Conservation & the Bureau of Land Management | Pew & This American Land (Short Version)

Описание: The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) oversees 246 million acres of the nation’s public land—from ecologically diverse southwestern deserts, to panoramic red rock country, to the sage-steppe, to Alaska’s boreal forest.

Originally, the intent was to develop these lands for oil, gas, and mining, as well as use them for their range land resources. In recent decades, however, there has been an evolution in response to public opinion. Hunters, fishermen, hikers, campers, and more outdoor enthusiasts all enjoy these public lands. As a result, the BLM is placing more emphasis on conservation.

More video and facts on the Pew Charitable Trusts’ America’s Western Lands project: http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/projects/...

TRANSCRIPT:

[John Stansfield speaking]
My wife Carolyn and I love to hike here in Beaver Creek on the wild south slope of pike's peak in central Colorado. My name is John Stansfield. I'm a writer and an outdoorsman. Across the West, there are many areas like Beaver Creek that have lots of wilderness quality. They are administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

[Ann Morgan speaking]
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency in the Department of the Interior. They manage 245 million acres of public lands, along with all of the resources to go along with that—the wildlife, the wilderness, the minerals. My name is Ann Morgan, and I'm a public lands consultant. It's everything from red rock deserts, to high mountain peaks, to old growth forests, to parts of the California coast.

[Ken Rait speaking]
Originally, the intent was to dispose of these lands and to develop them for oil, gas, mining, and to use them for their range land resources. And only really in the 1970's did that all change. My name is Ken Rait, and I'm the Director of the U.S. Public Lands program at The Pew Charitable Trusts.

[Ann Morgan speaking]
The evolution is in response to the public's love of these resources. The more people that are recreating on public lands, that are hunting and fishing and camping, the more the BLM is going to pay attention to the people who are recreating on the public lands.

[Elena Daley speaking]
There are as many different opinions on what constitutes multiple use and sustained yield as there are people out there to tell you about them. And, so from a mining company's perspective it means one thing, for the person who wants to hike in the quiet and solitude it means something else. My name is Elena Daley, and I am currently retired from the Bureau of Land Management. The Bureau's attitude is much more one of a team working together. And if you're going to do a project, you bring in the wildlife biologist, the archaeologists, and the hydrologist, and make sure that you're looking at a piece of land for all it contains. Using it doesn't necessarily mean abusing it.

[Mark Squillace speaking]
My name is Mark Squillace. I'm professor of law at the University of Colorado law school. If I had to point to one particular thing that really changed the BLM, it was the establishment of the National Landscape Conservation system. This was a program that was put into place by then Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt. And it was really a remarkable idea.

[Bruce Babbitt speaking]
We decided it really was time to establish a conservation mission within the Bureau of Land Management.

[Mark Squillace speaking]
Some landscapes, it's going to make perfect sense to allow oil and gas development. Other landscapes may have some important recreational or wildlife resources, including things like endangered species or important cultural sites that should be protected.

[Ann Morgan speaking]
In America we are so blessed with our public lands. You don't have to be wealthy to go out and go camping, horseback riding, or hiking in some of the most beautiful places in the entire world. Where in other parts of the world that's all privately owned, you have to be a king or friend of the King in order to enjoy that. We're all royalty in United States because these lands are available to all of us, and it is an incredible world treasure.