The Bureau of Land Management continues to move swiftly to adopt management plans for federal lands that emphasize protecting natural and cultural resources.
BLM on Friday unveiled proposed plans for managing two national monuments covering more than 600,000 acres in New Mexico and parts of Oregon and California that would add new conservation designations but also allow other uses like livestock grazing and off-highway vehicle use.
The first proposed plan, outlined in a draft environmental impact statement, is the largest, covering the nearly 500,000-acre Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument in southern New Mexico. It would be the first management plan for the monument since former President Barack Obama designated it in 2014.
The second proposed plan covers roughly 115,000 acres in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, which is located in southwest Oregon and northwest California.
