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revised BLM Manual 6310 (Conducting Wilderness Inventories on BLM Lands). The citizen-led inventory,

submitted as part of our comments on the BLM White River Field Offices RMP Amendment, confirmed

many conclusions of the BLMs initial efforts; however, it also identified numerous significant gaps in the

BLMs preliminary inventory, including the misidentification of boundary roads and the arbitrary

exclusion of qualifying acreage. This information was compiled into a report which proposed that 38

units totaling 322,000 acres met the criteria for lands with wilderness characteristics.

In a response to this citizens

inventory, and as an effort to

improve the quality of BLMs

own inventory and to better

meet current BLM policies,

the White River Field Office

conducted detailed field

inventories of the entire field

office in 2012 and 2013. Thisextensive effort to detail

existing on-the-ground

conditions included

informative photographs,

detailed maps, and objective

assessments of the

wilderness characteristics of

all the potential lands with wilderness characteristics in the field office. The result of this closer look

was a much-improved inventory which found wilderness characteristics in 35 units comprising around

304,000 acres.

The Little Snake Field Office also released updated lands with wilderness characteristics information in

2013. While there is still significant inventory work to be done in the LSFO, the manner and level of

detail with which the completed lands with wilderness characteristics inventory was presented to the

public on the field offices LWC webpage (http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/lsfo/plans/lwc.html)goes

above and beyond what has been released elsewhere in the state and provides a framework for how

this information should be presented in all BLM field offices. The LSFOs webpage includes detailed

inventory reports for over 50 potential LWC units. Each of these reports include a detailed map,

substantial photographic documentation, relevant route analysis forms, and thoughtful and objective

narrative describing and defending the determinations made by BLM on each units boundaries as wellas the presence or absence of wilderness characteristics located therein. Lands with wilderness

characteristics inventories contain large amounts of information and data, yet the Little Snake Field

Office has shown that this information can be simply and thoroughly presented to the public once it is

collected.

Looking into the Willow Creek WSA Additions LWC

Soren Jespersen

http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/lsfo/plans/lwc.htmlhttp://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/lsfo/plans/lwc.htmlhttp://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/lsfo/plans/lwc.htmlhttp://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/lsfo/plans/lwc.html

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The White River and Little Snake Field Offices have certainly earned their CAPEs for their efforts to

accurately identify and document the existing lands with wilderness characteristics within those field

offices. These field offices have created an example for other field offices in the state on how to conduct

detailed and objective lands with wilderness characteristics inventories and how to effectively present

the documentation for these decisions to the public. However, the BLM now has the responsibility to

ensure that these lands are protected and a balance is crafted between undeveloped lands open to

multiple uses and the single-use areas of intensive oil and gas development.

2. BLM Takes a Stand for Conservation in the Ironwood Forest NationalMonument (4 CAPEs)

Recipient: Claire Crow, Monument Manager

In March, BLM signed the Approved Resource Management Plan/Record of Decision for the Ironwood

Forest National Monument, a unit of the BLMs National Landscape Conservation System. Many of the

plans decisions provide the type of analysis and decision-making that prioritizes conservation over

other multiple uses, in line with the mission and policies for the National Landscape Conservation

System. For example, the plan designated roads for access into the Monument but left a majority of the

area as non-motorized to facilitate conservation and provide access to quiet use recreation

opportunities. In addition, due to the ongoing problem of vandalism to Monument resources from

recreational target shooting in the Monument, BLM undertook a scientific analysis of the use to inform

its management options. In the end, despite heavy political pressure, BLM stood by its scientific analysis

and findings leading the agency to prohibit recreational target shooting within the Monument, while still

permitting hunting with firearms in the area. It is this type of tough decision-making in favor of

conservation that sets the BLM on the path towards a stronger, more robust system of Conservation

Lands as originally envisioned when the National Landscape Conservation System was established.

Since the Ironwood Forest plan has been released, we have already seen improvements in conservation

efforts on-the-ground. Unfortunately, vandalism from recreational target shooting remains a major issue

in another nearby BLM Monument, the Sonoran Desert National Monument, where BLM did a similar

evaluation and came to similar conclusions as Ironwood Forest, but instead buckled to political pressure

and kept the status quo management regime for this use. We are currently working to overturn that

arbitrary decision in the Sonoran Desert National Monument and get the Monument back on track.

