Document KGDn6okgVq2E114MMB9JGpa0r

BLM Planning Ideas and Suggestions Brief planning overview Every State varies greatly from other states even adjoining states as a result of state and county laws, economy, weather, resources, needs, population and interests. Therefore, each state and county is unique and must be considered in that light. One size does not fit all. Land Use Planning Suggestions An advisory council should be created for each planning area to provide counsel and advice during the planning period. The council should be made up of county officials and resource interests found in the planning unit. This council could be available to analyze monitoring results and recommend changes as needed once the plan has been completed and implemented. Each interest or use of the public lands must be thoroughly considered. These interests must be considered through a process where the interest is represented by someone selected or elected by the particular interest. Otherwise, many individual opinions will be presented that will not represent the local need or the public as a whole. Many counties do not have the resources to be fully engaged in a planning effort. Therefore, counties should be assisted to include natural resources in their county plans. Counties have to consider services and safety for all living in the county and those coming to visit. Therefore, their planning needs are broader than the planning needs on the public lands. BLM should provide natural resource data and use to the counties for inclusion in their county plans. A culture should be developed in BLM around monitoring of the planning decisions where adjustments can readily be made where actions implemented are not meeting objectives. Planning decisions should not be implemented until monitoring methods are implemented at the same time. Monitoring results should be made available once they have been evaluated and determined to be accurate. The planning process should be very simple. A complex process will lengthen the preparation time and confuse the public. Planning regulations should be plain and clear. All executive orders should be reviewed and eliminated where local involvement may be restricted due to the directions of the order. Planning regulations should not be made at the Washington level. They should be made at the state levels with built in flexibility to meet the individual state and county situations. Planning objective should be developed from FLPMA/other laws and regulation to be refined by the individual planning advisory councils. This will ensure that the plan meets the needs of all public land users. 1  Both large and small populated counties in the west are highly dependent on the public lands for their economy and everyday lives. Any change to the current structure can be devastating to the lifestyle that has been created over the years. This must be a consideration in any planning process that is not readily seen at the Washington level or BLM state level where they are required to follow the laws and regulations that do not reflect the local needs. Therefore, planning regulations must be developed from the bottom up and not the top down or the local needs will be restricted. 2