Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field and State Office Actions to Develop Final Priority Public Access List to Implement Public Law 116-9, Section 4105, of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act.
In Reply Refer To:
1753/8300 (930) P
December 17, 2020
EMS Transmission: 12/17/2020
Instruction Memorandum No. 2021 – 008
Expires: 09/30/2024
To: District Managers
From: Associate State Director
Subject: Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Field and State Office Actions to Develop Final Priority Public Access List to Implement Public Law 116-9, Section 4105, of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act.
Program Area: Recreation and Visitor Services
Purpose: To implement the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (Public Law 116-9, Section 4105), this Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides direction for BLM Wyoming Field Offices to review and verify the priority public access nominations received from the public and populate a standardized geodatabase with key information about those parcels. The BLM Wyoming State Director will use this information to document determinations regarding which public nominations are appropriate to include on BLM Wyoming’s final priority access lists.
This IM advances the Bureau’s commitment to review and validate priority access nominations received from the public by January 31, 2021 and produce a Final BLM Priority Public Access List and maps later in 2021.
Policy/Action:
Each BLM Wyoming Field Office must:
- By December 11, 2020, establish a POC and notify the Wyoming State Office (WSO). This POC will be expected to coordinate with field office team members and the WSO team. This POC may be at the Field or District Office, and a establishing a backup POC is recommended.
- By December 11, 2020, establish an interdisciplinary team, recommended to be comprised of the following:
- GIS Specialist
- Realty Specialist
- Outdoor Recreation Planner
- Ensure the POC or backup and/or the IDT are available to participate on a conference call to occur December 15, 2020, organized and led by the WSO to facilitate response to this IM.
- Review and verify the accuracy of the data in Fields 12-17 (See Attachment 2) by January 15, 2021. The geodatabase that the field will need to review and verify is located here: T:\WY\DATA\lands\DingellActSchema\Wyoming_DANL_New.gdb.
- Make a determination for each parcel in Field 18 by January 15, 2021.
- Insert any clarifying notes/additional information in Field 38 by January 15, 2021.
- Create a consolidated District ranking of nominations.
- Notify the WSO that Steps 4-7 have been completed.
Once the Field Offices have completed their portion, the WSO will:
- Finalize the geodatabase.
- Brief the State Director and complete priority rankings.
- Submit final lists to HQ.
- Notify the NOC once data submission is complete.
Timeframe: The requirements are effective upon issuance of this IM and require action biennially as both the Public Nominations for Priority Access and the BLM Priority Access list need to be solicited, analyzed, merged, and shared publicly every two years for 10 years, ending in 2030.
Due dates:
Field Office responses are due to the WSO by January 15, 2021.
State Director briefing and ranking will occur on January 25, 2021.
WSO responses are due to HQ-400 by January 31, 2021.
Budget Impact: The application of this policy will require staff work and leadership review at the state offices. The Bureau expects this workload to be budget neutral.
Background: On March 12, 2019, Congress enacted the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act (Public Law 116-9) (Dingell Act), which includes direction to Federal agencies to work with the public and others to identify priority access needs on Federal lands. Section 4105 of the Dingell Act requires the BLM to evaluate access limitations on public lands and associated recreational opportunities to identify and prioritize Federal parcels greater than 640 contiguous acres, that are legally inaccessible; or where public access is significantly restricted, and to then create priority access lists to help inform and guide the BLM’s future land and easement acquisition efforts. The Dingell Act also requires the BLM to provide an opportunity for members of the public to nominate BLM parcels for inclusion on the Final Priority Access List.
Public Nominations: In 2020 the BLM received 2,072 priority access nominations from the public, state agencies and non-governmental organizations; 1,741 of these nominations are believed to be in conformance with the Dingell Act criteria. State office review and data entry are required to validate these public nominations.
BLM State Access Priorities: BLM State offices previously identified 606 “Draft Priority Access” areas, representing approximately 4.7 million acres of public lands in need of some type of public access improvement. Additional data entry and geospatial data development are required to refine these state access priorities for future publication.
Final Priority Access List: The BLM is working to refine and publish a “Final Priority Access List” in 2021 which will be a combination of the accepted public nominations and the BLM state access priorities. The process will repeat every two years until 2030.
Pages of Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.
Instruction Memorandums Affected: None.
Coordination: The development of this IM was supported by staff in WSO 930 and reviewed by the Wyoming Leadership Team.
Contact: Keith Brown, Outdoor Recreation Planner at 307-775-6031, Brett Fahrer, GIS Specialist at 307-775-6306, and Jennifer Fleuret McConchie, Branch Chief (933) 307-775-6329.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Duane Spencer Jessica Camargo
Acting Associate State Director State Director’s Office
2 Attachments
1 – Data Clean up and Steps Completed by WSO
2 – Data Schema, Numbers 12-18, State Based File Geodatabase
Distribution:
Field Managers 1 w/atch.
CF 2 w/atch
Attachment 1: Data clean up and steps completed by WSO
In order to facilitate Field Office response to this data call, the WSO has:
- Eliminated previously identified public nominations from further analysis.
- Cleaned up remaining public nomination polygon boundaries to more accurately reflect the acreage of BLM-managed lands and to ensure no private or state lands are included.
- Completed data entry for majority of fields in the data schema.
The WSO will, in order to complete this data call:
- Host a Teams Meeting on December 15, 2020 for Field Office Teams to provide guidance and consistency in approach across Field Offices.
