In the final year of the Obama Administration, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released proposed new rules that would govern how the agency develops and implements management plans on over 240 million acres of land.  Titled “Planning 2.0,” the agency described their effort as one to modernize the planning process; however, the proposed rules significantly reduce the role of local governments in the management of the federal lands.

American Stewards of Liberty organized a Coalition of Governments to develop comments on the rules, and later, helped six counties and a soil and water conservation district file a case challenging the rules (Kane County, UT v. DOI).  Fortunately, Congress passed H.J. Res 44, a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act signed into law by President Trump.  The bill repeals the planning rules.

Included in the comments and complaint filed by the coalition is an in-depth analysis of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act coordination requirement (43 U.S.C. Sec. 1712(c)(9)) that should be studied by those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Congress’s direction to the federal agency.

The petitioners in the suit were Kane County, Utah, Big Horn County, Wyoming, Chaves County, New Mexico, Custer County, Idaho, Garfield County, Colorado, Modoc County, California and the Dona Ana Soil and Water Conservation District in New Mexico.  The case and comments were prepared by Norman James with Fennemore Craig, in Phoenix, Arizona.