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- Essay Name : 494.txt
- Uploader : Spencer
- Email Address :
- Language : English
- Subject : Environmental Awareness
- Title : Management of the BLM's Public Land System
- Grade : B+
- School System : Iowa State University
- Country : United States
- Author Comments : Papers covers problems with todays laws, and some solutions
- Teacher Comments : Good sources, and support for topics
- Date : 11-2-96
- Site found at : A Web search.
- --------------------------------------------------------------
- Management of the BLM's Public Lands System
-
-
- The government has control of over one-third of the nation's land, and 398 million
- acres of that is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM 6). This land hold a
- wide diversity of resources, from timber, and grazing lands found on the surface to a mass
- of oil, natural gas, and minerals laying below the earth. The history of these lands is
- hardly a dull story, because it is the story of the taming of the "Wild West". Should the
- BLM though, still be controlling these lands under the same laws that where put in affect
- to establish the "Western frontier". I feel that a radical reevaluation of these laws needs to
- take place, on order to adapt them to the changing demographic and technological
- environment of our society. The laws that are remaining are allowing companies to hurt
- the land, which is against the mission statement of the BLM.
- The BLM mission statement say, the Bureau is responsible for the balanced
- management of the public lands and resources and their various values so that they are
- considered in a combination that will best serve the American people. Management is
- based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield; a combination of uses that
- takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and
- nonrenewable resources. These resources include recreation, land, timber, minerals,
- watershed, fish and wildlife, wilderness, and natural, scenic, scientific and cultural values.
- (BLM 7). Therefor by allowing these old laws to remain they are pulling away from there
- mission statement.
- Throughout the 80's the Bureau of Land Management developed a host of
- programs and emphasized a number of others - outdoor recreation, wildlife and fisheries,
- toxic materials management, and wetland enhancement, to name a few - but there are still
- many problems that must be addressed.
- Due to the increasing demand for outdoor recreation, there has been an
- overcrowding in our local, state, and national park. There is the demand for BLM to do
- more in outdoor recreation. Eight of the 10 states with the highest population growth
- between 1970 and 1980 were states with substantial acreages of public lands administer by
- the BLM. (BLM 12) The visitation to those lands has increased nearly three-fold in the
- past 20 years, and there is an expected increase of between 40 and 60 percent by the year
- 2000. (BLM 12) The amount of people that visit our park system each year is having a
- profound effect on the ecosystem of the park. An ecosystem can only absorb the effects
- of a small number of man made facilities on it. The number of large complexes that the
- public wants in their parks have effects that extend beyond there immediate boundaries.
- Yellowstone Park has to dispose of nearly 7000 tons of garbage every year. (Houston 3)
- The BLM needs to expand efforts to maintain facilities to protect public investments and
- the health and safety of the visiting public. Also, provide additional facilities with Federal
- funding and private sector concessions to meet the growing outdoor recreation demands.
- This would allow more destinations for the public that are seeking an outdoor experience,
- causing the crowding to become less dense because the users would be more widely
- distributed. Setting more public lands aside for parks would preserve that land for the
- future, because a park on BLM lands would require a greater on-the-ground presence, to
- monitor its use.
- A problem that is closely related to that of outdoor recreation, is providing a
- suitable habitat for the large diversity of animals that lives on the BLM's Public Lands
- System. Many of these animals are available to the hunter, trapper and fisherman; some
- are threatened or endangered; most contribute to the pleasure of wildlife viewing; all
- contribute to the ecological diversity of the Public Land System. (BLM 14).
- With so much land under the control of the BLM, the bureau manages more
- wildlife habitat than any other agency or group in the United States. The wide diversity of
- lands that is under their control supports over 3,000 species of animals and an untold
- number of land and invertebrate species.
- Public lands wildlife and fisheries resources are important to the American
- Economy. For instance, during the 1985-1986 season, over 5 million hunter use days
- occurred, with hunters spending an estimated $145,000,000. As for fishing there where
- over 3 million days at an estimated $55,000,000 spent by fishers. (BLM 14). Wildlife also
- contributed to enjoyment of the public lands for millions of campers, hikers,
- photographers and other users. These "Nonconsuptive" users spent over 230 million
- hours on the public lands ands waters during the 1985-1986 season. The money put into
- the system by these "Nonconsuptive" users was estimated at around $200,000,000.
