The Bureau of Land Management has issued its final planning rule — which is commonly called Planning 2.0 — and the National Association of Conservation Districts has issued a statement of concern. The organization submitted comments on the proposed version of the planning rule in May 2016. The group acknowledges that while BLM made improvements to the rule in its final form, it remains "concerned the regulation inadequately acknowledges the critical importance of local involvement in the planning process."

In a press statement, Lee McDaniel, NACD president, commented: "We commend the BLM for rising to the challenge and taking on a tremendously important topic: local participation in the management of public lands. That said, we are still concerned the final Planning 2.0 rule does not adequately foster local stakeholder participation in the planning process."

He noted that the new rule would require all land management plans used in the agency's planning process to be approved by local, state or tribal governments. As a group representing thousands of local entities, McDaniel noted that this approach is a resource-intensive and time-consuming approach, and approving the plans under the new rule would be a disincentive to local participation.

"In the past, local governments with policies and programs for public lands management were included in the BLM's planning process, but now, unless they have an 'official' plan, these entities won't be able to participate at the same level,"

NACD also expressed disappointment in its statement that the final rule will not undergo a National Environmental Policy Act assessment, and it did not include a comprehensive update to the protest procedures.

There are two areas that the group sees as improvements to the rule. First, BLM raised the minimum durations for public comment periods on draft Environmental Impact Statements and Resource Management Plans from the proposed rule.

It also designated BLM state directors the default "deciding officials" on multistate projects on BLM-managed land, allowing the BLM representative "with the most intimate, local knowledge of the project area to manage the planning process."

In the statement, Jeremy Peters, NACD CEO, commented: "The BLM set out to increase local involvement in the planning process with this rule, and in part, has delivered on that mission." He noted that NACD believes a comprehensive, locally led strategy is "the best approach to public lands management and will continue to work with BLM to enhance local governments' contribution to the planning process."

Source: National Association of Conservation Districts