Speak Up to Keep Your Voice in Wildlands Planning

People often think of grazing and resource extraction when they think of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in the west. We are lucky enough in Northern California  to have wild lands and critical wildlife habitat under BLM management, along with a local (Arcata) BLM staff with an appreciation of wild forests and rivers and a drive to work with environmentalists to craft protective management plans. However, that collaborative spirit could change—those changes coming from Washington DC.

The Senate is considering a resolution—S.J. Res 15—to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s “Planning 2.0” land-use planning rule, which gives the public a voice in large-scale planning for public lands. If the resolution is passed, public input in the management of our public lands would be drastically limited. The U.S. House of Representatives already voted in favor of the resolution, and the Senate will be voting any day. Senators need to hear from us that we value our public lands and should have a say in how these lands are managed.

The BLM manages over 15.2 million acres in California, with 86,000 acres in Humboldt County, where familiar wild places like the King Range National Conservation Area and the Headwaters Forest Reserve are. Besides a part of the California Desert Conservation Area managed for habitat, the BLM manages 87 Wilderness Areas and 72 Wilderness Study Areas and 204 “Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.”

Northern California BLM Field Offices are currently undergoing their Resource Management Plan updates for 20-25 years out, working to create a more regional approach for Northwest California planning, in the Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan.

Please send your comments to the email addresses below, or call:

Senator Feinstein’s office: Kenneth_Rooney@feinstein.senate.gov 202-224-3841

Senator Harris’s office: Nicole_Burak@harris.senate.gov 415-355-9041 and 202-224-3553