George Lea
President
Public Lands Foundation               

Thank you Mr. Chairman for this opportunity to present your committee with our views on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) budget request for FY 2010.  As a national, non-profit organization principally of retired but still dedicated former BLM employees, the Public Lands Foundation (PLF) has a unique body of knowledge, expertise and experience in public land management. As retirees, we believe we can now offer an objective and non-bureaucratic view of what is really happening to the public lands and suggestions for improvement.  It is important that the Committee understand that while we are supportive of BLM and its programs, we are not a “captive” of the Bureau and are independent in our views.  Our mission’s primary focus is on improving the condition of the land and its natural resources and keeping the public lands in public hands. We strive to improve the effectiveness of BLM by encouraging professionalism among employees and to increase the public’s understanding of and support for the proper scientific management of these lands.

Overview

It is significant to note that BLM administered lands will return more than $6.2 billion to the Treasury in receipts in 2009.  Yes that is not a mistake, but $6.2 billion, with 49% of the receipts returned directly to States and Counties to support roads, schools and other community needs.  We are unaware of any federal agency that returns such receipts compared with its budget.  In addition to 258 million surface acres, BLM also is responsible for 700 million acres of federal mineral estate throughout the nation.  That is nearly a billion acres of precious assets making BLM the largest steward of Federal lands.

At this point the President’s 2010 budget has not been released to the public. We therefore will comment on what we see as certain shortfalls in emphasis and/or the need for increased dollars in FY 2010 principally to increase staffing, in the following high priority programs, to enable the Bureau to adequately address urgent natural resources issues:

Personnel Needs

BLM’s budget is directed towards the work force requirements needed to put trained natural resource specialists on the ground to manage the land. BLM’s programs are labor intensive.  Any man-power or budget reductions will not only directly affect BLM’s ability to properly manage natural resources production and protect the public lands, but also would have a negative impact on the generation of receipts to the States, Counties and the US Treasury and in carrying out the President’s priorities.   Budgets often contain the false assumption that, with a smaller budget and fewer personnel the workload will decrease and less work needs to be accomplished.  That is not the case for natural resources management agencies.  It is the constant need to protect the land and the natural resources and the public’s increasing service demands that drive the budget requirements.  To demonstrate this constant need to protect the land, more than 22 million people live within 25 miles of the land the Bureau manages and the BLM lands have become the outdoor recreation playground of the West.  In 2009, over 58 million visitors are expected to participate in recreational activities on BLM lands. 

BLM has always been the forgotten “step-child” in the family of Federal land management agencies and has never had the personnel needed to match its responsibilities. Once again we believe the Committee needs to know the personnel needs of BLM and should encourage BLM to develop a five-year program to bring BLM’s work force to a level adequate to protect the resources and perform the work needed.

Renewable Energy Production

To avoid the “train wreck” that could prevent attaining this country’s goal of increased renewable energy production, there is urgent need to complete the Energy Development Zoning effort requiring increases in funding and manpower.   This inventory must precede any accelerated wind and solar energy permitting or rights-of-ways to reduce or eliminate the conflicts with other uses of the land.  We support the President’s goal of “Energy Independence”.  However, the President and the Congress needs to understand that there needs to be a paradigm shift in the way we do business.  For example, solar energy will require 100% of the land surface being denuded of vegetation.  BLM will be litigated at every turn with the normal EISs currently contemplated for these projects unless Congress modifies NEPA, for renewable and the transmission of renewable energy only, by requiring an Environmental Analysis (EA) not an EIS with a 30 day public comment period and waiver of any appeal. The US/Mexico border-fencing project is an example of the streamlining that may be required where I understand; the NEPA was waived in its entirety.

The following renewable energy projects are cost recoverable, however, BLM needs personnel ceilings adequate for project supervision, compliance checking, contract supervision, project management and environmental protection.

