• New Policy Encourages Solar Energy Development on America’s Public Lands - Policy supports clean energy initiative Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management, today announced a new land-management policy designed to encourage the development of solar energy resources on America’s public lands. Watson made the announcement during the Solar Power 2004 conference in San Francisco, Calif. (10/21/04)
  
  
• Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting Scheduled The BLM's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet November 8, 2004 in Reno, NV to discuss the management and protection of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on the nation's public lands, according to a notice in the October 5, 2004 Federal Register. (10/19/04)
  
  
• BLM and States Develop Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategies The BLM is collaborating with state wildlife management agencies to create the first nationwide approach to wildlife management. (10/05/04)
  
  
• BLM Launches Two New Web-Based Tools for Accessing Land Use Records The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced the deployment of “Land and Mineral Use Records” and “Federal Land Stewardship,” two new Web-based data tools within its GeoCommunicator website. (10/01/04)
  
  
• BLM Announces Reclamation and Sustainable Mineral Development Awards Winners BLM Director Kathleen Clarke today announced the winners of the 2004 Reclamation and Sustainable Mineral Development Awards. The awards recognize the efforts that have been made in implementing the principles of sustainable development, a concept adopted by the United States and 192 other countries, to balance environmental, economic, and social considerations in planning for mining operations. (09/27/04)
  
  
• BLM Strategy to Manage Horses Upheld in Federal Court United States District Judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia recently dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit challenging the BLM’s strategy to manage wild horses. (09/24/04)
  
  
• Draft Environmental Impact Statement Focuses on Wind Energy Development on BLM–Administered Public Lands Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management announced the availability of a Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Wind Energy Development on BLM-Administered Lands in the Western United States. The public is invited to review the document and submit comments during the next 90 days. (09/09/04)
  
  
• Assistant Secretary Watson Underscores Federal Commitment to Conservation, and the Protection of Wildlife, during Energy Leasing and Development In remarks Saturday, Aug. 14, before the American Wildlife Conservation Partners annual meeting in New York, Rebecca Watson, assistant secretary of the Interior for Land and Minerals Management, highlighted the Bush administration's strong commitment to the health and conservation of wildlife and wildlife habitat in the land-use planning process for energy development. (08/16/04)
  
  
• BLM Web Site Provides Access to Historical Images The BLM today announced the creation of a photographic database web site from which the public may now view, print, and download historical digital images from the agency’s digital photo library. (07/16/04)
  
  
• BLM Revises Mining Claim Location and Annual Maintenance Fees The BLM today is giving notice that it is increasing mining claim fees, which by law must be adjusted for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index. The increase affects mining claim location and maintenance fees for mining claims located on federal lands subject to the 1872 Mining Law. (06/30/04)
  
  
• BLM Announces National Volunteer Award Winners Who Are “Making a Difference” on Public Lands Seven volunteers, one volunteer organization, and two employees of the BLM will receive a prestigious national award for their public service contributions at a ceremony to be held June 3, 2004 at the Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C. (05/25/04)
  
  
• Memorandum of Understanding Will Advance Goal of Increased Wild Horse and Burro Adoptions The BLM and the National Wild Horse and Burro Foundation are working together to increase wild horse and burro adoptions in the United States and provide greater opportunities for public education about the BLM’s unique animal adoption program. (05/17/04)
  
  
• Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting Scheduled The BLM's National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet to discuss the management and protection of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on the nation's public lands, according to a notice in the April 12, 2004 Federal Register. The meeting will be held Monday, May 10, 2004 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm local time, and on Tuesday, May 11, 2004 from 8:00 am to noon local time. The Advisory Board will meet at the Hilton Tulsa Southern Hills Hotel, 7902 S. Lewis Avenue, Tulsa, Oklahoma. (05/03/04)
  
  
• Nominations Open for Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board The BLM is requesting public nominations to fill three vacancies on the national Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board. The categories to be filled represent Wild Horse and Burro Advocacy, Veterinarian Medicine and Public-at-Large. Nominations have been extended until May 15, 2004. (04/27/04)
  
  
• BLM Launches New Land Survey Website The BLM today launched a new website that provides data standards for land records information and the Cadastral National Spatial Data Infrastructure (Cadastral NSDI). The site serves as a central location for land-ownership data standards, training materials, and reports on a variety of subjects. Reports include summaries of how land-parcel information has been used to respond in emergencies and how data sets for property boundaries have been developed. (04/12/04)
  
  
• BLM Strengthens Role of Local, State, and Tribal Partners in Planning BLM Director Kathleen Clarke today said the agency is moving to strengthen the role of local, state and tribal agencies in developing land use plans for the public lands under the BLM’s jurisdiction. (03/10/04)
  
