protect other resources. From 1981 to 1987, BLM patented 497 mining claims and completed more than 8,500 mineral materials contract sales.

Section 314 of FLPMA required that all mining claims on federal lands be recorded within 3 years of passage of the Act—by October 1979. As of July 1988 over 1.2 million claims remained active, but an equal number were abandoned by failure to file or failure to complete necessary assessment work, thereby clearing the lands and mineral estate for other purposes, including conveyance or exchange. According to Andy Senti, Realty Specialist in the Colorado State Office, "FLPMA's recordation requirement was a big plus for BLM as it provided immediate information about a resource use on the public lands that previously was very difficult to search from county records."

Under Director Burford, BLM reaffirmed the need for a coal leasing program but changed its emphasis from meeting production goals to leasing the amount of coal necessary to create a competitive market. From 1981 to 1987, BLM issued 101 competitive coal leases on federal lands.

But coal development remained as controversial as ever in the 1980s. In January 1981, 11,282 acres of coal lands were put up for competitive bid in Colorado and Wyoming; other sales followed in April and October. In a lease sale held in the Powder River area of Montana and Wyoming in April 1982, charges were made that BLM's minimum acceptable bids for leases had been leaked to some of the participating coal companies. A coalition of environmental groups brought suit against the Department charging that inadequate activity planning had taken place and that fair market value was not attained in the lease sale. In addition, prior to the sale the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in Montana sued the Department, alleging BLM's environmental impact statement did not address the impacts of coal development on its reservation.

Investigations by the Department's Office of the Inspector General and Congress' Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) could not substantiate the charges brought by environmental groups, but prompted two further studies of coal. The Linowes Report, Fair Market Value Policy for Coal Leasing, issued in February 1984, reported that the United States received fair market value in its coal lease sales but recommended minor changes in the program. An OTA report, Environmental Protection and the Federal Coal Leasing Program, recommended that BLM better document the environmental impacts of coal development and strengthen public and state participation in the leasing process.

In the fall of 1987, the U.S. District Court in Montana ruled that the Powder River coal lease sale was conducted in accordance with the law and that fair market value was attained. However, in the suit brought by the Cheyennes, the court directed BLM to prepare a supplemental EIS on impacts to tribal lands.

After the OTA report was issued, Secretary William Clark instituted a moratorium on BLM's coal leasing activities to reevaluate the program. BLM completed a final EIS in late 1985, strengthening its documentation requirements. Another policy change was a return to leasing coal on an application basis—the pre-Morton policy. Consequently, by 1988, all coal regions (except Powder River) were "decertified," meaning BLM no longer determined where leasing would occur.

The Energy Security Act of 1980 renewed national interest in oil shale by creating an independent, government-sponsored Synthetic Fuels Corporation. Its mission was to stimulate production of 2 million barrels of oil a day by 1992 through the retorting of shale oil and liquification of coal. The sharp drop in oil prices during the 1980s, however, made oil shale an unattractive investment. Exxon pulled out of its Colorado operation in 1982, while other companies also quit or cut back their work, producing an economic bust for Colorado's Western Slope.

A major issue in the 1980s concerned the validity of oil shale claims made on 82,000 acres in Colorado prior to 1920 (oil shale was a locatable mineral until passage of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920). In administrative proceedings in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Interior Department ruled that almost all the claims were invalid, but these findings were overturned in federal district court in Tosco vs. Hodel. BLM was directed to transfer all title to the claimants, including the entire subsurface mineral estate. Existing uses, including grazing and hunting, could have been eliminated. The Interior Department appealed the case but also followed the court's recommendation to "explore settlement without further appeal in this litigation."

In 1986, Secretary Donald Hodel approved a settlement with the claimants whereby the federal government retained rights to all oil, gas, and coal deposits on the lands and preserved Colorado's 50 percent share of mineral leasing royalties. Existing rights-of-way were also retained, along with grazing and recreational uses of the land. Nevertheless, environmentalists and others criticized this action as a giveaway. The State of Colorado and ranchers whose grazing leases were affected also protested, prompting Congress to begin a study of possible actions with regard to the remaining unpatented claims.

The Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act of 1982 (FOGRMA) strengthened BLM's inspection and enforcement programs for onshore oil and gas production. Lease operators were required to document production from wells and comply with site security measures established by the Secretary. Penalties were set for operators who failed to protect against theft or tampering with meters recording production. BLM completed all inspections required on high-production leases and launched a comprehensive training program on inspection, drainage analysis, and unit agreements.

Procedures for determining known geologic structures (KGSs) on federal lands erupted into a major national controversy in the 1980s. How BLM classified and leased federal minerals could mean millions of dollars in revenue gained or lost by state governments. Oil and gas companies disagreed among themselves about the way lands should be leased, with larger companies generally favoring competitive leasing. Because competitive leasing included bonus bids (50 percent of which were shared by the states), most states also favored the process.

In the late 1970s noncompetitive oil and gas leases issued by BLM in Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, through the simultaneous oil and gas leasing program (the "SIMO" lottery) were challenged in federal court by the State of Arkansas and supported by Senator Dale Bumpers, Chairman of the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The court reversed this action and the tracts were eventually awarded through competitive bidding.