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3. Arizona BLM Finalizes Statewide Plan for Smart Solar and Wind Development(4 CAPEs)

Recipient: Kathy Pedrick, BLM Arizona State Office

In January the Arizona BLM published the Record of Decision for the Restoration Design Energy Project

(RDEP), a forward-thinking planning initiative that will help to guide and incentivize low-conflict

renewable energy development in Arizona. RDEP includes a statewide identification and prioritization

of previously disturbed and low-conflict lands appropriate for renewable energy development. This

proactive approach will help minimize negative impacts to sensitive wildlands andwildlife habitat and

will avoid and reduce conflicts between companies, government agencies and conservationists that can

result in costly project delays.

Developed in close coordination with the broader Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

(Solar PEIS) which was finalized in October 2012, RDEP provides a more detailed look at potential

development areas in Arizona. By analyzing potential low-conflict development areas across public,

private and state lands, BLM has effectively created a menu of good options from which developers can

choose from. In addition to screening out sensitive wildlands and wildlife habitat such as BLM-identified

Lands with Wilderness Characteristics, RDEP also provides incentives to developers who site their

projects in the low-conflict Renewable Energy Development Areas (REDAs) identified through the

process.

BLM has already seen some success in implementing RDEP the Maricopa Solar Park, proposed for a

REDA southeast of Phoenix, is now moving through the permitting process. Many of the requirements of

the Variance Process set out by the Solar PEIS for applications outside of Solar Energy Zones were met

because the application is in a REDA, allowing it to move efficiently through the Variance Process. We

look forward to working with BLM as it processes the Maricopa Solar Park application and we hope to

see more applications guided to low-conflict REDAs.

4. Regional Mitigation Guidance Provides a Landscape Approach to OffsettingImpacts (3 CAPEs)

Recipients: Jim Perry, Fluid Minerals Division; Matt Preston, NLCS Division

Historically, BLM has relied on project proponents to propose compensatory or offsite mitigation.

However, where damage to other public lands values and resources cannot be avoided or sufficiently

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minimized, such as when large-scale energy projects will occupy public land for decades, regional

compensatory mitigation is an important tool. In June of this year, BLM issued an interim regional

mitigation manual, which is effective immediately but can be refined based on comments.

The guidance issues a change in approach where BLM formally states that it can condition approval of

uses on sufficient off-site mitigation and provides detailed standards for designing appropriatemitigation. BLM will implement mitigation through overarching regional mitigation strategies (which will

be aimed at a landscape level vision), regional mitigation planning (to incorporate into plans), and

mitigation implementation (where requirements are incorporated into project approvals). By looking at

a landscape approach to design effective mitigation and ensure mitigation benefits other resources,

including lasting as long as those other resources are affected, BLM can develop a more strategic and

successful approach to incorporating compensatory mitigation into land management.

Secretary of the Interior Jewell just issued Secretarial Order 3330 on Improving Mitigation Policies and

Practices of the Department of the Interior and we look forward to BLM supporting her goals for

balancing energy and conservation by finalizing and implementing this manual.

5. Master Leasing Plans Officially Incorporated into Planning Handbook (3CAPEs)

Recipient: Minerals and Realty Management Office

One of the more progressive concepts put forth in the Obama administrations 2010 oil and gas leasing

reforms is a new Bureau of Land Management planning tool called Master Leasing Plans (MLPs). MLPs

provide a mechanism for BLM to develop a detailed plan for leasing and development across a

landscape where there are conflicts with other resources such as recreation, lands with wilderness

characteristics or wildlife values. These plans are developed through public input processes and

establish a smart from the start approach to oil and gas development on public lands.

While we applauded the MLP concept when it was introduced, implementation has been inconsistent

across BLM field offices and completely lacking in some places. Thats why we were glad to see BLM

issue more specific guidance with Instruction Memorandum 2013-101 and incorporate it into the

agencys Planning for Fluid Mineral ResourcesHandbook (H-1624-1) as Chapter V. The guidance provides

clear direction on the purpose for MLPs, stating that MLPs provide a framework and vision for how oil

and gas development will proceed within a specific area. The guidance also establishes resource

conditions objectives and resource protection measures as required elements of MLPs.