 Solar- Currently BLM has 220 pending solar ROW applications for about 1,786,950 acres of public land concentrated in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah with more to come. BLM and the   Department of Energy are jointly developing a programmatic EIS.  Meanwhile, BLM is continuing to accept applications.  Perhaps the largest impact of solar development farms is the fact that the photovoltaic collections completely dominate the land surface as a dominant use at the exclusion of all other uses.

Wind- Currently BLM has 243 pending wind and 178 authorized ROW applications for 177,256 acres.  In the US perhaps California and Wyoming are experiencing the fastest growth for wind energy production. A final Programmatic EIS on Wind Energy Development on BLM lands was prepared by BLM and the Department of Energy and the Record of Decision was signed on December 15, 2005.  This document identified Best Management Practices and mitigation measures that would need to be incorporated into project specific plans and stipulations.  This document also amended 52 BLM land use plans in nine of the states in the study area.  Any additional environmental analysis will be tiered to the programmatic EIS.

Geothermal Energy- BLM leases lands it manages and other Federal lands, including Forest Service lands for geothermal development and supervises operations of the leases.  In December 2008, BLM published the Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments for geothermal leasing in the western states making more than 190 million acres of federal lands available for leasing and potential development for geothermal energy.  The EIS anticipated a potential 5,500 MW of new electric generation capacity from resources in 12 western state, including Alaska by 2015.   It also estimates an additional 6,600 MW by 2025 for a total of 12,100 MW. Geothermal is a “hot” issue for BLM.  In Nevada, for example, a competitive geothermal lease sale in August 2008 brought in a record-breaking $28.2 million.  Half the revenue goes to the state, a quarter to the counties where the land is located and a quarter goes to BLM.

Bio Energy Production The BLM manages 69 million acres of forest and woodlands plus several million acres of brush.  Maintaining and restoring the health of these lands and providing forest products to contribute to biomass energy supply will require increased funding and personnel.  For example many millions of acres are being invaded by juniper forests requiring control/elimination efforts producing huge amounts of bio products and requiring a large manual/machine labor force

Oil and Gas Production and Accountability

According to recent DOI Inspector General and GAO reports there is a need to capture millions of US receipts from federal oil and gas production leases.  This effort will require additional funding and personnel for BLM to verify production reported by oil and gas operators to ensure there is no underreporting of produced oil or gas.

Legacy and Orphan Wells

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires BLM to inventory and to plug, abandon and reclaim the surface of abandoned federally drilled legacy wells (wells drilled by the government and not properly abandoned) and orphan wells which were drilled by operators whose bonds were insufficient to properly close the well and reclaim the site.   For example there are over 100 legacy wells in Alaska inventoried and ready to be plugged all requiring increased funding and manpower for contracting  the proper closure of these wells.

Abandoned Mine Lands Program

Abandoned hardrock mines pose significant health, safety and environmental hazards.  People increasingly are coming into contact with these formerly remote sites given population growth, sprawl and recreational use of off-highway vehicles in the western states.  Fortunately, potential risks to people, and costs to the government associated with possible tort claims and environmental lawsuits can be reduced significantly through implementation of an aggressive and well-coordinated AML program administered by the BLM along with its Federal and State partners.  The PLF is encouraged by the renewed priority and commitment by this Administration to address long-standing impacts of abandoned hardrock mines.  We encourage the Committee to provide funding so that the BLM can pursue a program that balances safety and environmental (clean water) priorities.  In addition, the PLF recommends that the Committee ensure adequate funding for the BLM to implement the recommendations of the July 2008 audit report by the Department of the Interior’s Office of Inspector entitled “Abandoned Mine Lands in the Department of the Interior.”   The PLF also is aware that the Administration and Congressional Leadership have set goals of Mining Law Reform and establishment of a permanent hardrock AML program and funding mechanism.  The PLF supports these efforts.