- Provide support in offices where there are critical (i.e. GIS, Recreation) vacancies.
- Utilize completed database to generate consolidated BLM Wyoming Priority Access List/Map for State Director approval.
- Notify HQ430 and OC530 that the state publication database is ready for replication to the NOC database.
*The answers to these fields will be drop downs in a geodatabase*
Attachment 2: Data Schema, Fields 12-18 and 38
12. BLM Legal Public Access Status – Screening question to identify status of legal public access associated with parcels identified by BLM or nominated by the public for inclusion on the BLM Priority Access List (select one)
a. No Legal Public Access (no legal public access to parcel boundary - CONTINUE WITH ANALYSIS)
b. Significantly Restricted Legal Public Access (legal public access exists to area but is insufficient to support BLM planned recreational purposes - CONTINUE WITH ANALYSIS.
c. Sufficient Legal Public Access (Public Nomination area already has appropriate level
of legal public access to support BLM planned recreational purposes; complete Item #18.
d. – WSAs -NO FURTHER ANALYSIS REQUIRED
13. Other Agency Lands Impact – Does current access challenge impact or affect other state or Federal agency lands?
a. No b. Yes
14. Potential for Recreational Use – BLM ranking of existing or potential recreational opportunities
a. 3 = High b. 2 = Medium c. 1 = Low
15. Likelihood of Resolving Access Issues – BLM’s estimate of the likelihood for potential opportunities that may exist currently or might exist in the future to help remedy of access challenges (select one)
a. 3 = High b. 2 = Medium c. 1 = Low
16. Potential Access Remedy Entities – Landholding parties that may be involved with providing potential access remedies (select all that may apply)
a. Federal Agency b. Tribal Government c. State Government d. Local Government e. Private
17. Potential Access Remedies – Potential agency actions to address legal public access challenges (select most likely access remedy; if “Other” is selected, include additional options/information in Notes field at Item #38)
a. Fee Acquisition b. Easement or ROW Acquisition c. Conservation Easement w/Access d. Other
18. Public Nomination Status – Identifies the outcome of BLM’s consideration of public nominations for inclusion on the priority access list (select one - Leave data field blank for BLM-identified priority areas; applies only to priority access nominations received from the public)
a. Nomination PREVIOUSLY IDENTIFIED by BLM - will be included on BLM’s Priority Access Lists/Maps.
b. Nomination ACCEPTED by BLM - will be included on BLM's Priority Access Lists/Maps.
c. Nomination UNDER AGENCY CONSIDERATION by BLM – final determination will be documented on future BLM Priority Access Lists/Maps.
d. Nomination NOT INCLUDED on BLM's Priority Access Lists/Maps – does not meet Dingell Act priority access criteria for significantly restricted legal access; area has sufficient legal public access to support planned recreational purposes.
e. Nomination NOT INCLUDED on BLM's Priority Access Lists/Maps – resource management or use restrictions/conflicts per BLM Land Use Plans or Travel Management Plans.
f. Nomination NOT INCLUDED on BLM's Priority Access Lists/Maps - does not meet Dingell Act priority access criteria for location on BLM-administered lands.
g. Nomination NOT INCLUDED on BLM's Priority Access Lists/Maps - does not meet Dingell Act priority access criteria for minimum number of acres (>640 contiguous acres).
38. Notes (Internal Use Only) – (320 characters) This data field may include any additional information, such as Key Words to clarify analysis or characterize current or historic public access issues, values, needs; challenges, opportunities, remedy options, partner interest, or LWCF status (ex. active LWCF project underway or LWCF nominated for FYXX.) This field should be filled out by both WSO and FO staff as appropriate. Please note any decisions made regarding interpretations and paths forward.
The public was encouraged to submit priority access nominations on the Dingell Act Public Access ePlanning Page between January 31, 2020 and February 29, 2020.
For offices with limited staff, it is recommended that District Office staff be available to assist. In addition, recreation, and GIS staff from WSO 930 will be available to assist.
Significantly restricted legal public access: The Act refers to identifying BLM priority access areas where “…public access or egress to the legal boundaries of the land is significantly restricted (as determined by the Secretary).” The operational definition of what constitutes “significantly restricted” is left open to interpretation. Each public land parcel nominated or considered for inclusion on the priority access list will have unique features and circumstances that the BLM may take into consideration when evaluating the public’s ability to legally access a specific parcel of land. Some examples of significantly restricted BLM parcels may include:
a. A large BLM parcel that already has legal public access to one area of the parcel boundary, but where additional legal public access or egress to other parcel boundary areas is needed or desired to: (1) improve or provide additional recreational opportunities for the public; (2) better distribute recreational pressure across a larger landscape; or (3) help state wildlife management agencies better manage game populations.
b. Legal public access exists to a BLM parcel, but geographic features, such as rock walls, cliffs, mountains or rivers present significant physical obstacles or barriers to the recreating public.
c. Legal public access exists to a large BLM parcel, but one of the few roads that service the area crosses a private inholding where BLM does not currently have a road easement with the private landowner to provide legal public access. The landowner may currently allow the public to use the road but could legally install a gate and block public use at any time (access vulnerability).
[4] Is the BLM required to consider public nominations for increasing or improving legal access to WSAs? No, if the BLM determines that a nomination for supplemental legal public access is incongruent or conflicts with existing RMP decisions.