We are excited to see BLM incorporate Master Leasing Plans into the agencys Planning Handbook,

making a strong statement that this important tool is here to stay. Well continue encouraging BLM to

implement the new guidance in the many ongoing planning processes throughout the west with large oil

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and gas components. The Beaver Rim MLP in the Lander Resource Management Plan and the Carter MLP

in the Miles City Resource Management Plan are two examples where BLM is already moving forward

with this framework. We hope to see RMPs such as Grand Junction, White River and Rock Springs follow

suit.

6. BLM Completes Milestone on Road to Fixing West-Wide Energy Corridors (2CAPEs)

Recipient: Lucas Lucero and Joshua Hanson, BLM D.C. Office

Like guiding wind and solar projects to low-conflict areas, finding the right places for transmission lines is

a common sense approach. BLM completed an important milestone on that path in July by publishing

plans and agreements defining how BLM, Forest Service and the Department of Energy will re-evaluatethe West-wide Energy Corridors (corridors).

This type of landscape-level approach was one of the drivers for the original network of 6,000 miles of

corridors for pipelines and power lines across the west. Unfortunately, the original corridors designated

by the Bush administration in 2009 did not meet these goals. They included areas inappropriate for

development, such as the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico and the entrance to Arches

National Park in Moab, Utah. The 2009 corridors also failed to create pathways to carry renewable

energy from projects to cities that need it most.

Thanks to the

settlement agreement

we reached with the

agencies on our

lawsuit in July 2012,

there is now an

opportunity to fix the

corridors and create a

truly useful system.

The Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU)

published this July

dictates how the

agencies will complete

the first regional re-evaluation of the corridors. The companion Work Plan for Corridor Study (Work

Plan) will guide the agencies evaluation of how the corridors are being used (or not used) and what

improvements are needed to make them effective.

Antelope in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge

US Fish and Wildlife Service

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It is key that BLM continues to meet its commitments under the settlement agreement, including

developing recommended corridor improvements through the first regional review by July 2014. We will

be continuing our efforts to help establish a system of corridors that protect wildlands and advance

renewables as the agencies implement the MOU and Work Plan.

7. Rapid Ecoregional Assessments Aim to Improve Landscape-Level Analysis (2CAPEs)

Recipient: Kit Muller, Renewable Resources and Planning Division

Over the past year, BLM has publicly released 4 Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs) covering a

significant portion of lands managed by the agency including the Colorado Plateau, Sonoran Desert,

Mojave Basin and Range, and Central Basin and Range. This is the first time that BLM has done this type

of landscape-level analysis as well as the first time BLM has taken a look at climate change at this level.

The REAs will help inform future planning and projects by showing varying levels of intactness

throughout each ecoregion and the potential impacts of change agents, such as development, invasive

species, wildfire and climate change.

In February, BLM issued guidance on the utilization of regional assessments in general, including the

REAs. This guidance included suggestions for using this data in planning and management decisions as

well as for learning how to improve the REAs themselves, but did not provide strong direction for

incorporating REAs into land use planning. We look forward to seeing the other 10 REAs scheduled to be

released over the next year. We will be working with BLM and the data to help make land use planningand management decisions science-based, cross-jurisdictional, and responsive to climate change as well

as to identify areas that are appropriate for protective management and restoration.

The REAs provide a look at the landscape that BLM has never examined before. The key to the

effectiveness of the REAs will be transforming the science into real and lasting actions on the ground to

conserve and restore those deserving lands in need of protection as well as finding appropriate areas for

development.

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8. BLM Seizes Opportunity to Designate National Conservation Lands Throughthe Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (1 CAPE)

Recipient: Jim Kenna, BLM California State Director

The Bureau of Land Management has begun a new planning process that will identify and designate

certain lands in the 25-million acre California Desert Conservation Area (CDCA) to be added to the

National Conservation Lands, while also determining other areas for conservation, renewable energy

development, and other uses. The Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 made the National

Conservation Lands a permanent system of public lands conservation, and defined the lands that would

be included in the system, which includes public land within the California Desert Conservation Area

administered by the Bureau of Land Management for conservation purposes leaving it up to the BLM

to decide which lands in the CDCA would be identified as administered for conservation purposes.