 Youth Education and Involvement 

The National System of Public Lands (BLM lands) provides an abundant opportunity to strengthen the ties between this country’s youth and the environment and natural resources conservation.   Many opportunities exist to expand the opportunities for youth education including internships to instill environmental awareness and accomplish a backlog of needed work at the same time.  Such needed work includes wildlife habitat improvement; recreational developments trail construction and maintenance, cultural resources protection and stabilization, stream improvement and range improvements.  In addition there is the need for timber stand improvement, wildlife habitat enhancement and invasive vegetation species control all of which would provide fuel sources for bioenergy production.  We encourage the Congress to provide BLM the funding and manpower to accomplish this needed work utilizing our youth.

Fire Fighting Funds

As the Committee knows BLM has historically borrowed funds from programs that carry over funds from year to year to pay fire fighting costs. The borrowed money is repaid through supplemental appropriations. This system has generally worked well. However, should these funds not exist, this would cause serious disruption of on-going programs. It is our understanding that the Forest Service has such a problem, as may other federal land management agencies. The procedures for funding fire suppression should be changed. The cost of funding fire suppression should be taken out of the agency’s budgets and made available by a separate fire suppression fund.

Wild Horses and Burros

We are certain members of the Committee are familiar with the serious dilemma BLM faces in keeping the wild horse and burro populations within the capacity of the habitat available for the animals and yet disposing of the unwanted and un-adoptable animals. The number of horses removed from the range far exceeds the number that can be sold or adopted.  As of June 2008, BLM was holding 30,088 animals in captivity and the estimated number out on the range was 33,105----5,886 over the Appropriate Management Level (AML) of 27,219.  Since 2001, over 74,000 animals have been removed from the range but only 46,400 (62%) have been adopted.  It is projected that the holding costs will account for 75% of the WH&B program’s budget in 2009. 

The adoption demand for wild horses has dramatically declined attributed to increased hay and fuel costs, the large number of domesticated horses flooding the market, general urbanization of rural areas, and a shift toward other forms of recreation. Compounding the problem, the last horse slaughterhouse in the U.S. closed in the fall of 2007.  Without these outlets more domestic horses are available to the public causing direct competition with BLM’s WH&B adoptions.

BLM must continue to managing the range to prevent overpopulation and exercise one or both of its options: 1) Destroy the animals, or 2) sell them without limitation. The October 25, 1978 Rangeland Improvement Act allowed for the destruction of excess, unadoptable horses.  BLM has a WH&B sales policy that directs the sale, without limitation, of excess horses or burros or their remains, if the animals are more than 10 years of age or have been offered unsuccessfully for adoption at least 3 times. Even though BLM has had the authority to destroy horses, BLM has not destroyed any animals since January 1982.  They have chosen not to destroy excess animals or sell them without limitation because of concerns about public and congressional reaction to large-scale slaughter of thousands of horses.  However unless some way is found to place in private ownership all of the excess animals removed from the public lands, BLM has to consider euthanization, but as a last resort.  We encourage the Committee to provide funding needed to keep the animal population in balance with the AML and be supportive of BLM when it becomes necessary to sell animals without restrictions

Urbanization of the National System of Public Lands
 

The National Public Lands managed by BLM are rapidly becoming the playground and the backyard to millions of our citizens.  Nearly 4,100 nearby communities rely on critical watersheds near the communities; an estimated 22 million people reside within 25 miles of BLM lands; and an estimated 58 million annual visitors combined with an increase in use of all-terrain an off-road-vehicles are all placing demands on the public lands and resources.  This increase in interest to visit and use these public lands requires a similar increase in funding for BLM for road maintenance, recreational maintenance and new developments, law enforcement, open space protection, and private/federal land exchanges.  In many places these urban lands are an important element of our Treasured Landscapes.

Mr. Chairman, we hope these comments for priorities for BLM’s FY 2010 budget request and our ideas for changes will be of value to your committee.  We remain sincere in our efforts to see the public’s land managed well.           

 /S/  George Lea, President. Public Lands Foundation