Governor Mead Raises Concerns with BLM Wild Lands Order

Gov. Matt Mead has sent a letter to Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar expressing his concerns over Secretarial Order 3310, which directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to identify and protect lands for their wilderness value.

Salazar announced the policy Dec. 23, at a time when the governors' offices were in transition.  In the letter Mead addresses the lack of feedback from state BLM offices, he reiterated the point in a press conference today,

"We were not asked by Secretary Salazar or by the BLM to initiate any comment on it.  There was not a comment period that was invited in terms of what the different states may want to do about it and we are now asking for his reconsideration."

Another concern raised by Mead in the letter is the potential impact of the order on a state like Wyoming, which has a lot of public land.  Mead says the release of the policy "invites suspicion" because of its' potential "to remove multiple-use possibilities from public land through the designation of lands as 'wild'", which may reduce state revenue.

Mead also brought up the possible delay or halting of the permitting process because of a wild lands designation.  In the letter he says the BLM does not currently have the "appropriate resources", which will create more delays.

The letter to Salazar ends with a declaration from Mead that only Congress has the power to designate official Wilderness areas and a plead for Salazar to rescind the order.

In a press conference today, Mead says he believes the order will lead to the state of Wyoming being cut out of the process of deciding how its' own land can and should be utilized:

"As I understand it, once it's designated as wild land, then it could be moved to a wilderness designation by Congress more easily.  And that is part of their motivation I understand, to have wild lands designated...and then set it up to be designated as wilderness areas. 

One of the troubling aspects of it is, that while Congress designates wilderness areas, anybody, we understand, has the ability to go and say, we would like this land, whatever it may be, to be considered as a wild land designation, and then there's an obligation on the part of the BLM to see whether it should be or not."

Today, Mead said no part of Wyoming has been suggested for a wild land designation, but he believes that may be because the order only came out last month.

Designating an area as wild land would be a first step toward protection as wilderness.  Interior Spokeswoman Kendra Barkoff says the new policy will help restore balance to land management.