- Surely it can easily be seen the economic value of wildlife, but there is also an
- indescribable entrinsic value that can be given to them to. But improving habitat for
- wildlife improves more then just the wildlife, it helps out the whole ecosystem. For
- instance wetland habitat improvements for wildlife also improve water flow and water
- quality for downstream users. Vegetative manipulation projects intended to improve big
- game forage also improve livestock forage and watershed conditions. So it should be
- easily seen that habit improvements for the sake of wildlife would be not only a profitable
- change, but also an environmentally sound change.
- Another change that needs to occur on Federal Lands is a change of the General
- Mining Law of 1872 which was passed while the West was still being settled. The 1872
- mining law opens most public lands for mining if prospectors find gold, silver, copper or
- other valuable hardrock mineral deposits. The laws goal was to encourage the region's
- development, Congress offered public lands for the taking by enterprising homesteader,
- stockmen, miners and loggers. (Arrandale 531) The frontier closed a century ago, but the
- law still remains. On May 16, 1994 Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt was forced by
- the mining law to sell 1,949 acres of federal lands in Nevada to a Canadian-based mining
- company. The land that was sold held a gold supply of an estimated $10 billion. Surely
- the deeply indebted United States Government would prosper from a sale of that much
- gold, but by law the government was forced to sell it for $5 and acre. The government
- received less then $10,000 for the deal. (Arrandale 531)
- In relation to the mining law the government does not require the miners to restore
- mined site once the minerals are gone, preventing wastes from polluting surrounding lands
- and nearby streams. Former Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall says, " The hardrock
- mining industry has traditionally been able to 'externalize' costs, as economist say, simply
- by abandoning its played-out mines rater then reclaiming them." (Arrandale 534) The fact
- that there is 500,000 abandoned mines, proves that is true. These mines are polluting 32
- states because of the use of the new "heap leaching" technology that uses cyanide
- solutions to extract gold from ore. The EPA is now spending $40,000 a day to control
- cyanide leaking form a Summitville Colo., gold mine that a mining company abandoned.
- (Arrandale 534).
- I feel that the United States Government needs to amend the mining law, so that it
- can address some of the previously mentioned problems. I feel that companies should be
- allowed to remove viable minerals but I they should have regulations placed on them. The
- U.S. Supreme Court and state courts have upheld state regulations of oil and gas
- operations to prevent waste. (Kusler 147) Since minerals are of a fixed supply I feel that
- they should be regulated for future use. The mines that do extract a predetermined
- amount of minerals, would also be required to restore the sight back to the natural state of
- the land. Not only would they be required to return the surface of the land, but also the
- underlying ground, so as it is not polluted. But they would not receive this land for a mere
- $5 and acre, I propose that they be charges a curtain percentage of the gold removed as
- rent for the land, for as long as they mine the land. Upon incorporation of all of these
- laws, which none of the current mines would be excempt from, I feel there would be a
- reduction of mines. With less mines mineral supplies would be preserved, and the price of
- minerals would go up, returning profit to the remaining mines, and supporting the
- government.
- Another area of the land managed by the BLM is rangeland. Since rangelands
- account for nearly 162 million acres of public land the nation's rangelands are a vast
- source of renewable resources. Among many other values the range supports about 4
- million head of livestock which is an important element in the economic well-being of
- many rural communities and the almost 20,000 operators who depend on public land
- grazing to support them.
- BLM is principally seen by the public as manager of the public rangelands. The
- approval from the public for the BLM then is mostly related to their management of the
- grazing lands. Support for the BLM is basically based on the management and conditions
- of the range lands that are under their control. So the BLM sets below-market livestock
- grazing fees and loose federal regulations of how ranchers mangage sheep and cattle on
- public lands. Ranchers now pay $1.98 per "animal unit month"(AUM)- enough forage to
- feed one cow and a calf, five sheep or a horse for a month. On the other hand privately
- owned ranges in the West leased for nearly five times that amount, an average of $9.25
- per AUM. (Arrandale 534) Having fees this low give an incentive for the rancher to put
- more animals out to graze on the deteriorating land. Why graze one cow on private land,
- when you can graze at least four on government land. Of course this is the classic
- Tragedy of the Commons. Why should the ranchers care is they are destroying the public
- lands when they can move to a more productive spot when their land is destroyed.
