The Bureau of Land Management has released a final version of BLM planning 2.0. Ethan Lane, Executive Director of the Public Lands Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association federal lands said this process radically alters federal land management planning and moves the agency away from its mandate to manage for multiple use on federal lands.

“We are continuing to review how much, if any, our input has been incorporated into the final plan, but regardless, we object to the Administration moving forward in the final days of the President’s term with this hastily-released regulation – particularly with one that will have such dramatic economic impact on western states,” said Lane.

Of the final rule, Chairman-Elect of the Congressional Western Caucus, U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz.) said the following:

“Once again, the Obama Administration believes that Washington knows best and continues to defy the principles of federalism, subjugating Americans to another erroneous rule and more government red tape that strips away the authority and expertise of local land managers. BLM 2.0 is a bureaucratic nightmare that will kill jobs and create unnecessary permitting delays. This fundamentally flawed regulation will also impose costly and duplicative mandates on job creators and local communities. Local planning decisions should be made by the experts on the ground at the local level, not Washington bureaucrats. The Congressional Western Caucus will work with the Trump Administration, Republican leadership and important industry groups like the Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association to scrap misguided directives imposed by Obama’s political hacks during their waning days.”