In 1982, BLM issued noncompetitive oil and gas leases on certain tracts in Amos Draw, Wyoming; one tract promptly sold on the secondary market for over 1 million dollars. Widespread coverage in the national news media stirred up additional congressional concern about BLM's KGS procedures.

After Amos Draw Director Burford imposed a moratorium on oil and gas leasing to study KGS issues. BLM contracted with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the Keplinger Technology Consultants, Inc., an independent consulting firm, to evaluate its oil and gas leasing program, particularly its KGS determinations. The NAS recommended that BLM broaden its criteria for determining KGSs, while the Keplinger Technology Consultants recommended ways of improving BLM's program, focusing on standardization and documentation. In the meantime, Burford directed BLM to reinstate a long-standing Departmental policy requiring thorough geologic evaluations of lands before making KGS determinations.

BLM's intensified geologic evaluations resulted in larger KGS areas being designated on federal lands—causing a controversy with smaller oil companies who favored smaller KGS areas and increased noncompetitive leasing. At the same time, however, Senator Bumpers and others in Congress introduced bills to make all federal oil and gas leasing competitive. Congress eventually passed a compromise measure, the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act of 1987, which eliminated the government's KGS program. The act specified that all federal oil and gas leases must be offered competitively at oral auction; tracts not receiving bids would then be available for noncompetitive leasing for up to 2 years.

The 1980s ushered in a fundamental change in the federal government's role in natural resource management. Funding for BLM renewable resource programs was trimmed to accommodate declining federal budgets and Reagan administration goals to simplify federal regulations. The Bureau focused its efforts on consolidating field activities, cutting down on duplication in renewable resource programs. Director Burford called for greater agency cooperation with BLM's publics and solicited more active participation from local land users, conservation groups, and other government agencies. Cooperative Management Agreements, used by BLM's wildlife program with state agencies since the 1960s, were expanded to include recreation and other user groups.

To more fully integrate renewable resource programs and make field operations more efficient, BLM began to collect and share data among its programs. The ecological site inventory (ESI) was developed to measure vegetation on the public lands. This and other joint ventures reduced the need for programs to conduct overlapping resource inventories. Data on vegetation came to be used as a measure of soil erosion, deer browse, livestock forage, watershed condition, or even dune stability in off-road vehicle areas. ESI data was used to develop land use plans, with more specific data then being collected by individual programs.

Another initiative crossing program lines during the 1980s was the Bureau's development of a policy for managing riparian areas. BLM had managed riparian areas since the 1960s, but with most of its emphasis related to the wildlife program. During meetings sponsored by the Congressional Research Service in 1984, riparian management surfaced as a significant issue in BLM's range program and was prominent during consideration of the Omnibus Range Bill by Congress. In May 1985, BLM's National Public Lands Advisory Council recommended that the Bureau develop a comprehensive riparian area management program.

In a policy statement signed by Director Robert F. Burford on January 22, 1987, riparian areas were recognized as "unique and among the most productive and important ecosystems" on the public lands. Riparian areas, which comprise about 1 percent of BLM lands, were defined as "directly influenced by permanent water, with visible vegetation or physical characteristics." BLM policy was established to "maintain, restore, or improve riparian values to achieve a healthy and productive ecological condition for maximum long-term benefits." To do this, BLM would recognize riparian values in newly developed resource management plans and activity plans and would achieve its goals through management of existing land uses.

BLM range conservationists worked with livestock operators to design grazing systems that would improve riparian vegetation and streambank stability. Bureau employees in the Rock Springs District (Wyoming) transplanted beavers to rehabilitate eroding streams. Willow and aspen logs were delivered to streams, where beavers built dams—which, in turn, built up streambanks, water tables, and streamside vegetation. In Oregon, BLM biologists enhanced spawning habitats of salmon and steelhead trout by enlisting volunteers (local sportsmen's clubs and Boy Scout troops) to construct gabion check dams, which created pools within streams.

In 1978, BLM successfully negotiated with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to reduce the numbers of grazing environmental impact statements (EISs) it would prepare in the field from 212 to 158. BLM wanted to consolidate smaller planning areas and combine its grazing EISs with Resource Management Plans that were to be prepared for BLM Resource Areas. No grazing lands were omitted from the EIS requirement; NRDC and the Courts agreed with the change. With further consolidations agreed to by NRDC, BLM scheduled the last of 142 grazing statements for completion in 1989.

In 1980, BLM continued to rely on forage inventory data to prepare EISs and set stocking rates. Many permittees—and range scientists—took issue with this method of deciding grazing issues because BLM was using data collected in only one season of a given year. Livestock organizations and academia challenged the value of data, much of which had been collected during a drought year and did not reflect normal or long-range forage growth.