- Because of this taxpayers spend millions of dollars subsidizing the damage of public
- lands.
- Clearly grazing does belong on public lands, because if done correctly you are
- simply harvesting a natural renewable resource. But when you allow money hungry cattle
- ranchers to graze as many cattle as they please, you begin destroying the land. So I feel
- that there should be an environmental assessment of the grazing lands, to determine a
- sustainable AUM for the land, to insure there is no more further damage sustained by the
- land. Once this is determined you can charge them a fair price that is competitive with the
- price of private land. This way the government could produce more revenue for it self,
- while again protecting the land.
- These are just a few of the changes that need to occur on the public lands. And
- some simple and broad solutions to the problems. You could not even start to give all of
- the issues and possible solutions for a single one of the problems that I addressed in a
- paper of this length. But for an overall solution the government needs to redefine it's
- older laws, so that the government can have better control over public lands. Included
- with the changing of the laws would be a price increase for the resources that the
- government is basically, at the present time, giving away. When this occurs it may help
- with the huge debt of the country, and by different means then taxing the common people
- of the country. This would require the rich mining companies, to actually pay for the gold
- that they are removing from the ground. And with all these regulations in place, and strict
- guidelines to the extent of extraction of natural resources, the environment, and
- ecosystems will improve.
-
-
- Arrandale, Tom. "Public Land Policy." CQ Researcher 28 (1994): 531-540.
-
- Beatley, Timothy. Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy and Planning. Baltimore: John
- Hopkins UP, 1994.
-
- Houston, Douglas. "Ecosystems of Natinal Parks." Science 172 (1971): 648-651.
-
- Kusler, Jon. Regulating Sensitive Lands. Cambridge: Ballinger, 1980.
-
- United States. Bueau of Land Management. Issues for the 90's., 1989.
-
- Wondolleck, Julia. Public Lands Conflict and Resolution: Managing National Forest
- Disputes. New York: Plenum, 1988.
- Management of the BLM's Public Lands System
-
-
- The government has control of over one-third of the nation's land, and 398 million
- acres of that is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM 6). This land hold a
- wide diversity of resources, from timber, and grazing lands found on the surface to a mass
- of oil, natural gas, and minerals laying below the earth. The history of these lands is
- hardly a dull story, because it is the story of the taming of the "Wild West". Should the
- BLM though, still be controlling these lands under the same laws that where put in affect
- to establish the "Western frontier". I feel that a radical reevaluation of these laws needs to
- take place, on order to adapt them to the changing demographic and technological
- environment of our society. The laws that are remaining are allowing companies to hurt
- the land, which is against the mission statement of the BLM.
- The BLM mission statement say, the Bureau is responsible for the balanced
- management of the public lands and resources and their various values so that they are
- considered in a combination that will best serve the American people. Management is
- based upon the principles of multiple use and sustained yield; a combination of uses that
- takes into account the long-term needs of future generations for renewable and
- nonrenewable resources. These resources include recreation, land, timber, minerals,
- watershed, fish and wildlife, wilderness, and natural, scenic, scientific and cultural values.
- (BLM 7). Therefor by allowing these old laws to remain they are pulling away from there
- mission statement.
- Throughout the 80's the Bureau of Land Management developed a host of
- programs and emphasized a number of others - outdoor recreation, wildlife and fisheries,
- toxic materials management, and wetland enhancement, to name a few - but there are still
- many problems that must be addressed.
- Due to the increasing demand for outdoor recreation, there has been an
- overcrowding in our local, state, and national park. There is the demand for BLM to do
- more in outdoor recreation. Eight of the 10 states with the highest population growth
- between 1970 and 1980 were states with substantial acreages of public lands administer by
- the BLM. (BLM 12) The visitation to those lands has increased nearly three-fold in the
- past 20 years, and there is an expected increase of between 40 and 60 percent by the year
- 2000. (BLM 12) The amount of people that visit our park system each year is having a
- profound effect on the ecosystem of the park. An ecosystem can only absorb the effects
- of a small number of man made facilities on it. The number of large complexes that the
- public wants in their parks have effects that extend beyond there immediate boundaries.
