The 2011 CAPE Awards. Celebrating Milestones in Conservation for our Public Lands

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1 The 2011 CAPE Awards Celebrating Milestones in Conservation for our Public Lands In 2011 we started to see some of the inspired and celebrated policies put forth last year hit the ground in places The Wilderness Society is dedicated to protecting. From changing the way energy development moves forward on the public lands to inventorying and preserving lands with wilderness characteristics, stewardship of our joint public estate is improving all over the West. The BLM Action Center is proud to present the 2011 CAPE Awards a top ten list of this year s greatest moments for the spectacular landscapes managed by the BLM. It s our way of saying thanks to the BLM staff, our partner groups and citizen activists who are keeping it wild. The Comparative Analysis of Particular Excellence (CAPE) rating system, inspired by the superhero like character of the Action Center team (able to leap tall stacks of RMPs in a single bound), ranges from one CAPE on the low end (worth a pat on the back) to five CAPEs on the high end (HUGE PROGRESS!!! WAY TO GO!!!). 1. Lander Draft RMP Strikes a Balance (4 CAPEs) Recipient: Lander Field Office The Lander Field Office s Draft RMP contains several innovative measures to protect sage grouse, national historic trails and other important resources from the impacts of energy development. Two measures are particularly worthy of recognition. The first the Beaver Rim Master Leasing Plan (MLP) would protect unique and sensitive geologic, visual, wildlife and Native American values through a combination of lease stipulations, phased leasing and development requirements and other surface occupancy restrictions. This MLP approach could serve as a model for other BLM offices using this new tool. Under the second measure, the BLM would protect a well preserved, 95 mile segment of the California, Mormon Pioneer, Oregon and Pony Express National Historic Trails by designating the South Pass Historical Landscape Area of Critical Environmental Concern and the related Heritage Tourism and Recreation Management Corridor. These designations are significant both because they are designed to preserve not only the physical traces of the trails, but also their historic settings, and because BLM is deliberately attempting to establish favorable precedent for the management of other historic trails. The designations operate by prohibiting or severely limiting visual intrusions, such as oil and gas wells and transmission lines, within five miles of the trails, and also limit visual intrusions outside of five miles if they will contrast more than weakly with the historic landscape surrounding the trails.

2 The Lander Draft RMP has proposed important conservation measures to protect wildlife and recreation while continuing to provide for energy development. In the preferred alternative, over 96 percent of the field office is open to oil and gas leasing, which shows that conservation and development are not mutually exclusive goals, but certainly leaves room for improvement by actually closing lands to protect other natural resources and uses of these valuable public lands. We encourage the BLM to improve the preferred alternative, and in doing so provide a useful model to other field offices grappling with similar issues. 2. BLM Releases 15 year Strategy for National Landscape Conservation System (4 CAPEs) Recipient: BLM NLCS Office Now in the second decade of the National Landscape Conservation System s history, we are thrilled to see the BLM s release of its new 15 year strategy, which will guide land management efforts for the Conservation Lands to The BLM's strategy proudly sets forth strong goals and concrete actions for the sound management of the extraordinary landscapes that make up our National Conservation Lands. The strategy acknowledges the BLM s commitment to conservation excellence by stating that conservation is and will be the highest priority for the management and planning of the lands within the Conservation Lands. It also emphasizes an ecosystembased approach to land management of the Conservation Lands in the context of the broader landscape. Additionally, the strategy recognizes the need to raise awareness internally within the BLM and externally with the American public about the values and benefits of the Conservation Lands. We are particularly impressed with the strategy s requirement that each BLM state office must develop a state strategy for the Conservation Lands. These statewide plans, tiered to the national strategy, are a powerful opportunity for the Conservation Lands to take a prioritized place in the BLM s work. We are delighted that the BLM has drafted and released a stellar 15 year strategy for the National Landscape Conservation System. This is a crucial step towards making the Conservation Lands the nation s most innovative system of protected public land, but the implementation of the strategy and the drafting of statewide strategies must occur immediately to ensure the protection of the natural, cultural, and historic resources of our Conservation Lands. Dominguez Canyon, courtesy Colorado Environmental Coalition

