BACKGROUND
The paintings of Georgia O'Keefe exemplify the magnificence of the 264 million acres of public lands in the West managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Ecologically critical, these lands provide millions of acres of key big game habitat for antelope, elk, and other species, and habitat for 400 species of songbirds. An estimated 4 million archeological sites have been identified.

All-terrain vehicles, dirt bikes, dune buggies and other off-road vehicles (ORVs) increasingly threaten these public lands. Uncontrolled ORV use causes soil erosion, destroys plants, fills streams with sediment, spreads invasive weeds, and harms wildlife. To make matters worse, ORVs can go almost anywhere at great expense to the landscape. According to BLM's own data, ORV use is allowed in some form on approximately 93 percent of our public lands in the continental United States.

PROBLEM
A key catalyst that provokes damage is a lack of good information. The cornerstone of such information should be the Resource Management Plan (RMP), a comprehensive document that establishes management objectives for each land unit and provides the public with information so that, amongst other things, they can locate appropriate locations and routes to hike, bike, and use ORVs. This should include maps, signs, and other information. Yet, there are major problems. An instruction memorandum issued by the Utah State BLM Office on March 30, 2001 (UT 2001-050) illustrates the BLM's dilemma and responsibilities:

Limited resources have resulted in situations where there are no maps currently available to the public showing routes existing at the time of the RMP decision, and few or no signs on the ground identifying those "existing" routes. Obtaining compliance through enforcement actions is problematic since the public has no information as to what routes are available for [ORV] use … BLM recognizes the value of the [ORV] users' desire to know where they can or should ride and the emerging user ethic that cross country travel is no longer acceptable. The most effective management tool to assist users in riding responsibly will be to identify trails that BLM prefers [ORV] riders to use and encourage that use by providing maps, posting signs and maps, and emphasizing educational outreach for responsible user ethics.

CONGRESS HELPS BLM IMPROVE INFORMATION
In 2000, the BLM proposed and implemented an aggressive agenda to develop a new generation of RMPs for all of its public lands. RMPs are comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and long-range, guiding use and enjoyment of the land while "protect[ing] the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource, and archeological values" (43 U.S.C. § 1701(a)(8)). As part of its agenda, the BLM revised its planning policies to reflect new legal mandates, knowledge, and circumstances, establishing a schedule to revise and amend RMPs, and requesting significant increases in appropriations. Congress dutifully responded, appropriating nearly $25 million in fiscal year 2001 and $33 million in fiscal year 2002.

The BLM's commitment to RMP planning was sparked by a blunt admission to Congress that "the inadequacy of the BLM's aging and outdated [RMPs] and NEPA documents has left the Bureau ill-prepared to address areas with vulnerable, sensitive or at-risk resource values and increasingly exposed to litigation" (BLM Report to Congress, Land Use Planning For Sustainable Resource Decisions, p. 1 (2000) ("Report")). Out of 162 land use plans, only 21 could be considered current; 60 were deemed "significantly outdated" and 81 "quickly aging" (Report p. 13). ORV recreation was explicitly cited as a critical and pressing management issue to be addressed through a series of planning revisions and amendments to account for evolving legal interpretations, changing demands and resource conditions, and improved scientific knowledge (Report p.3). The BLM stated that "[i]ntensified controversy over OHV use is inevitable unless the BLM can revise or amend existing [RMPs] to reflect changes in regulations and public expectations" (Report p.8).

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS
Since the 1970's, ORV-specific Executive Orders and regulations obligate the BLM "to protect the resources of the public lands, to promote the safety of all users of those lands, and to minimize conflicts among the various uses of those lands" by designating areas and trails as "open," "limited," or "closed" to ORVs (43 C.F.R. §§ 8340.0-1, 8340.0-2). The regulations explicitly state that, "[t]he designation and redesignation of trails is accomplished through the resource management planning process" (43 C.F.R. § 8342.2(a)).

NOW, BLM IS TRYING TO DILUTE MANAGEMENT POLICIES
Unfortunately, the BLM is now ignoring these legal mandates and reneging on its commitment to resolve ORV issues through the planning process. Instead it is rushing the completion of many RMPs to speed up energy development and other use.

The BLM is proposing to amend its planning policies to dilute - and likely contradict - its legal obligation to specifically designate and identify ORV routes during resource management planning. The proposed amendment will allow the BLM to delay route designation into the future. This would intensify environmental impacts and unnecessarily defer the resolution of ORV management issues. This is to the detriment of the public, including the many responsible ORV users that seek clear guidance on where ORV use is and is not permitted.

The following examples demonstrate that BLM field offices are already misinterpreting laws, regulations, and policies. By amending its planning policies, the BLM is delaying needed protection from ORV abuse:

• Utah: the San Rafael Swell, a spectacular landscape with colorful rock formations and spectacular slot canyons, is one of the worst examples of dirt bike and other ORV abuse in Utah. In 1991, the Price Field Office completed an RMP that recommended setting aside areas to protect rare plant communities and scenic vistas by, in part, specifically designating ORV routes. The RMP required that designated routes would be specifically signed and marked on a map within two years to minimize the massive damage caused by ORVs because of the status quo "go-anywhere" policy. However, eleven years later - despite promises to complete the travel plan made by the BLM in the RMP and to conservation groups who brought litigation to hold the BLM to its promises - no routes have been designated and ORVs continue to wreck havoc on a fragile desert landscape. This exemplifies another missed opportunity to ensure balanced management that would allow all Americans to enjoy wild Utah; instead, the area is overrun with ORVs.
  
  
• Idaho: in 1999, after 10 years of planning, the Idaho BLM's Owyhee Field Office completed it's long awaited RMP. The RMP recommended designating ORV routes on most of the landscape, including the Owyhee Front where ORV routes criss-cross and dominate much of the landscape, threatening fragile soils, unique geologic formations, rare plant and wildlife habitat, and wild horse management areas. The BLM office "projected" an additional five years to complete route designations. To date, almost no information has been published regarding the agency's progress. In the meantime the RMP states that, "[u]ntil specific route designations have been established for an area, [ORV] use in that area will be limited to existing roads and trails." The term "existing roads and trails" legitimizes all routes that currently exist on the ground, including illegally created routes, and allows ORV use on those routes without fully considering environmental impacts. The interim management policies in place in the Owyhee Front perpetuate the problem rather than resolving it, thereby reflecting the urgent need for specific route designations during the comprehensive RMP process.

JOIN REP. HINCHEY'S EFFORT TO STOP THIS POLICY
Please consider signing Rep. Hinchey's letter to BLM Director Kathleen Clarke.