Speak Out for Parks and Public Lands!
What happens outside a park's borders can dramatically impact the air, water and wildlife inside the park itself. Some public lands surrounding our parks have been used for drilling, grazing and mining.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is on a mission to protect public lands. They manage 245 million acres a tenth of all public lands in the US. The health of our national parks depends on the health of BLM lands. A balanced approach to conservation, recreation and development of our public lands is critical to their long- term health. Your support for thoughtful planning and co-stewardship of our public lands will help ensure their resiliency for generations to come.
As a supporter of our national parks, I know how important it is for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands to be protected and conserved. I am glad to see your proposed rule is focused on bringing conservation in line with the other uses of BLM lands. I agree that we need to have a health standard for the public lands to ensure natural and cultural resources and low-impact recreation opportunities are preserved, and part of planning and all decisions made by the agency.
As our climate continues to change, connected resources like wildlife habitat and river corridors will be increasingly important and require more management attention. I appreciate that the proposal provides a clear definition of an intact landscape which will lead to better planning in future decisions. The proposal should also lead BLM to actively designate areas where development is restricted or prohibited including Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and Wilderness Study Areas.
The BLM must be an agency of conservation action and resilience if we are going to maintain natural ecosystems and cultural landscapes across the country. I believe this proposed rule makes that possible.
Thank you for considering my views.