3 3. Greater Grand Canyon Gets a Reprieve from Mining (4 CAPEs) Recipient: Secretary Ken Salazar This year BLM issued a final environmental impact statement that proposes to prohibit new mining claims on more than one million acres of federal land within the Grand Canyon watershed in northern Arizona. The proposed mineral withdrawal would last 20 years, and is intended to protect the natural, cultural, and social resources of the Greater Grand Canyon landscape from environmental damage caused primarily by uranium mining. The Grand Canyon, one of the West s most iconic landscapes, has been impacted in the past by historic uranium and copper mining. Mining can potentially contaminate the watershed with toxic tailings, imperiling an invaluable water resource for western communities and ecosystems that thrive on the Colorado River. It also poses risks to cultural resources, wilderness values, recreation opportunities and wildlife habitat, among the many other important resources and values of this beloved and vulnerable landscape. We are outright delighted that Secretary Salazar has selected the most protective alternative for preventing destructive mining activities in the Grand Canyon watershed. We hope this decision is finalized quickly and the Obama administration pursues a more permanent closure to mining in the Grand Canyon landscape. 4. States Begin Implementation of the Oil and Gas Leasing Reforms (3 CAPEs) Recipients: Colorado, Wyoming and Utah State Offices Last year, the BLM Action Center awarded three CAPEs to the BLM Washington DC Office for issuing a series of reforms designed to restore balance to the onshore oil and gas leasing program. One year later, we are pleased to report that, on the whole, the reforms are working. Leasing has been more focused on appropriate places, and field offices have been deferring leasing in wilderness quality lands and important habitat for imperiled species such as sage grouse. As a result, in spite of claims to the contrary by the oil and gas industry, the number of protested leases has declined significantly under the reforms, due to the vastly improved decision making process and additional opportunities for public involvement. In addition, the BLM is currently moving forward with the preparation of Master Leasing and Development Plans (MLPs) for seventeen landscapes in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming where significant conflicts exist between proposed oil and gas activity and the protection of lands with wilderness characteristics, critical wildlife habitat and other important resources. If finalized in accordance with the guidance, the MLPs should provide those resources with enhanced protection through measures like phased and clustered development, while also

4 providing oil and gas companies with greater certainty about where and how leasing and development can proceed. The reforms are restoring balance to the onshore oil and gas leasing program. However, the BLM must take additional steps in the coming months and years to ensure their continued success. In particular, it is critical that the BLM issue final guidance to the field on preparing MLPs and develop MLPs that are in keeping with the spirit of the reforms. 5. Rangers Lead by Example in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument (3 CAPEs) Recipient: Monument River Rangers One of the best ways to visit Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument is by canoe, floating down the historic waters and taking note of the beauty and wildness of the area while tracing the footsteps of ancient people and the famous Lewis and Clark expedition. Unfortunately, motorized boating has increased in recent years and is dramatically impacting visitors who wish to explore the Monument and Wild and Scenic River without the disturbance to visitors and wildlife that is caused by this use. One innovative strategy to help alleviate the problem has come from the BLM river rangers. These rangers are voluntarily patrolling the river with non motorized boats as well as discussing this choice with visitors that they contact along the way. The rangers are using a best management practice to lead by example. Sunrise in the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument, courtesy Phil Hanceford We applaud the river rangers for using non motorized canoes on their patrols and taking it upon themselves to discuss this controversial issue with visitors. While this is a good initial strategy on the part of the rangers, BLM should take further action to address the broader problem of impeding access to a quiet recreation experience in the Monument and Wild and Scenic River.

