Over the past several years, the Western States have experienced rapid growth and development, and the public lands have been increasingly used for outdoor recreation and tourism.
Many rural communities are reliant on tourism to sustain their economies.
BLM's policy is that it has a basic stewardship responsibility to identify and protect visual values on all BLM lands. This policy is described in BLM Manual Section 8400 - Visual Resource Management . BLM has reemphasized this policy in various other internal directives as well, including Information Bulletin No.