A new Bureau of Land Management policy gives hope to unprotected wild lands thought the western United States.  

In December of 2010, Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed an order which helps BLM protect lands with wilderness characteristics. This action was a long-overdue acknowledgment that wilderness is an important value on public lands. The new policy replaces the Bush era ‘no more wilderness policy’ which favored development of our public lands over preservation.

A hiker enjoying fall in Maverick Canyon photo © Brandon Jett

In Colorado, there are nearly 700,000 acres of BLM land that could be impacted by this policy, including citizen-proposed wilderness areas such as Big Ridge with its critical wildlife habitat, Kings Canyon’s sculpted red rock canyons, Maverick Canyon’s famous Juanita arch, and many others.

The policy restores balance to the management of public lands by recognizing the value of quiet-use recreation, wildlife habitat, unpolluted creeks and streams, and untrammeled landscapes and allowing the BLM to recognize the importance of those within its multiple-use mandate.

The order makes sure the BLM will be looking over the lands it controls on a regular basis, and -- if any of them have the unique qualities that make them eligible for wilderness, the BLM can now recommend that those lands be protected.

The old ‘no more wilderness’ policy was a result of a controversial out-of-court settlement between then-Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and the state of Utah in 2003; as a result the BLM has been without comprehensive national guidance on how to identify and manage unprotected wilderness.

Protecting wild lands is vital to the health of the economy, showing immense tangible benefits at the local, state, regional and national level. According to a report commissioned by the Outdoor Industry Foundation, the active outdoor recreation industry contributes an estimated 6.5 million jobs to the economy, as well as $730 billion annually to the US economy. Wild lands are key to our quality of life, and are recognized as fundamental to the American experience.

More specifically the new policy directs the BLM to:

• Maintain a current inventory of lands with wilderness characteristics.
• Maintain a database of all lands with wilderness characteristics.
• Ensure all management and planning consider wilderness characteristics.
• Develop recommendations for potential designation into the National Wilderness Preservation System.
• Submit a report within six months on the plan to consider wilderness characteristics in existing land use plans.

More information
The Secretarial Order
The Draft Policy
Q and A document
DOI News Release

Some Editorials
Salt Lake Tribune
Denver Post