Resource Management Plan ce Management Plan 

Management of Newly Acquired Lands
1

Lands may come under BLM administration aĞer this RMP is approved. This could 

occur through exchange, donation, purchase, revocation of withdrawals to other Federal 

agencies, or relinquishment of Recreation and Public Purposes Act leases. Discretionary 

acquisitions (such as exchanges) will be guided by approved RMP “lands acquisition 

criteria” based on resource values of high public interest. Newly acquired lands will be 

managed for the highest potential purpose for which they were acquired. For example, 

lands acquired within special management areas with specific Congressional mandates 

(i.e., wild and scenic rivers) will be managed in conformance with established guidelines 

for those areas. If lands with unique or fragile resource values are acquired, those values 

will be protected and managed on an interim basis until the next plan amendment or 

revision was completed. as completed. 

Lands acquired without identified special values or management goals will be managed 

in the same manner as comparable BLM lands. This implies typical livestock grazing, 

recreation management or timber harvest opportunities, and related management 

practices, management of the mineral estate, standard operating procedures and precommiĴed mitigation measures. Exchanges of lands resulting in net adjustments in the 

livestock grazing program will be reported to the public in periodic Rangeland Program 

Summary Updates or RMP evaluation or progress reports. aluation or progress reports. 

Operations and Maintenance Actions Operations and Maintenance Actions 

Maintenance of existing and newly constructed facilities or projects will occur over time; 

however, the level of maintenance could vary from year to year based on annual funding. 

Normally routine operation and maintenance actions area categorically excluded from 

NEPA analysis. Such activities could include, but are not limited to, routine maintenance 

of existing roads, ditches, culverts, water control structures, recreation facilities, 

pipelines, waterholes, fences, caĴleguards, seedings, fish and wildlife structures, signs, 

and other similar facilities and projects. These types of actions are considered to be 

part of the implementation of this plan and should not require any further analysis to 

implement on the ground. Maintenance of existing facilities in WSAs will be considered 

on a case-by-case basis and may require additional NEPA analysis. analysis. 

Plan Implementation 

Introduction Introduction 

The Resource Management Plan provides a long-term vision for how BLM administered 

lands in the plan area will function on the local, regional, and national landscape into 

the future. It establishes land allocations and allowable uses to meet specific goals and 

objectives for management of natural resources and land uses. es for management of natural resources and land uses. 

The RMP will be implemented over a roughly 10-20 year timeframe, as funding allows. 

Some of the land use plan decisions are effective upon approval of this document. 

However, many decisions will take a number of years to implement on the ground. 

Implementation monitoring will track progress of RMP decisions. Effectiveness 

monitoring will evaluate whether decisions or actions are achieving management goals. 

Adaptive management, as described below, will be used to make changes to those 

decisions which are not achieving management goals. decisions which are not achieving management goals. 

159 
Upper Deschutes Record of Decision and Resource Management Plan ce Management Plan 

An implementation and monitoring schedule helps to focus priorities in order to leverage 

multiple resources; identifies key partnerships where mutual interests can be met with 

minimum costs; and provides specific interests an opportunity to focus their resources on 

areas of specialized interest. areas of specialized interest. 

Public Involvement in Plan Implementation Public Involvement in Plan Implementation 

The Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan was developed using a community 

and consensus - based process. That approach will also be applied to projects that 

implement the objectives and anticipated outcomes of the Upper Deschutes RMP. 

The Deschutes basin is the focus of many basin-wide interests. In times of increasing 

public interest and changing public funds, integrating these efforts is critical. For 

instance, the recently completed Deschutes subbasin assessment has been draĞed for 

the Northwest Power & Conservation Council to help focus restoration priorities and 

funding throughout the basin. Watershed councils in the Upper Deschutes and Crooked 

River watersheds are also working on securing funding for basin-wide priorities like 

water quality monitoring and watershed restoration activities such as containment or 

eradication of noxious weed populations. Many of these efforts are complementary and 

could be integrated with implementation and monitoring of many of the objectives of the 

Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan. Upper Deschutes Resource Management Plan. 

