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Public Lands Department

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ADVOCACY RESOURCES
This page contains links to the Recreation Activist's Toolkit, the Rapid Response Center as well as a list of recreational links categorized by recreational interest.
BRC'S RECREATION NEWS
BRC's Recreation News is a snapshot of breaking news and issues by state, with links to the stories and commentary. BRC's public lands department staff scans the World Wide Web and the different media outlets in order to bring you the information about those issues that matter to you. BRC's Recreation News is the place to stay on top of the issues.
SAGE GROUSE ISSUE UPDATE
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are conducting massive land use plan amendments encompassing most BLM land in 10 Western states. Use this webpage as a key resource to track the administrative effort. BRC will continue to monitor and participate in travel planning in sage-grouse habitat, both to provide for recreation and protect natural resources.
SPECIAL RECREATION PERMITS
The recreation permit process as currently implemented on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (FS) managed lands is overly bureaucratic, expensive for both agencies and the public, and often applied in an unfair and arbitrary manner. Efforts to encourage the agencies to modify and streamline the process have failed, even when those efforts were supported by agency policy. The current SRP process no longer serves the public interest or supports the goals and objectives of land use planning. BRC is appealing to legislators to pass a bill that will modify and streamline the Special Recreation Permit / Special Use Permit to better serve the public interest and support the goals and objectives of land use planning.
ECONOMIC IMPACT STUDIES
This information comes from a number of different sources throughout the US and is a great source of information on the economic impact of Off Highway Vehicles and motorized recreation has on the economy.
BRC BOOK CLUB
Have you read any good books lately? Here is a list of books well worth spending some time reading. The page includes images and summary of books BRC's Public Lands Policy Director has read and wants to recommend.
NATIONAL FOREST MANAGEMENT - A CAUSE FOR CONCERN
We wanted to make an excellent article, originally printed in the Fall 2011 edition of the Ruffed Grouse Society Magazine, available to our members. The Ruffed Grouse Society, headquartered in Coraopolis, PA, is an organization whose members are mainly grouse and woodcock hunters who support national scientific conservation and management efforts to ensure the future of the species. In addition to their conservation and advocacy, the Ruffed Grouse Society is nationally known for some of the best conservation related journalism in print today. 
SEC. SALAZAR: LOST IN THE WILDERNESS
New Secretarial Order provides another formal designation; "Wild Lands," to lock the public out of public lands. One day before Christmas Eve, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced he had given the Wilderness activists one of the best Christmas presents they could have asked for: A Secretarial Order purporting to mandate new Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness inventories. The Order seems to suggest that for the BLM, Wilderness is now top priority.
NEW FOREST PLANNING RULE
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is in the process of revising their regulations that govern how the agency prepares Forest Plans. Known as the "Planning Rule," these regulations will be the driving force behind how the agency develops, amends and revises their Land Use Plans. The FS is proposing a planning rule that will shift what is left of any emphasis toward multiple use/sustained yield to such things as global warming, ecosystem management and their new buzz word - restoration.
UTAH LAND USE UPDATE
The Utah Land Use Update is a brief run-down of various issues affecting YOUR recreation and access to YOUR public lands in the great state of Utah. These include a litigation updates, Wilderness legislation and Bureau of Land Management updates.
THE TWIN INITIATIVES
The current administration is pushing two public lands initiatives: The Treasured Landscape Initiative and the America's Great Outdoor Initiative. It's probably safe to say they're part of the same whole. The TREASURED LANDSCAPE INITIATIVE  includes plans for new Wilderness areas, expanded National Parks and no less than 14 new National Monuments across 9 states! AMERICA'S GREAT OUTDOORS INITIATIVE - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW On April 16, 2010 President Obama signed a Presidential Memorandum that will radically reshape the U.S. Government's conservation policy. The Memorandum created the America's Great Outdoors Initiative which directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Council for Environmental Quality (CEQ) to coordinate with the Interior and Agriculture Departments of program to promote conservation and outdoor recreation.
FOREST SERVICE (FS)
This section contains the list of FS Websites with links to all the National Forest home pages broken down by state. The FS-TRAVEL MANAGEMENT section contains links to each on the National Forest's Travel Management websites, also broken down by state. The NEW MVUM SCHEDULE links to a by FS List of the New Travel Management Motor Vehicle Use Maps (MVUM) Schedule as of June 2009.
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT (BLM)
This section contains the list of BLM Websites with links to all the Bureau's home pages broken down by state. The UTAH RMP UPDATE  links to information about the six BLM Field Offices and their completed RMPs and Travel Plans.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE (NPS)
This is a direct link the National Park Service website where you can get information on National Parks and planning going on in your area.
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
Get regular updates on the Committee's weekly schedule by bookmarking this page.
GAO REPORT ON OHVS JUNE 2009
This last June, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report on, you guessed it, the rising use of OHVs on public lands. The report is titled: Enhanced Planning Could Assist Agencies in Managing Increased Use of Off-Highway Vehicles.