- Yellowstone Park has to dispose of nearly 7000 tons of garbage every year. (Houston 3)
- The BLM needs to expand efforts to maintain facilities to protect public investments and
- the health and safety of the visiting public. Also, provide additional facilities with Federal
- funding and private sector concessions to meet the growing outdoor recreation demands.
- This would allow more destinations for the public that are seeking an outdoor experience,
- causing the crowding to become less dense because the users would be more widely
- distributed. Setting more public lands aside for parks would preserve that land for the
- future, because a park on BLM lands would require a greater on-the-ground presence, to
- monitor its use.
- A problem that is closely related to that of outdoor recreation, is providing a
- suitable habitat for the large diversity of animals that lives on the BLM's Public Lands
- System. Many of these animals are available to the hunter, trapper and fisherman; some
- are threatened or endangered; most contribute to the pleasure of wildlife viewing; all
- contribute to the ecological diversity of the Public Land System. (BLM 14).
- With so much land under the control of the BLM, the bureau manages more
- wildlife habitat than any other agency or group in the United States. The wide diversity of
- lands that is under their control supports over 3,000 species of animals and an untold
- number of land and invertebrate species.
- Public lands wildlife and fisheries resources are important to the American
- Economy. For instance, during the 1985-1986 season, over 5 million hunter use days
- occurred, with hunters spending an estimated $145,000,000. As for fishing there where
- over 3 million days at an estimated $55,000,000 spent by fishers. (BLM 14). Wildlife also
- contributed to enjoyment of the public lands for millions of campers, hikers,
- photographers and other users. These "Nonconsuptive" users spent over 230 million
- hours on the public lands ands waters during the 1985-1986 season. The money put into
- the system by these "Nonconsuptive" users was estimated at around $200,000,000.
- Surely it can easily be seen the economic value of wildlife, but there is also an
- indescribable entrinsic value that can be given to them to. But improving habitat for
- wildlife improves more then just the wildlife, it helps out the whole ecosystem. For
- instance wetland habitat improvements for wildlife also improve water flow and water
- quality for downstream users. Vegetative manipulation projects intended to improve big
- game forage also improve livestock forage and watershed conditions. So it should be
- easily seen that habit improvements for the sake of wildlife would be not only a profitable
- change, but also an environmentally sound change.
- Another change that needs to occur on Federal Lands is a change of the General
- Mining Law of 1872 which was passed while the West was still being settled. The 1872
- mining law opens most public lands for mining if prospectors find gold, silver, copper or
- other valuable hardrock mineral deposits. The laws goal was to encourage the region's
- development, Congress offered public lands for the taking by enterprising homesteader,
- stockmen, miners and loggers. (Arrandale 531) The frontier closed a century ago, but the
- law still remains. On May 16, 1994 Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt was forced by
- the mining law to sell 1,949 acres of federal lands in Nevada to a Canadian-based mining
- company. The land that was sold held a gold supply of an estimated $10 billion. Surely
- the deeply indebted United States Government would prosper from a sale of that much
- gold, but by law the government was forced to sell it for $5 and acre. The government
- received less then $10,000 for the deal. (Arrandale 531)
- In relation to the mining law the government does not require the miners to restore
- mined site once the minerals are gone, preventing wastes from polluting surrounding lands
- and nearby streams. Former Interior Secretary Stewart L. Udall says, " The hardrock
- mining industry has traditionally been able to 'externalize' costs, as economist say, simply
- by abandoning its played-out mines rater then reclaiming them." (Arrandale 534) The fact
- that there is 500,000 abandoned mines, proves that is true. These mines are polluting 32
- states because of the use of the new "heap leaching" technology that uses cyanide
- solutions to extract gold from ore. The EPA is now spending $40,000 a day to control
- cyanide leaking form a Summitville Colo., gold mine that a mining company abandoned.
- (Arrandale 534).
