Official Wilderness Maps and Legal Boundary Descriptions
In Reply Refer To:
6300 (NV-930) P
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Nevada State Office
P.O. Box 12000
Reno, Nevada 89520-0006
February 2, 2004
EMS TRANSMISSION 02/03/04
Instruction Memorandum No. NV-2004-023
Expires: 9/30/2005
To: Field Managers, Nevada Surprise Field Office Manager, California
From: State Director, Nevada
Subject: Official Wilderness Maps and Legal Boundary Descriptions
On June 4, 2003, a meeting was held in the Nevada State Office for the purpose of developing a process for preparing official Wilderness maps and legal boundary descriptions as required in the Nevada Wilderness Preservation Act of 1989, the Black Rock Desert – High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area Act of 2000, and the Clark County Conservation of Public Lands and Natural Resources Act of 2002. These laws mandate that official maps and legal boundary descriptions for each Wilderness designated by these Acts be prepared and filed with the Committee on Resources of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.
This Instruction Memorandum provides a statewide, standardized, eight-step process for preparing official Wilderness maps and legal boundary descriptions for designated Wilderness Areas in the State of Nevada. This process was formulated, discussed, and approved at the June meeting in the State Office and is fully described in Attachment 1. While the instruction in Attachment 1 and in the remainder of this memorandum primarily benefits the Winnemucca, Ely, and Las Vegas Field Offices at this time, it is just as applicable to new Wilderness Areas subsequently designated through Wilderness legislation in the coming years.
The completion of official maps and legal boundary descriptions is a high priority. It is important for virtually every phase of Wilderness management including, but not limited to such responsibilities as posting Wilderness boundaries, law enforcement of Wilderness regulations, mineral-related withdrawals, disposal of lands and resources adjacent to Wilderness boundaries, monumentation of boundaries, and initiation of Wilderness management planning. The statutory requirement to complete official maps and legal boundary descriptions reflects the importance of this task.
CONCEPT
The product to be developed to meet the statutory mandate in the Nevada Wilderness Preservation Act, the Black Rock – High Rock Act, the Clark County Act, and any future ensuing Wilderness legislation, is the Wilderness map packet. The Wilderness map packet will contain an official map and legal boundary description for each designated Wilderness within the geographic area covered by the designation/enabling legislation. The starting point is the legislative map that accompanied the Act. The legislative map is found in the State Office serialized case file for each Wilderness. A listing of State Office serialized case files for Wilderness Areas designated as of this date is found in Attachment 2. The serialized Wilderness case files will be organized as described in Attachment 3.
A principle of this process for preparing official maps and legal boundary descriptions is that the legislative maps and any relevant portion of the written legislative record are controlling and the ultimate point-of-reference for developing the legal boundary descriptions. A second principle is that legal boundary descriptions will be produced from the legislative maps prior to and as a basis for constructing the official maps. These two principles will ensure that “hidden” assumptions do not become embedded in the official maps. Such assumptions could lead to boundary delineations that are often unexplainable and/or incorrect.
INTERIM GUIDANCE
Legislative maps will be the only maps cited and used for Wilderness management decisions. Neither draft versions of the legislative maps nor derivative administrative or publicly disseminated maps (e.g., MTPs, recreation maps) may be used for Wilderness management decisions. When proposed actions are in the vicinity of an “ambiguous” boundary, any clarification of the boundary for such proposed actions should be undertaken judiciously, so as not to preempt or challenge the legislative maps or the substantive content of the Wilderness map packets to be filed with Congressional committees. Boundary descriptions and maps are not final or “official” until filed with the appropriate House and Senate committees.
Interim Wilderness boundaries shall be delineated on-the-ground in accordance with the protocol and examples found in Attachment 4. This protocol contains standards and guidelines for interim posting of Wilderness boundaries until official boundaries are filed with the Congressional committees. Field Office Wilderness Specialists are responsible for accurate and timely delineation of interim boundaries as soon as Wilderness legislation is enacted by Congress and signed by the President.
Interim Wilderness boundaries shall also be delineated on Master Title Plats and on Historical Indices as soon as possible. Field Offices shall submit a formal request for services to the State Office Chief of the Branch of Geographic Services (Title Records Section). The Chief of the Branch of Geographic Services is responsible for ensuring that interim Wilderness boundaries are properly recorded on Master Title Plats and on Historical Indices utilizing the legislative maps found in the serialized Wilderness case files.
