As part of its effort to implement the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management and Recreation Act, the BLM will publish a priority list of land access issues and invite the public to review the list.
The BLM is seeking public assistance in nominating lands managed by the agency on which the public is allowed to hunt, fish, or use the land for other recreational purposes, but to which there is currently no legal public access or where access is significantly restricted.
The public nomination period to identify parcels for inclusion on the BLM’s priority list will open on January 31, 2020 and will close on Saturday, February 29, 2020.
Pubic recommendations will be utilized by the BLM in creating a report to Congress which will give options for reasonably providing access to such lands.
The nominations may be submitted to the BLM via the Bureau’s ePlanning website.
According to a BLM press release, “All lands nominated for inclusion on the BLM’s priority must be managed by the BLM, encompass at least 640 contiguous acres and have significantly restricted or have no public access. BLM must also consider the likelihood of resolving identified access issues when determining whether to include parcels on the list. When submitting nominations, the public must include the location of the nominated land or parcel, total acreage affected (if known), a description or narrative describing the lack of access, and any additional information the BLM should consider when determining if the land should be on BLM’s priority list.”
BLM will not include any personally identifying information concerning owners or ownership of any parcels in preparing the priority list or related congressional reports.
The BLM plans to post its first priority list online at ePlanning website by Thursday, March 12, 2020.
The list will be updated every two years for at least the next decade. The public nomination period to identify parcels for inclusion will be published prior to the release of the future priority lists.
To monitor the progress of this, and other issues important to hunters across the nation, sign up for SCI’s Hunters Advocacy Action Center today!
