PUBLIC LANDS: BLM solicits input to increase recreation access

Todd Ockert

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Kellie Lunney, E&E News reporter Published: Friday, January 24, 2020
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The Bureau of Land Management is asking for public input on lands it should open up to public access. Jennifer Yachnin/E&E News
The Bureau of Land Management is seeking input on public land where access is limited or absent to help the agency carry out a key part of a 2019 conservation and recreation law.
See: https://www.blm.gov/press-release/bureau-land-management-seeks-help-increasing-access-public-lands
The BLM notice asks for recommendations from the public by Feb. 29 to put together its first priority list of lands lacking access for hunting, fishing and other recreation. The John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act, a major public lands package signed into law last March, directed the agency to produce such a list (E&E News PM, March 12, 2019).
The agency will post its list online by March 12 and will update it every two years for at least the next decade. The public nomination period opens Jan. 31, at which time BLM will open an ePlanning website to accept input.
Lands nominated must be BLM-managed, comprise at least 640 contiguous acres and have significantly restricted or no public access.
"Recommendations from the public will aid the BLM in creating a report to Congress that provides options for reasonably providing access to such lands, such as by acquiring an easement, right-of-way or fee title from a willing owner," according to a BLM press release.
Acting BLM chief William Perry Pendley said the agency welcomes "information from the public that will help us pinpoint barriers to access" public lands for recreation activities.
The notice soliciting feedback from the public on lands that need better access is standard. The release called putting in place the Dingell Act a "top priority" for Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.
Nominations to BLM's ePlanning website must include the location of the parcel, total acreage affected and a description of the lack of access. The agency said it would not provide any personal identification information about owners in the priority list or congressional report.

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