5 6. Supplement to Draft Solar PEIS Helps Guide Projects to Low Conflict Areas (3 CAPEs) Recipients: Ray Brady, Linda Resseguie, Shannon Stewart Continuing the BLM s efforts to facilitate environmentally responsible solar development on public lands, in October 2011 the agency published a Supplement to the Draft Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Supplement). Intended to address many of the recommendations that the BLM received in over 80,000 public comments on the Draft PEIS, the Supplement further underscores the agency s focus on solar development in low conflict zones on public lands. The Supplement is a step in the right direction, providing flexibility to responsibly grow the solar program as well as additional certainty that good solar projects will get permitted and built and that key wildlands and wildlife habitat will be protected. Key modifications to the BLM s proposed solar plan for the six southwestern states include a greater focus on guiding projects to zones through incentives for development within zones and establishment of a process for designating new zones in the future. Applications made outside of zones would also be required to follow a variance process that puts the burden on project applicants to demonstrate that there are no options for siting their project within nearby zones. Variance applications must also show that proposed sites are lowconflict, have existing transmission access, and take special precautions to limit impacts to sensitive species such desert tortoise and greater sage grouse. We are pleased to see the BLM moving forward with a zone based program for solar development on public lands, and we will be submitting comments with additional recommendations for improvement to the Supplement for the January 27, 2012 deadline. Needed refinements include protecting Citizen Proposed Wilderness areas by making them unavailable for development and ensuring that the solar program is enduring by writing policy changes into land use plan amendments. A number of policy decisions and analyses have also been deferred to the Final PEIS, so it is critical that the BLM provide a 60 day comment period when the Final is published. We welcome the proposed improvements to the BLM solar program through the Supplement, and look forward to providing additional recommendations in our comments. We are committed to working with the agencies and stakeholders to help put in place by fall of 2012 an environmentally responsible solar energy program for public lands that meets our clean energy needs and protects our most important wildlands and wildlife habitat.

6 7. Cascade Siskiyou National Monument Draft Communication Site Plan A Plan for a Monument (2 CAPEs) Recipient: CSNM Management Staff BLM released a draft plan for the Communication Site on Soda Mountain that would protect the Monument from development that could diminish the natural and recreation values of this ecological wonder. The Communication Site, which existed at the time the National Monument was designated and therefore is a valid existing right within the Monument, would be managed with the explicit long term goal to restore the site to a natural condition, consistent with the Presidential Proclamation that established the Cascade Siskiyou National Monument. The BLM has acknowledged its authority over ongoing use of this area, as well as its overarching obligation to protect the values of the Monument. Before permitting renewal, modification or reconstruction of existing uses, BLM will now require applicants to: clearly demonstrate that no feasible off Monument alternatives exist for placement of facilities; analyze any technological advancements that could obviate the need for the facility altogether; and analyze any technological advancements that could reduce the footprint and the visual and other impacts of the facility. A communicate site is not consistent with managing this biological crossroads. If the BLM stands by its commitment to move communication facilities out of the Monument, and acknowledges the surrounding Soda Mountain Wilderness, then it will be moving toward a healthier Cascade Siskiyou National Monument and a model plan. 8. Draft Plan for the Sonoran Desert Uses Innovation to Address Management Concerns (2 CAPEs) Recipient: Lower Sonoran Field Office and Sonoran Desert National Monument Staff The Draft RMP for the Lower Sonoran Field Office and Sonoran Desert National Monument was released this August. This plan will help guide the management of 1.4 million acres of BLM land in southern Arizona for the next two decades. Among the proposed management prescriptions was a novel designation for wildlife movement corridors that connect the Sonoran Desert National Monument with important wildlife habitat areas in the Lower Sonoran Field Office. The Draft also contains an analysis of resource sensitivity to renewable energy development and the

7 Sonoran Desert National Monument, courtesy Phil Hanceford Sonoran Desert National Monument, courtesy Phil Hanceford identification of areas as Prohibited/High sensitivity/moderate sensitivity/low known sensitivity for development a critical concept for the protection of wildness and wildlife habitat while permitting development in appropriate zones. Finally, the Draft RMP evaluates the impacts of recreational target shooting within the Sonoran Desert National Monument and the proposed alternative would prohibit this resource damaging activity (while continuing to provide hunting opportunities) within the Monument due to the numerous impacts to natural and cultural resources. BLM s use of innovative planning tools in the Draft RMP should be carried forward to the final document. There is still much work that needs to be done within the draft until we can award BLM for the entire plan. For instance, BLM has not complied with current guidance for inventorying and designating lands with wilderness characteristics and BLM should analyze and choose the minimum route network that is necessary for the management of the monument to be consistent with the Proclamation creating the monument and the 15 Year Strategy for the National Landscape Conservation System. 9. New Travel Planning Manual Requires an Interdisciplinary Approach (2 CAPEs) Recipient: BLM National Recreation Office One of the biggest threats to natural, cultural and quiet recreation resources on public lands has long been the historic lack of management of off road vehicles and motorized route proliferation. In recent years BLM has begun to address this issue through resource management plans that restrict cross country vehicle use and put in place comprehensive transportation management plans. This year, BLM released a new travel and transportation management (TTM) manual that clarifies and improves motorized vehicle management on public lands. Importantly, the new TTM manual commits to an interdisciplinary approach that considers impacts to all resources from the travel network and requires BLM to address the full range of various modes of travel on public lands, not only motorized access needs. The manual also specifies that BLM should not designate primitive roads in lands managed to protect wilderness characteristics, should not designate large off road vehicle play areas, and should complete travel management plans for National Conservation Lands that incorporate provisions from the designating proclamation or legislation.