Plan Maintenance and Evaluation Plan Maintenance and Evaluation 

Minor changes, refinements, or clarifications in the RMP, including incorporating new 

data, are called plan maintenance actions. Plan maintenance actions do not expand 

the scope of resource uses or restrictions or change the terms, conditions, or decisions 

of the approved Upper Deschutes RMP. Maintenance actions are not considered plan 

amendments or revisions and do not require formal public involvement and interagency 

coordination. However, these types of actions will be reported in periodic planning 

updates.
1

The BLM planning regulations (43 CFR 1610.4-9) call for the monitoring of resource 

management plans on a continual basis with a formal plan evaluation done at regular 

intervals. Proposed future activity plan decisions will be evaluated to ensure consistency 

with RMP objectiv objectives. 

As part of the evaluation process, other government agencies may be asked to review the 

implementation of the RMP and advise the BLM of consistency with their current plans, 

programs, and policies. Upon completion of periodic evaluations, the Prineville District 

Manager will determine what, if any, changes are necessary to ensure that management 

actions are consistent with management goals. This could be accomplished through 

adaptive management principles (see explanation below). It is also possible that the need 

to consider monitoring findings, new data, new or revised policy, or a new proposed 

action that may result in a change in the terms, conditions, or decisions of the RMP, could 

lead to changes so great that a plan amendment or revision must be initiated.
1

Formal plan evaluation will occur at about five-year intervals and evaluate:
1

- Whether management actions are resulting in satisfactory progress toward objectives;
1

- Whether actions are consistent with current policy;
1

- Whether original assumptions were correctly applied and impacts correctly predicted;
1

- Whether mitigation measures are satisfactory;
1

- Whether the RMP is consistent with the plans and policies of state and local 

government, other federal agencies and Indian Tribes; 

160 
 is a procedure in which decisions and changes in management are 

Resource Management Plan ce Management Plan 

- Whether new data are available that will require alteration of the plan; and ailable that will require alteration of the plan; and 

- Whether the RMP is still v is still valid or needs to be amended or revised. alid or needs to be amended or revised. 

New Information and Adaptive Management New Information and Adaptive Management 

In developing the RMP, the BLM used the best science available, including the scientific 

assessment from the ICBEMP (USDA-FS and USDI-BLM, 1996 and 1997). The staff also 

collaborated with other federal, state, local, and tribal government agencies and involved 

the public. However, the agency’s knowledge will change as local environmental 

conditions change, as new management techniques are learned, and as advances in 

science and technology are beĴer understood. As a result, it is inevitable that in the future 

some of the management direction in the RMP will be found to be inadequate or in need 

of update. of update. 

To rectify such situations, implementation of the RMP decisions will use an adaptive 

management approach to modify management actions to incorporate new knowledge 

gained over time. New information could also cause a plan amendment or revision to be 

prepared. prepared. 

Adaptive management Adaptive management is a procedure in which decisions and changes in management are is a procedure in which decisions and changes in management are 

made as part of an ongoing process. It is a continuous process of planning, implementing, 

monitoring, evaluating, and incorporating new information into strategies to meet the 

goals and objectives of the management described in the RMP. This process builds on 

current knowledge, observation, experimentation, and learning from experience. A 

continuous feedback loop allows for mid-course corrections in management to meet 

goals and objectives. It also provides a model for adjusting goals and objectives as new 

information develops and public desires change. elops and public desires change. 

The complex interrelationships of physical, biological, and social components of 

the ecosystem and how they react to land management practices are oĞen not fully 

understood when a land-use management plan is developed. To be successful, plans 

must have the flexibility to adapt and respond to new knowledge or conditions. exibility to adapt and respond to new knowledge or conditions. 

The following briefly describes the four parts of adaptive management: e management: 

1. Planning/Decision – plan development (or revision) is the process leading to 

decision-making. It starts with issue identification and goals development. The next 

step is to gather information necessary to develop alternatives for management 

direction that address the issues and goals. The final stage is to develop alternative 

management strategies to address issues and meet the management goals, analyze 

the consequences of the alternatives, and choose a preferred alternative for 

implementation. implementation. 

2. Implementation – the process of puĴing a plan or decision into effect. 

Implementation includes short- and long-term actions. Implementation includes short- and long-term actions. 

3. Monitoring – collecting data to detect change in the condition and trend of the 

ecosystem and to determine if plan objectives are being met. es are being met. 

4. Evaluation/Assessment – this is the point where plan implementation is reviewed 

and monitoring data are analyzed to judge the success of the plan in meeting 

goals and objectives. This may lead to making recommendations for changes in 

management actions. The understanding gained through evaluations is critical to 

managing sustainable, healthy, and productive landscapes. e landscapes. 

161