The Society for Range Management, the National Academy of Sciences, and other groups examined this question and recommended that BLM implement long-term studies to better reflect range forage production, condition, and trend. Under Director Burford, BLM moved away from relying solely on inventory data to monitoring range conditions on public grazing lands. BLM's monitoring activities examined

— Actual Use (number of livestock on allotment)
— Utilization (amount and type of forage used)
— Climate (monthly precipitation, temperatures, etc.)
— Trend (improving, declining, or static)

BLM also collected data on major events such as wildfires, insect infestation, or drought. According to Billy Templeton, Chief, Branch of Range Management, BLM's move to monitoring was of major benefit to the Bureau's range program: "It institutionalized range studies over time, instead of having the BLM rely on data collected for just one year."

BLM's range program also began to focus on allotments where management would bring the best results. Grazing allotments were placed in one of three categories:

"M" (Maintain) — Resource has high to moderate production potential; producing at or near potential; present management satisfactory.

"I" (Improve) — Resource has high to moderate production potential; producing at low to moderate level; resource will respond to improved management.

"C" (Custodial) — Resource has low production potential; producing at or near potential; opportunities for improvement do not exist.

BLM developed a more effective cost/benefit analysis for range improvements and began to target them on "I" allotments where they would do the most good. Working closely with allottees and other land users during the process paid significant dividends to the Bureau: many ranchers and conservation groups came to support the effort.

The grazing fee formula set by the Public Rangelands Improvement Act (PRIA) remained in effect on BLM and Forest Service lands until 1985. Congress then asked the agencies to study and report on the fee structure for 1986 and subsequent years, which was accomplished in their 1985 annual reports to Congress. The House and Senate, however, ran out of time to consider the study and did not enact any new legislation on grazing fees.

In the absence of Congressional action, Secretary William Clark was instrumental in convincing President Reagan to issue an Executive Order reestablishing the PRIA formula, but with a minimum fee of $1.35 per animal unit month. NRDC challenged the legality of this order, but the courts decided in favor of the government. As of September 1988, Congress continued to study legislative proposals setting new fee formulas.

After passage of the Public Rangelands Improvement Act in 1978, BLM developed an experimental stewardship program to test new approaches to improving rangeland conditions, as directed by the act. BLM set up 16 experimental stewardship projects in eight states with land users and other agencies (for example, the Forest Service and state wildlife agencies) to cooperatively develop new and innovative ways to manage public rangelands.

Cooperative Management Agreements (CMAs) and coordinated resource management plans grew out of this work. Director Burford introduced CMAs to BLM's range program in 1982 to recognize outstanding livestock operators on the public lands and assure them of continued long-term tenure on their allotments. Operators with CMAs were free to adjust livestock numbers, seasons of use, and kinds of livestock grazed on their allotments within predetermined limits agreed upon and included in the terms of the CMA. CMAs were issued for 10 years with resource evaluations scheduled at 5-year intervals. If multiple use objectives were met, BLM could renew the agreements—and grazing permits—for another 10 years.

The program was never fully implemented, however. BLM was sued by NRDC in 1984, asserting that the Bureau was allowing a specific group of land users to exert undue influence in managing grazing on public lands—without involving other interests in the process. After losing the case in 1985, BLM declined an opportunity to appeal the case and dropped CMAs from its range program.

In the meantime, the Nevada State Office took the lead in developing Coordinated Resource Management and Planning (CRMP). This process involved everyone concerned with resource management in a given area—landowners, BLM and other agencies, resource users, and the interested public—to address resource conflicts at the local level. According to State Director Edward F. Spang, CRMP plans were developed within the framework of laws, regulations, and applicable land use plans. "Major areas of conflict were subjected to the CRMP process, including livestock grazing, watershed problems, off-road vehicle designations, and wilderness suitability recommendations."

Soil, water, and air activities were placed in BLM's range program in 1982. Since then the branch has conducted soil surveys on the public lands at a rate of 4 million acres per year. Of 157 million acres targeted for such surveys, 129 million have been completed. The branch also developed an automated soil information system to integrate existing soils data with other resource information.

Watershed projects in the 1980s included nine hydrologic modeling programs focusing on water quality, erosion, and precipitation. Eight watershed activity plans were implemented in support of the Colorado River salinity program and four in support of flood and sedimentation mitigation. Instream flow assessments were completed for the Beaver Creek National Wilderness River in Alaska and the San Pedro River management area in Arizona to identify resources in these areas and the amounts of water required to sustain them.

BLM has supported more than 20 years of research by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) at the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in southwest Idaho. Congress established the facility in the early '60s, to collect data on runoff and water yields from plateau and foothill grazing areas. The project was undertaken to facilitate the long-term improvement of grazing and rangeland management, and has been the largest and lengthiest watershed research project BLM ever participated in.

The Reynolds Creek watershed contains a wide range of environmental conditions found in a variety of western rangelands. BLM/ARS research yielded important data on resource monitoring and modeling, precipitation and climate, streamflow and runoff, erosion and sediment, water quality, vegetation, and soils.

During the 1980s, the extensive data base on rangeland activities was used to create simulations that estimate impacts and magnitudes of land practices in land use plans. A 1984 conference of federal and state land management agencies began an era of transferring Reynolds Creek data and analysis techniques into management practice.

Starting in 1981, BLM's air resources program participated in the National Atmospheric Deposition Program to help quantify water chemistry (including acid rain) on the public lands. BLM also developed smoke and pollution estimation models which quantify atmospheric changes and dispersion potentials.

