BLM, USFS, and USFWS seek nominations from the public for high-priority landlocked or hard-to-reach parcels

Last spring, with the passage of S. 47 – the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act – federal public land management agencies were tasked with identifying parcels of public ground with no access or restricted access and developing priority lists for opening access to those lands.

Now, the US Forest Service, BLM, and US Fish and Wildlife Service are asking the public for help to identify pieces of public land that should be on the priority lists. This is your chance to get involved and make a difference.

Once parcels are added to an agency’s priority list, land managers can then coordinate with state and local governments, conservation groups, land trusts, and landowners to open access through voluntary acquisitions of land, road or trail easements, or various other measures.

As our partnership with onX has shown, access to public land can be a huge challenge for hunters and anglers. We found that 9.52 million acres of federally managed public lands in the West have no permanent, legal public access.

Details on how to nominate a parcel are below, but time is running out. Speak up today to strengthen our public lands legacy!

Lawmakers have outlined the below requirements for the agencies:

• Parcels nominated must encompass at least 640 contiguous acres with either no public access (i.e. it is unreachable by foot, horseback, and motorized/non-motorized vehicles) or the access is severely restricted (i.e. a large block of public land with only one access point).
• In order to be considered, nominations must be sent to the appropriate agency (i.e. the agency responsible for managing the lands in question).
• Nominations must include the location of the land or parcel, the total affected acreage (if known), a description or narrative about the barriers to access, and any other information that should be considered by the agency.

Forest Service: Comment period has closed.

Fish and Wildlife Service: Comment period has closed.

BLM: Comment period has closed.

Final plan includes key provisions to benefit wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation

The Bureau of Land Management today released a land use plan that will support outdoor recreation opportunities and conserve important big game habitat on public lands north of Mountain Home and east of Boise in western Idaho.

When finalized, the BLM’s proposed Resource Management Plan for the Four Rivers Field Office will determine how the agency will manage approximately 750,000 acres of public lands, including the Boise Front, the eastern flanks of Brownlee and Oxbow reservoirs, and the Hixon Sharptailed Grouse Area.

The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership worked with landowners, local government officials, and other stakeholder groups, and helped activate hunters and anglers to provide meaningful feedback on the draft plans that was then incorporated into the final proposals.

“Sportsmen and women spoke up in support of additional management emphasis for hunting, access, and habitat improvement under the final plan, and we appreciate that the BLM listened to our community’s requests,” said Rob Thornberry, Idaho Field Representative with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. “This plan will benefit quality wildlife habitat and recreational access in places like the Bennett Hills, which is great news for those of us who care about Idaho’s strong outdoor traditions.”

The popular public lands in central and western Idaho to which the revised plan will apply help fuel the state’s $7.8-billion outdoor recreation economy, provide important wildlife habitat, and support various traditional uses of the land. These landscapes include IDFG Hunting Units 39, 43, 44, and 45, which offer some of the state’s best mule deer hunting.

“The Bennett Hills provide vital winter range and outstanding hunting opportunities for one of Idaho’s most important mule deer herds,” said Ford Van Fossen, conservation and content manager for First Lite, a Ketchum-based manufacturer of hunting apparel. “We want to thank the BLM for adopting measures in the Four Rivers RMP that prioritize wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation.”

The revision process was formally initiated with a scoping phase in early 2016 and the BLM published its draft plan with a number of proposed alternatives in May 2019. While several wildlife- and recreation-friendly provisions to improve access and habitat were considered in the draft plan, most were not included in the preferred alternative at that stage of the process. Hunters and anglers spoke up and requested changes in management, and those comments produced meaningful improvements to the proposed plan.

“The hunting and fishing community owes the BLM thanks for the agency’s responsiveness to our concerns and proposals,” Thornberry said. “Public lands in Idaho are some of our state’s greatest assets and the revised Four Rivers plan will help ensure that future generations can enjoy these places as we do now.”

“I have hunted this area for almost 50 years, and I can state emphatically that it is a haven for an enormous amount of wildlife,” said Drew Wahlin, president of the Idaho Chukar Foundation. “It is a bird hunting destination and an essential winter area for the famed King Hill mule deer hunt. It is worthy of protections that help wildlife and sportsmen, and I applaud BLM’s decision.”