As soon as possible after Wilderness legislation is enacted by Congress and signed by the President, the State Office Wilderness Coordinator shall submit a formal request to the State Office Chief of the Branch of Geographic Services (Geographic Science Team) to prepare and submit to the USGS, interim Wilderness boundary maps as depicted on appropriate legislative maps. The State Office Wilderness Coordinator will review and approve these maps before they are submitted to the USGS. Wilderness Area interim boundaries shall be identified on future versions of 1:24,000 scale USGS topographical quadrangles, until official maps have been filed with Congressional committees.
EXISTING GUIDANCE
Section 3 of the Nevada Wilderness Protection Act, Section 8(c) of the Black Rock – High Rock NCA Act, and Section 202(c) of Title II of the Clark County Act contains specific language and direction concerning the requirements for official maps and legal boundary descriptions for Wilderness Areas within the Winnemucca, Ely, and Las Vegas Field Office jurisdictions. Chapter II of BLM Handbook H-8560-1 entitled, Management of Designated Wilderness Areas, includes relevant guidance pertaining to standards and procedures for preparing and submitting official maps and legal boundary descriptions to Congressional committees. All of these sources of guidance should be carefully examined prior to commencement of work on the Wilderness map packets.
SHARED WILDERNESS AREAS
Under special circumstances, for Wilderness Areas that share a boundary with another Federal Wilderness management agency (i.e., USFS, NPS, USFWS), it may be possible for one agency to take the lead in preparing official Wilderness maps and legal boundary descriptions. In such instances, there may be a potential to “pool” limited agency resources, save time, avoid duplication and “overlap” to produce a standardized product while achieving greater benefits to agencies in terms of coordination, consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness.
For example, the Las Vegas Field Office shares a Wilderness boundary with the NPS in the Spirit Mountain Wilderness where the BLM manages only 605 acres while the NPS manages 32,913 acres. It may make some sense if the NPS took the lead in preparing the official Wilderness maps and legal boundary descriptions, with the Bureau providing timely review and approval of the BLM portion(s). In other Wilderness Areas where the BLM is the predominant Wilderness manager, it may occasionally be possible for the BLM to prepare official Wilderness maps and legal boundary descriptions. Adequate checks and balances, reviews and approvals must be factored into any process to ensure that maps and legal boundary descriptions meet the Bureau’s standards and specifications.
The Bureau will still be responsible for assembling and submitting Wilderness map packets to Congress covering BLM-managed portions of shared Wilderness Areas. This will be done in accordance with this instruction memorandum, the H-8560-1 handbook and other guidance, even if another Federal Wilderness management agency is the predominant Wilderness manager.
CADASTRAL SURVEY
Professional Cadastral Survey of designated Wilderness boundaries can occur at any time after Wilderness Areas are designated. For a variety of reasons, it may be necessary to request a professional survey to resolve disputes and boundary issues. However, it is important to reemphasize that boundaries are not “official” until maps and legal descriptions are filed with the appropriate House and Senate committees.
After maps and legal descriptions have been filed, Field Offices should decide if there is a need for professional, legally defensible surveys of Wilderness boundaries. If so, these needs should be justified, prioritized, approved by the Field Manager, and submitted to the State Office Chief of the Branch of Geographic Services (Cadastral Survey Section). The Nevada BLM will not attempt to survey entire Wilderness Area boundaries, only those with identified existing or anticipated conflicts such as the examples given in Step #1 under Attachment 1.
If you have questions or concerns about the contents of this instruction memorandum, please contact Steve Smith, Wilderness Coordinator, in the Nevada State Office at 775-861-6477.
Signed by:
Robert V. Abbey
State Director, Nevada
Authenticated by:
Florence Kopec
Staff Assistant
Attachments:
1- Eight-step Process for Preparing Maps and Legal Descriptions (4 pp)
2- Serialized Wilderness Case File Names and Numbers (1 p)
3- Organization of Serialized Wilderness Case Files (1 p)
4- Protocol for Interim Wilderness Boundary Delineation (5 pp)