BLM's role in managing fish and wildlife resources on the public lands became more widely recognized in the 1980s. Fish and Wildlife 2000, a strategic plan for the program, was signed by Director Robert Burford on May 21, 1987. It is the first long-range plan developed for the wildlife program, calling on BLM to manage "with emphasis on ecosystems to ensure viable populations and a natural abundance and diversity of wildlife, fisheries, and plant resources on the public lands."

BLM's wildlife program features three components: wildlife habitat management, fisheries habitat management, and threatened/endangered species management. The Bureau accomplishes its goals by implementing habitat management plans (HMPs); it also specifies fish and wildlife objectives in other activity plans and implements recovery plans for threatened and endangered species. In addition, BLM biologists place stipulations in leases, licenses, and permits to mitigate adverse impacts to fish and wildlife habitats and implement on-the-ground improvement projects.

Since 1980, 160 HMPs were prepared in BLM, bringing the total developed to 399. More than 100 have been fully implemented, with 212 more in the process of being implemented. Fish are priority species in 106 aquatic HMPs prepared to improve habitat on 3,100 miles of streams crossing public lands, according to Art Oakley, fishery biologist in the Oregon State Office. The major species for 50 of these plans are either endangered or threatened, or candidates for listing. In addition, Bureau biologists contribute to interagency recovery plans for threatened or endangered species, including the Warm Springs pupfish in Nevada and the humpback chub, bonytail chub, and Colorado squawfish in the Colorado River system. A total of 73 recovery plans have been developed, 56 of which are currently being implemented.

Increased cooperation and partnerships have been developed with conservation organizations, commodity groups, and landowners to encourage outside participation in habitat improvement projects. For example, national-level agreements were signed with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Ducks Unlimited, the National Wild Turkey Federation, and Trout Unlimited to expand cooperation and joint activities at the field level. Congressional appropriations of challenge cost-share matching funds (funds set aside to match donations from private sources) made increased cooperative efforts possible. To encourage private investments on the public lands, Fish and Wildlife 2000 also calls for development of a "gift opportunity catalog" to promote contributions to fish and wildlife projects, including land acquisition or access needs.

BLM placed greater emphasis on developing interdisciplinary rangewide management plans for certain high-visibility species, such as the desert bighorn sheep, desert tortoise, anadromous fish, waterfowl, and raptors to provide specific strategies for key species and ecosystems. An emerging issue for BLM is conservation of biological diversity on the public lands. The Office of Technology Assessment defines biological diversity as "variety and variability among organisms and the ecological complexes in which they occur....Thus, the term encompasses different ecosystems, species, genes, and their relative abundance." To date, most of this concern has concentrated on threatened and endangered species, but according to BLM biologist Allen Cooperrider, the Bureau's role in conserving biological diversity at the community or ecosystem level is likely to increase in the future.

BLM's wild horse and burro program in the 1980s focused on removing excess animals from the public lands to bring their populations down to appropriate management levels, which were established through BLM's planning process for about 95 percent of its herd management areas. In conjunction with the National Academy of Sciences, the Bureau also awarded contracts for research projects on fertility control and population genetics of wild horses. Removals from 1980 to 1988 reduced horse and burro populations by about a third, but BLM did not expect to reach its management objectives until the early 1990s. Because controversies continued to elevate this issue to national prominence, in 1988 Director Burford asked Congress to hold oversight hearings to provide the Bureau with guidance on administering this difficult program.

BLM found homes for nearly 75,000 excess wild horses and burros through its Adopt-A-Horse program since 1980, but many older horses proved to be unadoptable. Although the law authorizes humane destruction of unadopted animals, the American public strongly opposed this approach. BLM has since turned to new initiatives, including an increase in adoption efforts in the East and the establishment of a pilot sanctuary for unadopted wild horses on private lands in South Dakota. BLM also sent horses to satellite (temporary) adoption centers in areas where adoption demand existed. From 27 such centers in 1983, the number of satellites grew to 71 in 1987. BLM also worked with prison systems in four states (California, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming) to establish inmate wild horse training programs to increase the adoptability of wild horses.

During the inflationary years of the late 1970s and early 1980s, a national housing boom caused a rash of speculative bidding for timber from federal lands in Oregon and Washington. Bids rose from around $100 per thousand board feet to $300 and $400. In 1982 the nation entered a recession. Timber prices plummeted to the $100-per-thousand level and sometimes below. The high-bid contracts became uneconomical; companies could not harvest without incurring severe financial hardship. Many faced bankruptcy. In addition, it was anticipated that massive defaults on contracts would cut even further into the already shrinking receipts going to both the O&C Counties and the U.S. Treasury.

BLM and the Forest Service created a program in 1982 to extend the term of the high-bid contracts. The intent was to give contract holders more time in which to harvest the timber, hoping that lumber prices would rise, and to blend high-bid and low-bid timber to soften the financial impact on the contract holders. In 1984 Congress passed the Timber Contract Payment Modification Act which allowed some contracts to be bought out by the holders at a reduced price and the remaining contracts to be extended through 1989.