  
• BLM Requests Nominations for the 2004 Fluid Minerals The BLM is requesting nominations for the inaugural 2004 Fluid Minerals Reclamation and Sustainable Minerals Development Awards. The awards program recognizes fluid mineral and geothermal development operations that practice the principles of sustainable development or represent outstanding examples of reclamation or environmental stewardship. (03/05/04)
  
  
• Federal Agencies Announce Guidelines to Aid Wildfire Prevention and Restoration of Healthy Forests and Rangelands The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Interior Department issued field guidelines today designed to help land-managers reduce wildfire threats on public lands. The guidance titled, “Interim Field Guide for Implementing the Healthy Forests Initiative and Healthy Forests Restoration Act,” will be used to address the issues managers will need to consider while reducing hazardous fuels and planning forest and rangeland restoration projects. (03/03/04)
  
  
• 2004 Federal Grazing Fee Announced The grazing fee for Western public lands managed by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service will be $1.43 per animal unit month in 2004, up from $1.35 in 2003. The newly adjusted fee, which takes effect March 1, applies to more than 18,000 grazing permits and leases administered by the BLM and more than 8,000 permits administered by the Forest Service. (02/20/04)
  
  
• BLM Extends Time on Commercial Recreation Permits, Defines enforcement of fee violations The BLM is amending its regulations on Special Recreation Permits and Recreation Use Permits to provide better customer service to the public, reduce administrative paperwork, and provide consistent law enforcement at fee sites on BLM-managed public lands. (02/06/04)
  
  
• Members Appointed to National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Three residents of Wyoming and Idaho will join the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board to help guide the management of the nation's wild horse and burro herds for the next three years. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and Department of Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman appointed new members Renee C. Taylor of Evansville, Wyoming; and Dr. Vernon D. Dooley of Powell, Wyoming; and reappointed Dr. J. Wayne Burkhardt of Indian Valley, Idaho; to the Advisory Board January 23, 2004. (02/05/04)
  
  
• BLM Proposes $1.8 Billion for FY 2005 Budget To Enhance Multiple-Use Management through Conservation Partnerships To promote conservation partnerships that enhance its multiple-use management of the public lands, the Interior Department’s BLM today proposed a Fiscal Year 2005 budget of $1.8 billion. The BLM’s FY 2005 budget proposal, which is a $53 million programmatic increase over the FY 2004 enacted level of funding, would provide increases of $4.8 million for the agency’s resource-restoration Challenge Cost Share program and $3.2 million for its sage-grouse conservation and restoration efforts. The budget request also includes increases of $5.6 million for land acquisition and $4 million for monitoring the implementation of new land-use plans. The Bureau’s 2005 budget proposal redirects $10.5 million for management of the more than 39,000 wild horses and burros that roam the public lands. Through a combination of new funds and redirected funds, the budget proposes an increase of $12 million to improve the health of forest lands in western Oregon. (02/02/04)
  
  
• BLM, Public Lands Council Sign Agreement to Promote Cooperative Monitoring of Rangeland Conditions The BLM and Public Lands Council today signed an agreement that will promote cooperative monitoring of public rangeland conditions. The purpose of the agreement is to help stabilize grazing on BLM-managed lands and help achieve desired conditions on public rangelands in the years to come. (01/30/04)
  
  
• Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting Scheduled The BLM's Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board will meet to discuss the management and protection of wild, free-roaming horses and burros on the nation's public lands, according to a notice in the January 20, 2004 Federal Register. The meeting will be held Monday, February 9, 2004 from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and on Tuesday, February 10, 2004 from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon local time. The Advisory Board will meet at the Crowne Plaza, 2532 West Peoria, Phoenix, Arizona, 85029, Phone: (602) 943-2341 (01/20/04)
  
  
• Federal Agencies Announce Guidelines for Stewardship Contracts and Agreements: Key Element of Healthy Forest Initiative will Improve Forest and Rangeland Health While Increasing Collaboration The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service today announced guidelines to develop and implement stewardship contracts and agreements. Part of the President’s Healthy Forests Initiative, stewardship contracting will improve the health of the land, ensure thriving landscapes and contribute to the development of dynamic economics by assisting land managers to enhance and restore forest and rangeland health while strengthening the role of communities and others who contribute to such efforts. (01/15/04)
  
  
• BLM Announces Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement On Proposed Grazing Rule; Sets Public Meetings on Impact Statement The BLM today announced the availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared in connection with a proposed grazing rule that the BLM published last month. The Bureau also announced a series of public meetings that it will hold in the West and in Washington, D.C., on the impact statement. The Western meetings are scheduled for late January and early February in Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Boise, Billings, and Cheyenne. (01/02/04)