Bureau of Land Management Director Tracy Stone-Manning and other officials Thursday outlined to staffers next steps and a timeline for implementing the sweeping new public lands rule, acknowledging that it could take years to fully incorporate all the rule’s provisions.
Stone-Manning and others promised the rule will be implemented in a deliberate fashion when it goes into effect on June 10. This will include a “preliminary suite of implementation guidance” developed by “interdisciplinary and intra-organizational teams” to help guide staff, said Brian St. George, BLM’s deputy assistant director of resources and planning.
The rule kicks off major changes in how BLM approaches oversight of the 245 million acres it manages. Highlights include involving Native American tribes and Alaska Native corporations as “co-leads” in project reviews, such as environmental impact statements, and proactively protecting parcels that have been nominated, but not approved, for conservation, agency officials said during the internal online webinar late Thursday that E&E News was able to listen to.
“In the face of incredible challenges like climate change,” Stone-Manning told staff, “our responsibility here at BLM to manage one in 10 acres in this country has never been more vital. So that’s why this rule is so timely.”