During the 1980s environmental groups protested several O&C activities. One effort involved limiting BLM's use of herbicides on competing vegetation in young forest plantations. A 1984 legal challenge was successful; use of herbicides was stopped by court order until BLM could analyze their use on the public lands.

Preserving old-growth forests also became an issue; virtually all of the old-growth Douglas Fir forests remaining in the Pacific Northwest are found on federal lands. Environmentalists argued that management of O&C lands under the principle of sustained yield should be revised in favor of full multiple use. The northern spotted owl, a subspecies native to these same Douglas Fir forests, is thought to depend heavily on old-growth and mature forests as habitat.

After 10-year plans for western Oregon forests were completed in the early 1980s, BLM and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife agreed to protect habitat for 90 pairs of owls through 1987. In that year the agreement was renewed through 1990 and the number of pairs for which habitat was to be provided was increased to 110.

In 1986, BLM's analyses of the effect of timber harvest on the owl in the early-1980s environmental impact statements was challenged. After State Director William Luscher found the analyses to be adequate, a court suit was begun. A district court ruling favorable to BLM is currently under appeal.

In addition to its management of O&C and commercial public domain forests, BLM started to manage woodland areas in the 1980s. These areas include pinyon-juniper woodlands in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona valuable for fuelwood (harvested by both commercial interests and individuals), plus items such as pinyon nuts and Christmas trees. BLM hired a forester in each district in Nevada to manage this program.

Prior to the 1980s, the idea of managing cultural resources in BLM was almost entirely tied to compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and to assisting other BLM programs in fulfilling their objectives. As the Bureau's compliance proficiency grew—and as FLPMA's multiple use emphasis became more ingrained in the Bureau—the cultural resource program was able to focus on a more long-term, planning-based management model.

Initial program manuals adopted in 1978 were developed with the conviction that the cultural resources program should be like other BLM resource management programs, according to John Douglas, current program leader in Washington. "Just as in the more traditional BLM programs, managers should be able to come out of a comprehensive land use planning process with cultural resource allocations and then manage the resources according to the allocations." A new BLM planning guidance manual in 1986 incorporating these concepts was the Bureau's first significant step toward realizing these ideas.

BLM's role in managing cultural resources for the public's benefit was given new visibility when the Anasazi Heritage Center opened in the Four Corners area of southwest Colorado in August 1988. Built as an interpretive, curatorial, and research facility, it will house millions of artifacts and records from the Dolores Project, one of the largest archaeological recovery projects ever undertaken. The BLM-managed facility will serve as a regional repository for the Bureau of Reclamation, the Forest Service, and BLM. In addition, it will provide visitors with interpretive programs and students with education and research opportunities.

Demands for recreational opportunities on BLM lands have continued to grow—an unsurprising fact when one considers that 90 percent of Americans participate in some form of outdoor recreation. In 1987, BLM estimated that there were 56.4 million visits to the public lands, a three-fold increase since 1968.

Because of other national priorities, BLM was not able to focus much attention on its recreation program through the early and mid-1980s. During this time, however, there were significant increases in ORV use, river running, caving, and snowmobiling on the public lands, plus the traditional uses of hunting, fishing, and back-country exploring.

By the late 1980s, the recreation program assumed a more dominant role in the Bureau. Several factors contributed to this increased emphasis, not the least of which was the President's Commission on Americans Outdoors, established by Ronald Reagan in 1986. Public meetings and a subsequent report heightened the public's interest in America's recreation resources, in a manner somewhat analogous to the work done by the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Along with this effort, BLM developed Recreation 2000, a long-term strategic plan for the management of outdoor recreation opportunities on the public lands. The plan presents an overview of BLM's recreation and wilderness programs and provides policy for future efforts, including visitor information and interpretation; resource protection and monitoring; land ownership and access adjustments; partnerships and volunteer programs; and facilities, permits, fees, and concessions.

Since 1981, BLM has managed 24.6 million acres of public lands in 855 separate locations as wilderness study areas while it prepared environmental impact statements to determine their suitability for inclusion to the National Wilderness Preservation System. Under FLPMA, BLM must complete its studies of these areas by 1991.

By 1988, Congress designated 25 of these areas (totaling 450,000 acres) as wilderness, starting with Bear Trap Canyon in the Lee Metcalf Wilderness in Montana in 1983. Aravaipa Canyon in the Safford District and eight areas on the Arizona Strip District were designated in the Arizona Wilderness Act of 1984. Cebolla and the West Malpais wilderness areas were designated in the Albuquerque District under the El Malpais National Monument and National Conservation Area Act of December 31, 1987.

The Bureau's first wilderness management plan was completed for Bear Trap Canyon in 1984. By 1988, 12 draft or final plans had been completed. BLM continued to develop management guidelines for its designated wilderness areas, including procedures governing aircraft flights, management of fish and wildlife habitats, and regulation of mining claims made in areas before they were designated.