The BLM is using a concurrent, overlapping planning process to identify the National Conservation Lands

in the CDCA. BLM will use the opportunity of the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP)

to receive public comments and proposals for the addition of these areas to our National Conservation

Lands, and to consider those designations in the broader context of planning for renewable energy

development. BLM has already

indicated that lands identified as

California Desert National

Conservation Lands must be

nationally significant and possessoutstanding conservation values,

such as lands containing prehistoric

or historic sites, areas with a high

degree of intactness or that can be

restored to that level, and lands

that are valuable for scientific

research, education and discovery.

Many such lands in the California

desert also contain high scenic and

recreational values.

The BLM has a once in a lifetime opportunity to administratively designate new National Conservation

Lands and ensure those lands are managed to conserve their outstanding values. We hope to see BLM

move forward with a plan for the DRECP that designates the maximum amount of Conservation Lands

and manages them in a way that conforms to BLMs policy guidance for the National Conservation

Lands, including Secretarial Order 3308, the 15-Year Strategy for the Conservation Lands, and BLM

Manual 6100, and protects them from all energy development and harmful off-road vehicle use.

Silurian Valley

John Dittli

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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 earn some CAPEs in 2014.

BLM Defers Oil and Gas Leasing In Sensitive Landscapes Across the West, But Threats

Remain and Landscape-Level Planning is Needed

In 2013, the industry continued its push to lease sensitive landscapes in the West for oil and gas

development, including in the following instances:

In Colorado, the industry nominated over 5,000 acres that border an entrance road to DinosaurNational Monument. Those lands also contain wilderness values and provide an important

scenic backdrop to national monument visitors.

In New Mexico, the industry tried to acquire leases on over 18,000 acres of land surroundingChaco Culture National Historical Park. Drilling rigs could have risen within a quarter-mile of the

national parks boundaries, and a maze of wells, roads and pipelines could have permanently

transformed the landscape surrounding Chaco Canyon, which contains scores of prehistoric

roads, ancient villages and other significant cultural resources.

In Utah, over objections from key members of the outdoor recreation industry, the oil and gasindustry attempted to lease approximately 80,000 acres of lands in the San Rafael

Swell. Historic and cultural resources abound in the Swell, which is also valued by many for its

scenery, recreation opportunities and wilderness characteristics.

And, in Wyoming, the industry attempted to lease several thousand acres of wilderness-qualitylands surrounding the Adobe Town WSA. Those lands contain a wealth of hunting, wildlife and

recreation resources, and although they have been leased in the past, many of the leases are

now expiring.

In all four instances, the BLM made the right choice and deferred the leases. Doing so was fully

consistent with the BLMs 2010 oil and gas leasing reforms, which recognizes that oil and gas leasing is

not always consistent with protection of other important resources and values, including units of the

National Park System and other important areas. However, in spite of the deferrals, the lands in

question remain available for leasing, and the industry could very well renew its effort to obtain leases

in the near future. Thus, the BLM now has the opportunity to reevaluate its management for all four

areas and develop a more thoughtful, landscape-level approach to oil and gas activity. Such anapproach would allow the BLM to avoid future conflicts over leasing, while providing enhanced

protection for the significant wilderness, recreation, wildlife and cultural values that exist in and near

Dinosaur National Monument, Chaco Canyon, San Rafael Swell and Adobe Town.

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Draft Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Plans Evaluate a Suite of Measures to Protect the

Species

This fall BLM began rolling out draft regional plans for conserving greater sage-grouse across millions of

acres of western public lands. The agency is hoping that it can get strong enough plans in place to stave

off a listing under the Endangered Species Act, a decision which the US Fish and Wildlife Service will

make in 2015. The Service has already declared greater sage-grouse a candidate species for listing

based on the severe decline in sage-grouse populations across the American west in recent decades. The

once-ubiquitous sagebrush sea that provides habitat for sage-grouse (as well as big game and a host of

other species) has been fragmented and destroyed by energy development, including oil and gas, wind

and transmission, and other uses of our western lands.

BLM has released draft plans for

nearly every state that

encompasses greater sage-grouse

habitat for public comment. Thedraft plans evaluate a range of

conservation measures, some of

which would provide strong

protection for the species, but

ultimately fail to propose

management actions that would

put meaningful standards in place

to ensure the birds survival. In

fact, the US Fish and Wildlife

Service wrote in comments on BLMs plan for Colorado that the draft plan falls short of providingnecessary protection to avoid the need for a listing.