8 TTM is an essential component of land use planning that impacts all of the resources which BLM is responsible for stewarding. The new manual provides much needed direction for ensuring that travel planning is completed at a landscape level and minimizes ORV impacts on natural resources and other users. We expect all field offices to implement the manual immediately, especially in the National Conservation Lands, where the manual directs that travel management plans must be amended if necessary to incorporate the establishing proclamation or legislation. 10. Canyons of the Ancients National Monument Reduces Damage from Routes (1 CAPE) Recipient: CANM Staff Canyons of the Ancients National Monument in southwest Colorado contains the highest known density of archaeological sites in the United States. In addition to the spectacular cultural resources, the monument is also home to a diverse population of wildlife including the long nosed leopard lizard, peregrine falcons, and Gambel s quail. In order to protect these important resources and to reduce habitat fragmentation and other negative impacts from motorized use, the 2010 travel management plan for the monument closed redundant, damaging, or unnecessary routes. This year, BLM took action to implement its management decisions on the ground. With the help of Southwest Conservation Corps, a total of 16 miles of routes were obliterated or hidden from plain sight using natural vegetation and materials found within the monument. Seeds were also spread along closed routes to allow for the natural reclamation of native plants. No heavy machinery was used. BLM hopes to complete the work implementing the travel plan by next summer. We celebrated the Canyons of the Ancients travel management plan for protecting Monument objects and aspiring to implement the mission of our National Conservation Lands. The partnership between BLM and Southwest Conservation Corps is an excellent example of the agency working with local communities to affect real change on the ground.

9 Honorable Mention These projects are headed in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done! We hope to see these honorable mentions make the top ten list next year and earn some CAPEs. Bighorn Basin Draft RMP Starts Strong but Falls Short on Wilderness Quality Lands Recipient: Bighorn Basin RMP Planning Team We were extremely pleased to see that the BLM had identified over 570,000 acres of lands with wilderness characteristics (LWCs) in the Bighorn Basin planning area. This figure is significantly higher than what the BLM had previously identified, and is consistent with the requirements of current policy on conducting wilderness inventories. However, the Draft RMP preferred alternative would protect less than 53,000 acres of LWCs. The final plan must protect significantly more wilderness quality lands in the proposed alternative. Furthermore, the BLM must include more detailed MLPs for the Absaroka Beartooth Front, Bighorn Front and Fifteen Mile area in the Final RMP, since the BLM only included a brief discussion of the MLPs in an appendix to the draft plan. BLM Provides Needed Policy Guidance for Wind and Solar Development; Good Implementation is Key Recipient: Mike Nedd, Assistant Director, Minerals and Realty Management Responsible development of renewable energy on public lands has been a top priority of the Department of Interior and the BLM in recent years, starting with Secretary Salazar s 2009 Secretarial Order on the topic and following through the ongoing efforts to put in place a comprehensive solar program through the Solar PEIS. While the BLM has also made impressive strides in permitting new wind and solar projects, lack of key guidance and a consistent approach has led to difficulties for proposed wind and solar projects as well as wildlands and wildlife habitat protection. To address this issue, the BLM issued three Instruction Memoranda (IMs , 60, and 61) with additional wind and solar permitting guidance in February The IMs are a valuable addition to the agency s toolkit, with guidance on NEPA analysis, due diligence, pre application meetings and site screening. While these IMs do provide needed guidance, additional training and follow through throughout the agency is needed to ensure robust implementation. For example, while some BLM state and field offices have successfully eliminated speculative applications from companies without the technical or financial capabilities to permit, build and operate a project, others have not, and less progress has been made in removing applications in high conflict areas. We have provided detailed recommendations to the BLM on how to maximize the effectiveness of these IMs through implementation and additional policy improvements via the Solar PEIS, and hope to see continued improvements from the agency.