In July 1988, the Justice Department concurred with an opinion by Interior's Solicitor which found that Congress did not intend to reserve federal water rights for wilderness areas when it passed the Wilderness Act of 1964. The opinion noted that Congress could reserve water rights for wilderness areas at any time or seek them under state law. According to Secretary Donald Hodel, "This opinion will help provide a sound basis for the ongoing creation of new wilderness areas while preserving state-law water rights which, in the West, are the lifeblood of most state economies."

Conveyance of in-lieu land to states totalled 415,000 acres by 1988, leaving fewer than 90,000 acres of public lands for conveyance in the lower 48 states. Land exchanges were a high priority under Director Burford; 1.6 million acres of public lands were exchanged under his tenure for 2.1 million acres of state and private lands to consolidate ownership patterns and promote more efficient land management. More than 107,000 acres of BLM lands were sold to provide for community expansion. BLM continued to designate special management areas on the public lands. By 1988, the Bureau managed 162 natural areas totaling 2.4 million acres and more than 250 Areas of Critical Environmental Concern comprising 5.1 million acres.

The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA) decided how the state's public lands would be allocated and managed. In addition, ANILCA modified sections of both the Statehood Act and the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act regarding issues such as ownership of inland waterways, easements, Native allotments, the state land selection period, and certain land conveyances to the state and to Alaska Natives.

BLM conveyed more than 34 million acres of land to Alaska since 1980, with the state receiving title to 84 million acres (over 80 percent of its allotment) by July 1988. In addition, more than 17.8 million acres were transferred to Alaska Native corporations. As of July 1988, title had passed for 36 million acres, or more than 70 percent of the land granted by ANCSA.

In total, BLM Alaska has been given the job of conveying 148 million acres of land since 1959. In the 1980s BLM adopted a "Patent Plan Process" to streamline the required field examinations, survey procedures, and patent preparation time. BLM plans to complete its land transfers by the year 2008.

Inland waterways cover more than 10 million acres of land in Alaska. BLM is currently determining how many of them are navigable. Until the Bureau completes this determination, it will not know which of these lands belong to the state under the Statehood Act. The Submerged Land Act of 1988 ratified as a matter of federal law a 1983 Secretarial policy that applied similar standards to Alaska land ownership as has been applied to the Lower 48. In general, the act provides that the state and Alaska Native corporations will not be charged for lands under lakes larger than 50 acres or rivers wider than 3 chains (198 feet).

In 1988, BLM managed 90 million acres in Alaska. When the title transfer program is completed, BLM will manage approximately 64 million acres, while retaining some functions (such as firefighting) on 150 million acres. ANILCA greatly expanded America's national parks and wildlife refuges; in addition, more than 70 percent of all federal lands classified as wilderness are found in Alaska. Sixteen national wildlife refuges cover 75 million acres, while national forests cover 23 million acres. The National Park Service administers some 50 million acres of parks and preserves. ANILCA also created 25 wild and scenic rivers in Alaska and identified 12 river systems for further study.

Under ANILCA, BLM's responsibilities for land management picked up something without parallel in the Lower 48: a requirement under Section 810 of the act to evaluate the effects of its actions on traditional subsistence uses of the public lands by rural residents—Indians, Aleuts, and Eskimos. Hunting, fishing, trapping, and the collecting of firewood and various plant foods have always occurred on these lands. With ANILCA's new mandate, BLM began to analyze the effects of its actions (withdrawing, reserving, leasing, or disposing of public lands) on subsistence uses and needs.

This effort has involved working with the Alaska Land Use Council plus state and federal agencies to obtain information from Native corporations, villages, and individuals; BLM hired anthropologists and additional biologists to complete this work. The results have been a more complete understanding of human use of Alaska lands and a new sensitivity for managing those lands to minimize impacts to people still living off the land.

All Native allotment applications made under the 1906 Native Allotment Act that were pending before the Department on or before December 18, 1971, must be processed by BLM. Title has been issued on 2,200 parcels. Over 5,000 applications for an additional 10,000 parcels must be resolved. Congress has legislatively approved many pending allotments, but the complexity of the remaining applications has resulted in a slow and tedious process that BLM plans to complete by the year 2000.

While FLPMA repealed federal settlement laws in the lower 48 states, settlement was allowed to continue in Alaska until October 21, 1986. In 1981, BLM opened about 950,000 acres in the Minchumina area of the Glennallen Resource Area for settlement; 129 applications were filed. In 1983, 10,250 acres were opened at Slana (also in the Glennallen Resource Area), with 500 applications received. But with no electricity or municipal water supplies available to settlers, homesteading became a sacrifice that most people were no longer prepared to accept—only about 20 patents were issued under the program since 1981.

BLM's cadastral survey program faced major challenges in Alaska. Short field seasons, remote and hostile environments, and, until recently, the need for multiple visits to complete survey notes all contributed to a difficult and frustrating effort. Given its responsibility to survey the state in a reasonable time, BLM Alaska made great strides.

Less than 2 percent of the state's 365 million acres had been surveyed at the time of statehood. Shortly thereafter, innovative survey applications were developed: new distance-measuring equipment using radio waves replaced the measuring of distances on the ground and provided point-to-point measurements miles apart. Monumentation requirements for surveys of state and ANCSA selections were reduced to 2-mile intervals on exterior township boundaries. And an Airborne Control Survey system was developed, in which helicopters were employed to transport mobile distance measurement units.