To adequately conserve greater sage-grouse across its range, BLM must specifically designate areas for

sage-grouse protection, such as areas of critical environmental concern, and place those areas off-limits

to development. BLM should analyze benefits to sage-grouse from protecting wilderness-quality lands

and designate those areas for sage grouse conservation where it would benefit the species. Some of the

most important sage-grouse habitat in the West exists in unprotected wilderness-quality lands. In the

Little Snake Field Office alone, nearly 300,000 acres of federally recognized primary habitat is

encompassed in potential lands with wilderness characteristics identified by the BLM. In addition to

designating sage-grouse conservation areas, BLM must also mitigate habitat loss and speciesdisplacement in all sage-grouse habitat, and actively manage destructive activities across the species

range.

Pronghorn mingle with sage-grouse in Northwest Colorado

Sasha Nelson

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McCoy Solar Project Mitigation Plan Addresses Impacts to Lands with Wilderness

Characteristics

The McCoy Solar Project was approved to be constructed on approximately 4,600 acres of public lands

in the California Desert Conservation Area. The BLMs environmental impact statement acknowledged

that the project would damage approximately 1,089 acres that the agency had identified as havingwilderness characteristics and proposed a general approach to mitigation. The record of decision

incorporated more specific requirements for removal and restoration of unauthorized vehicle routes,

conversion of routes into a hiking trail, and installation of vehicle barriers and signing along wilderness

boundaries in the nearby Big Maria Mountains Wilderness Area, Palen-McCoy Wilderness Area or other

designated wilderness areas near the project, and set a timeline for completion.

Under the governing Solar Programmatic EIS (PEIS), these lands were not being managed to protect

their wilderness characteristics, but the PEIS did define a suite of potential mitigation measures for

impacts to lands with wilderness characteristics, including acquisition, restoration, management of

adjacent lands, and contribution to a mitigation bank. Our preference is avoiding damage to landswith wilderness characteristics, but where impacts cannot be avoided, we want to see BLM requiring

mitigation. The plan incorporated in the McCoy Solar Project record of decision takes the right approach

and requires meaningful mitigation.

BLM Evaluates Designating Otero Mesa ACEC in Draft Tri-County Plan

We have been working diligently for nearly a decade to protect southern New Mexicos wild desert

grassland, Otero Mesa. Encompassing more than a million acres, Otero Mesa contains one of the largest

desert grasslands remaining in North America as well as a half million acres of potential wilderness. The

grassland is ecologically

significant as habitat for more

than a thousand native

wildlife species and for its

vast freshwater resources, is

home to a rich archaeological

and historical record, and is

treasured by hunters and

other backcountry

recreationists.

But Otero Mesa is under

constant threat from oil and

gas drilling, mining and other

uses that could forever

destroy the grasslands many Otero MesaStephen Capra

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irreplaceable values. In addition to advocating for permanent protection for the grassland, we proposed

the BLM designate an Area of Critical Environmental Concern as part of the ongoing Tri-County Resource

Management Plan.

This spring, the Las Cruces District released a draft Tri-County RMP which would designate an Otero

Mesa Grasslands ACEC in two alternatives, including the preferred alternative. We were elated to seeBLM recognize the special values of Otero Mesa and propose protective management for those values.

However, the ACEC which would be designated under the preferred alternative is much smaller than the

conservation alternative and than we originally proposed, and drops important protective management

measures such as closure to new transmission lines and other rights-of-way and recommended mineral

withdrawal. Furthermore, the draft RMP did not address oil and gas management and therefore the

ACEC would not be closed to oil and gas leasing under any alternative in the draft RMP.

We pushed BLM to go back to the drawing board on this one, and in December the agency announced a

supplement to the draft RMP will be prepared to address oil and gas management and lands with

wilderness characteristics. Were glad BLM is moving forward with a supplement, and we also hope BLM

will ultimately adopt an ACEC for Otero Mesa that encompasses the full landscape so as to protect all of

the grasslands outstanding values and puts robust management in place including closures to oil and

gas leasing, renewable energy development and transmission, and recommended mineral withdrawal.