- I feel that the United States Government needs to amend the mining law, so that it
- can address some of the previously mentioned problems. I feel that companies should be
- allowed to remove viable minerals but I they should have regulations placed on them. The
- U.S. Supreme Court and state courts have upheld state regulations of oil and gas
- operations to prevent waste. (Kusler 147) Since minerals are of a fixed supply I feel that
- they should be regulated for future use. The mines that do extract a predetermined
- amount of minerals, would also be required to restore the sight back to the natural state of
- the land. Not only would they be required to return the surface of the land, but also the
- underlying ground, so as it is not polluted. But they would not receive this land for a mere
- $5 and acre, I propose that they be charges a curtain percentage of the gold removed as
- rent for the land, for as long as they mine the land. Upon incorporation of all of these
- laws, which none of the current mines would be excempt from, I feel there would be a
- reduction of mines. With less mines mineral supplies would be preserved, and the price of
- minerals would go up, returning profit to the remaining mines, and supporting the
- government.
- Another area of the land managed by the BLM is rangeland. Since rangelands
- account for nearly 162 million acres of public land the nation's rangelands are a vast
- source of renewable resources. Among many other values the range supports about 4
- million head of livestock which is an important element in the economic well-being of
- many rural communities and the almost 20,000 operators who depend on public land
- grazing to support them.
- BLM is principally seen by the public as manager of the public rangelands. The
- approval from the public for the BLM then is mostly related to their management of the
- grazing lands. Support for the BLM is basically based on the management and conditions
- of the range lands that are under their control. So the BLM sets below-market livestock
- grazing fees and loose federal regulations of how ranchers mangage sheep and cattle on
- public lands. Ranchers now pay $1.98 per "animal unit month"(AUM)- enough forage to
- feed one cow and a calf, five sheep or a horse for a month. On the other hand privately
- owned ranges in the West leased for nearly five times that amount, an average of $9.25
- per AUM. (Arrandale 534) Having fees this low give an incentive for the rancher to put
- more animals out to graze on the deteriorating land. Why graze one cow on private land,
- when you can graze at least four on government land. Of course this is the classic
- Tragedy of the Commons. Why should the ranchers care is they are destroying the public
- lands when they can move to a more productive spot when their land is destroyed.
- Because of this taxpayers spend millions of dollars subsidizing the damage of public
- lands.
- Clearly grazing does belong on public lands, because if done correctly you are
- simply harvesting a natural renewable resource. But when you allow money hungry cattle
- ranchers to graze as many cattle as they please, you begin destroying the land. So I feel
- that there should be an environmental assessment of the grazing lands, to determine a
- sustainable AUM for the land, to insure there is no more further damage sustained by the
- land. Once this is determined you can charge them a fair price that is competitive with the
- price of private land. This way the government could produce more revenue for it self,
- while again protecting the land.
- These are just a few of the changes that need to occur on the public lands. And
- some simple and broad solutions to the problems. You could not even start to give all of
- the issues and possible solutions for a single one of the problems that I addressed in a
- paper of this length. But for an overall solution the government needs to redefine it's
- older laws, so that the government can have better control over public lands. Included
- with the changing of the laws would be a price increase for the resources that the
- government is basically, at the present time, giving away. When this occurs it may help
- with the huge debt of the country, and by different means then taxing the common people
- of the country. This would require the rich mining companies, to actually pay for the gold
- that they are removing from the ground. And with all these regulations in place, and strict
- guidelines to the extent of extraction of natural resources, the environment, and
- ecosystems will improve.
-
-
- Arrandale, Tom. "Public Land Policy." CQ Researcher 28 (1994): 531-540.
-
- Beatley, Timothy. Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy and Planning. Baltimore: John
- Hopkins UP, 1994.
-
- Houston, Douglas. "Ecosystems of Natinal Parks." Science 172 (1971): 648-651.
-
- Kusler, Jon. Regulating Sensitive Lands. Cambridge: Ballinger, 1980.
-
- United States. Bueau of Land Management. Issues for the 90's., 1989.
-
- Wondolleck, Julia. Public Lands Conflict and Resolution: Managing National Forest
- Disputes. New York: Plenum, 1988.
-
- --------------------------------------------------------------
-