Satellites provided additional surveying capabilities. The Bureau's first Doppler systems, called geoceivers, determined geographic coordinates from onsite data received from orbiting satellites. Today's technology allows even more exacting accuracy in just a few hours by observing several satellites simultaneously. In other areas, BLM has used aerial photo interpretation to determine meanderable bodies of water and to delineate meander lines.

Along with this technology came the development of computer-assisted drafting in 1982, automating the manual survey plat process. A more recent addition is a computerized drafting program, AutoCad. With AutoCad, plat drafting can keep up with field surveyors. AutoCad will eventually allow all of BLM's drafting to be done automatically from data entered by field surveyors.

BLM's land use planning system proved to be an effective tool for integrating the Bureau's diverse programs and activities into a multiple use framework. The task of integrating its vast information holdings, however, was not yet complete. BLM continued to collect and maintain resource information along program lines and records data along functional lines. In the 1980s, the Bureau faced the additional challenge of integrating its data and making it more accessible to a growing body of users.

The Bureau today maintains more than a billion land and mineral records on which it documents land ownership, status, and use in more than 200 offices throughout the country. BLM also maintains data on resources, such as wildlife habitats, mineral deposits, and cultural resources on public lands. Records and resource data are tied to specific locations on the ground via geographic coordinates generated from the Bureau's Public Land Survey System.

Under Director Robert F. Burford, BLM continued its early efforts to develop information resource management strategies, including standards for data, data bases, and information exchange between automated systems. Because the Bureau continued to decentralize its operations to field offices, it also planned to "distribute" its Land Information System to local users. Administrative systems, which were developed with 1970s technology, were also scheduled to be modernized. By the mid-1990s, the Bureau's target system will be implemented in field offices. In the meantime, existing ADP systems will be maintained.

The Bureau's Land Information System (LIS) will allow managers and the public to access and select information they need from any BLM office. The system will provide records information such as Master Title Plats on computer screens or printouts. The LIS will also create resource maps, allowing its users to select and overlay critical resource themes (locations of wildlife habitats, forests, mineral deposits, recreation areas, etc.) to determine potential conflicts in use. This information, combined with land and mineral records, will allow LIS users to pinpoint resource locations, identify land ownership and use, and more efficiently analyze issues—replacing the cumbersome, hard-to-locate, and difficult-to-update manual records and map overlay schemes employees and the public have had to use in the past.

The Bureau of Land Management's goal for information management is to make effective use of automation in making resource management decisions and in providing information to the public. Data will be automated only if it is cost-effective to do so—in many cases, manual methods will be maintained. BLM will continue to maintain personal contacts with its clients and support traditional hands-on field work. The objectives of the Bureau's automation plan are to:

— Streamline BLM responses to public inquiries.

— Facilitate processing of applications and permits.

— Improve access to land records and BLM resource data.

— Ensure accuracy and consistency of data.

— Improve BLM's planning, tracking, and evaluation of its programs.

Since the mid-1970s, the BLM Service Center has developed and maintained more than 40 automated data systems, running the gamut from Bureauwide administrative systems to centralized records and resource systems. BLM State and District Offices have also developed ADP systems for specific uses, such as the Western Oregon Digital Data Base, which is used to prepare 10-year forest plans. In the late 1980s, microcomputers became common in BLM field offices, reducing their dependency on Honeywell Level-6 computers. From being a rare item in 1985, micros became a readily available tool for most BLM employees by 1988. BLM employees began to procure or write additional programs for specific local needs. These actions, however, pointed to the need for a unified automation plan in BLM—one that established data standards and common data bases as well as requirements for data exchange among systems.

After considering the use of existing systems to automate land and mineral record operations, BLM began developing the Automated Land and Mineral Record System (ALMRS) in 1984. The Bureau's Field Committee, composed of BLM Associate State Directors, is supervising this effort. ALMRS became a presidential priority system in 1987, the same year BLM decided to "bundle" hardware and software procurements with commercial off-the-shelf products rather than designing a unique system. In 1988 BLM started a comprehensive modernization study and began identifying system requirements to integrate ALMRS, LIS, and other automated systems in the Bureau and to ensure that its automation-related procurements will be well coordinated.

The results of this work should transform BLM. According to ALMRS Project Manager Brian Bernard, in the mid-1990s a typical Bureau field office will do the same work it has always done—manage resources, process right-of-way applications, examine mining claims, and so forth. However, the tools it uses to do the job will be different. Computers and terminals will be used as commonly as they are today in banks and libraries. The result will be more time for employees to spend with individual members of the public and for on-the-ground field work, with less time spent locating case files or tracking down reports.

Public land management has become an increasingly complex science—and it will likely remain so. But despite BLM's increasing "procedural" requirements, land management remains an art as much as it is a science. Administrations, manuals, systems, and reorganizations have come and gone, but the role of individual employees in getting BLM's work done is as critical as ever.

