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

Dear Director Abbey:

The Public Lands Foundation (PLF) wishes to commend you and Secretary Salazar for the revised approach regarding the study and eventual protection of lands with wilderness characteristics that was just announced by the Secretary. We believe that engaging all stakeholders, as you’ve publicly stated was your intention from the beginning, is the right way to go. This change should eliminate the maelstrom that followed the December policy announcement and allow BLM managers to build bridges with local governments and probably lead to more mutually acceptable wilderness designations. We wish to express our strong interest in participating as an interested party to help develop recommendations regarding the management of BLM lands with wilderness characteristics.  

The PLF is a national nonprofit, all volunteer membership conservation organization dedicated to the management of the National System of Public Lands under the requirements of FLPMA.  

The PLF has a shared interest in managing the public lands for the benefit of our communities and for future generations, and in a sensible manner as the Secretary has directed.  We are keenly aware of the complexities and contentiousness of this issue and would like to help you work towards balancing the many sides of this issue.

The PLF has a wide variety of expertise on the subject of wilderness characteristics, the mandates of land use inventory requirements, and the highly technical aspects of wilderness characteristics, and Wilderness.  Our membership has worked at all levels of the BLM organization on this topic:  in the field completing inventories and land use plans, at the policy and management level in districts and state offices, and at the national policy level in Washington D.C

Please feel free to contact me to discuss this matter, and let me know how we can advance this dialogue and contribute focused expertise on the topic.

Sincerely,

/S/ Henri Bisson
Henri Bisson, President
 

Cc:  David Hayes, Deputy Secretary
       U.S. Department of the Interior
       1849 C Street, N.W.
       Washington, D.C. 20240