Public Lands And Natural Resources Update

Van Ness Feldman's Public Lands and Natural Resources Update

is a regular summary of noteworthy policy, regulatory, and

litigation developments relating to federal lands and natural

resources. To receive the Update via email, please

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NATURAL RESOURCE POLICY

Department of the Interior's Allotment of Stimulus

Funds

Interior to receive $3 billion under the 2009 American Recovery

and Reinvestment Act

Congress's economic stimulus package allocated $3 billion to

be spent by the Department of the Interior (DOI), including $1

billion for the Bureau of Reclamation, $750 million for the

National Park Service, $500 million for the Bureau of Indian

Affairs, $320 million for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), $280

million for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and $140

million for the U.S. Geological Survey. Secretary Salazar has

established a Recovery Act Task Force to determine which proposed

projects should be funded, and appointed a "Recovery

Czar" to oversee DOI's implementation of the program.

Although projects have not yet been determined, many are likely to

reflect the Secretary's emphasis on renewable energy and energy

efficiency, youth programs, and protection of national icons and

landscapes. Recovery activities can be tracked at www.recovery.gov.

2009 Public Land Management Act

President Obama Signs Omnibus Land Bill Codifying the National

Landscape Conservation System and Designating Two Million Acres of

Wilderness

On March 30, 2009, President Obama signed the Omnibus Public

Land Management Act of 2009 (Public Land Management Act), which,

among other things, designates two million acres of wilderness area

in nine states, and codifies the establishment of the National

Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) within the BLM. The NLCS,

originally created by BLM in 2000, consists of over 26 million

acres of National Conservation Areas, National Monuments,

Wilderness Areas, Wilderness Study Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers,

and National Scenic and Historic Trails, for the purpose of

conserving, protecting and restoring nationally significant

landscapes. The Public Land Management Act provides a congressional

stamp of approval on this originally administratively-created

program, with only the broad directive that NLCS be managed

"in a manner that protects the values for which the components

of the system were designated," and provides only limited

protection for certain types of recreation in specified areas.

Among many other provisions, the Act also establishes thousands of

miles of new wild and scenic rivers, provides for grants to

compensate ranchers for livestock predation to wolves, and

prohibits further oil, gas and geothermal leasing and mining near

the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Energy Development on Public Lands

Secretary Salazar Outlines Renewable Energy Policy and

Announces 2009 Oil and Gas Lease Schedule - Forest Service to

Designate Energy Corridors

On March 11, Secretary of the Interior Salazar issued Order No.

3285, Renewable Energy Development by the Department of the

Interior, where he indicated that "[e]ncouraging the

production, development, and delivery of renewable energy is one of

the Department's highest priorities," and he established a

task force to develop strategies for the development and

transmission of renewable energy from appropriate areas of public

lands and on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Secretary Salazar

again echoed this theme during his March 17, 2009 testimony before

the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The Department

of Energy, and DOI are currently promulgating a Programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) to evaluate utility-scale

solar energy development in six western states (Arizona,

California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah). This dovetails

with congressional proposals to encourage and facilitate

transmission siting, including potentially on public lands. In

addition, Secretary Salazar extended the public review period for

the draft 5-year oil and gas leasing program for the OCS. The

Secretary also announced the 2009 oil and gas lease schedule, which

includes at least four major lease sales. And, while the Secretary

has withdrawn leases that were offered on 77 parcels of U.S. public

land in southern Utah, DOI has indicated that it will offer a

second round of research, development, and demonstration leases for

oil shale in Colorado and Utah.

On March 24, the U.S. Forest Service published a notice in the

Federal Register that it will designate approximately 990 miles of

energy corridors on National Forest System lands in 10 Western

States, "as the preferred location for oil, natural gas, and

hydrogen pipelines as well as electricity transmission and

distribution lines." This will be accomplished by revising 38

Forest Service land management plans throughout the west. In the

March 24 notice, the Forest Service also indicated it will adopt

BLM's "coordinated, interagency permitting and

environmental compliance process."

Endangered Species Act

Obama Administration Likely to Act Soon on the Bush

...