The Bureau of Land Management today employs people in 197 occupational series—out of a total of 620 in the entire federal government. The growth and diversification of BLM's workforce is a good indicator of the responsibilities the Bureau has gained in serving the American public. Now that we have secured a mission—with a firm commitment to multiple use management of the public lands—we must implement the vision.

The Bureau values its traditions and values its employees. There have been plenty of challenges and controversies on the public lands since 1785, with battles won and lost, depending on your perspective, and more are yet to come. But opportunity also remains—for BLM employees, land users, and the American public at large, working together to manage the public lands for multiple use. And that's what makes the experience exciting and worthwhile. BLM's unique values have developed from its unique history. An example of these values can be found from a page taken from the recently completed strategic plan for the Bureau's recreation program, Recreation 2000:

INNOVATIVE PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT

We are proud of what BLM people have accomplished over the years. However, we encourage each of you to recommend and try new ideas and options to meet the challenges of the future.... Our organization can develop innovation through people by

— establishing an environment within the organization that supports creativity;

— rewarding and recognizing employees who have implemented unique and successful programs or developed unusual approaches to the solution of problems;

— showing employees a willingness to invest in their future—a concern for them on a personal basis;

— encouraging experimentation while discouraging the attitude that it "cannot be done;"

— developing an attitude in managers of encouragement of employees to try new ideas or different directions in management styles;

— implementing a "bottoms-up" style of management—where all are encouraged to contribute and participate;

— establishing procedures and policies that break down the bureaucratic tendency to stifle creativity;

— developing a policy that looks toward the future and at long term solutions to potential or real problems; and

— continually appraising and reappraising the direction and impact of policies with an eye on creative change to correct areas of concern.

We encourage managers and all employees to think, act, stimulate, encourage, and reward creativity, freedom of expression and the willingness to "give it a try."

Individual employees in the Bureau of Land Management and its predecessor agencies have clearly made a difference in getting things done on the public lands. This will remain true in the future. How we do our jobs influences millions of Americans.

BLM's history is America's history. How Americans view their public lands is reflected in the Bureau's evolving mission. Our history can and should be used as a guide to the future. History does repeat itself, and with this awareness, we should be well prepared to meet the challenges of the future.

Public land issues that have shaped BLM in the past will continue to influence our future. Major themes include:

development vs. preservation
multiple use vs. dominant use
states' rights vs. federal control
new programs vs. traditional uses

Balancing the needs, uses, and wishes of the American public on its lands is the Bureau's job. Working for BLM is exciting, frustrating at times, and, ultimately, rewarding. We hope that you've enjoyed this account of BLM's history and that you will be motivated to learn more.

While it is too early for historical assessment of BLM and public land policies in the 1980s, there is no shortage of writings on the subject. Political scientists and natural resource professionals are increasingly focusing their attention on BLM and its administration of the public lands.

Books presenting collections of articles on public land issues best illustrate the growing interest in BLM. Among the available books, see Rethinking the Federal Lands (1984), edited by Sterling Brubaker; Public Lands and the U.S. Economy: Balancing Conservation and Development (1984), George Johnston and Peter Emerson, editors; Western Public Lands: The Management of Natural Resources in a time of Declining Federalism (1984) John Francis and Richard Ganzel, editors; Land Reform, American Style (1983), edited by Charles Geisler and Frank Popper; Federal Lands Policy (1987) Philip O. Foss, editor; and The Public Lands During the Remainder of the Twentieth Century: Planning, Law and Policy in the Federal Land Agencies (1987), by the University of Colorado's Natural Resources Law Center.

Books that talk about the public lands and their values include This Landis Your Land: The Struggle to Save America's Public Lands (1984) by Bernard Shanks; Lands of Brighter Destiny: The Public Lands of the American West (1986) Elizabeth Darby Junkin; These American Lands: Parks, Wilderness, and the Public Lands (1986), Dyan Zaslowsky and the Wilderness Society; and The Kingdom in the Country (1987) by James Conaway.

Another book that deals with the public lands is Sally K. Fairfax's and Carolyn Yale's Federal Lands: A Guide to Planning, Management, and State Revenues (1987).

The debate that surrounded management of federal grazing policy is illustrated by Gary Libecap, Locking Up the Federal Range: Federal Land Controls and Graziers (1981), which calls for privatization of the public lands, and Sacred Cows at the Public Trough (1983) by Denzel and Nancy Ferguson, which decries the influence of stockraisers who use the public range. The National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences' Developing Strategies for Rangeland Management (1984) is also of interest.

BLM wildlife management is addressed in the Audubon Wildlife Report of 1987 (1987), edited by Roger L. DiSilvestro, William J. Chandler, and Katherine Barton.

Mineral policy in the early 1980s is handled by Robert Nelson in his The Making of Federal Coal Policy (1983). A book critical of federal mineral policy and advocating reform is Public Domain—Private Dominion: A History of Public Mineral Policy in America (1985) by Carl Mayer and George Riley.

On Alaskan issues, see Frank Willis', Do Things Right the First Time: The National Park Service and the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980 (1985). Gary Stein discusses the Alaska state land selection program in "Promised Land": A History of Alaska's Selection of Its Congressional Land Grants (1987).