September18, 2009

Bob Abbey, Director
Bureau of Land Management
1849 C Street, NW (Room 5665)
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Director Abbey:

I am writing on behalf of the Public Lands Foundation (PLF) to thank the Bureau of Land Management and the Department of the Interior for the action taken to place the BLM-administered lands into a National System of Public Lands.   The PLF has long advocated for this type of designation to give recognition to the vital role that the BLM lands play in the economies and communities in the West, and to help ensure the permanence of this National real estate asset.   We are elated that this has finally been accomplished.

We now ask the Bureau to take the next step of giving distinctive names and boundaries to the individual blocks and areas of BLM’s National Public Lands.  

Historically, the BLM lands have been the ranching, mining, energy producing, and logging areas for rural Western communities.  These uses continue to be important, but the BLM lands have now become the open space and outdoor enjoyment areas for the populations in the urban areas of the rapidly growing West.   Most of the general public in the West now values these “National Public Lands” in terms of the wide range of outdoor enjoyment experiences these lands provide.  The problem is that most of the National Public Land areas do not appear on road maps because they have no official names or boundaries.  It is difficult for the public to know where the lands are located and what they are called. 

The National Monuments, National Conservation Areas, Wilderness Areas and other units of the BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) illustrate how powerful names and boundaries are in building support for land management programs.  The remaining 220 million acres of BLM’s National Public Lands remain anonymous and largely invisible to the urban publics who are major users of the BLM lands. 

Giving distinctive names and establishing boundaries for National Public Land areas would enhance their public identity, make it easier for the public to find and use these lands, and strengthen Bureau’s ability to manage the public uses.  It is time to do it and the general public would welcome it.

The Public Lands Foundation is a nonprofit national organization incorporated in 1987 to support keeping public lands in public hands, embracing multiple use management of BLM lands as prescribed by FLPMA, and following sound environmental principles.  We are a membership organization whose members are predominantly retired former employees of the BLM.  As such, our membership represents a broad spectrum of knowledge and experience in public land management.

Sincerely,

George Lea, President