Opinion ID: 156059
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Summary of Utah Wilderness Debate

Text: A brief review of the history of the wilderness debate in Utah is necessary to put the facts of this case into context. In 1976, Congress enacted the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (“FLPMA”) to, among other things, “[e]stablish a mission for the public lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management” (“BLM”). H.R. Rep. No. 941163, at 431 (1976), reprinted in 1976 U.S.C.C.A.N. 6175, 6176. These public lands comprise approximately one-fifth of the nation’s land and are primarily located in eleven western states and Alaska. See id. -3- FLPMA § 201 requires the Secretary of the Department of Interior (“Secretary”) to “prepare and maintain on a continuing basis an inventory of all public lands and their resource and other values.” 43 U.S.C. § 1711(a). FLPMA § 603 ordered the Secretary to review within fifteen years certain “roadless areas of five thousand acres or more” and report to the President recommendations concerning the “suitability or nonsuitability” of each area for preservation as wilderness. 1 43 U.S.C. § 1782(a). Within two years after receiving the Secretary’s recommendations, the President was to advise Congress of his recommendations. See id. § 1782(b). An Act of Congress is necessary to designate public lands as wilderness. See id. 1 The definition of “wilderness” is taken from the Wilderness Act of 1964, which defines “wilderness” as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. An area of wilderness is further defined to mean ... an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions and which (1) generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable; (2) has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation; (3) has at least five thousand acres of land or is of sufficient size as to make practicable its preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (4) may also contain ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value. 16 U.S.C. § 1131(c). -4- Soon after FLPMA was enacted, BLM began its nationwide wilderness review program in accordance with the Wilderness Inventory Handbook (“WIH”), which was adopted to standardize the FLPMA § 603 process. See BLM, U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, Wilderness Inventory Handbook 3 (1978) [hereinafter WIH]. The review proceeded in three stages: (1) the “inventory” phase, consisting of (a) an “initial inventory” to identify “wilderness inventory units,” which were defined as roadless areas of 5000 acres or more that may have wilderness characteristics, and (b) an “intensive inventory” of these units to determine whether the units possessed wilderness characteristics and, if so, designation of the units as “wilderness study areas” (“WSAs”); (2) the “study” phase, during which WSAs were studied to determine whether the lands were suitable for designation as wilderness; and (3) the “reporting” phase, consisting of the Secretary’s recommendations to the President and the President’s recommendations to Congress. WIH, supra, at 3, 9-11; see also Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Ass’n v. Watt, 696 F.2d 734, 740 (10th Cir. 1982) (discussing § 603 wilderness review process). FLPMA § 603 directed the Secretary to “manage [the lands subject to the wilderness review process] ... so as not to impair the suitability of such areas for preservation as wilderness.” 43 U.S.C. § 1782(c). To implement this -5- directive, BLM adopted the Interim Management Policy and Guidelines for Lands Under Wilderness Review (“IMP”). 2 See Rocky Mountain Oil, 696 F.2d at 739. BLM initially reviewed approximately 22 million acres of federal public lands in Utah and identified approximately 14.5 million acres that “clearly and obviously” did not contain wilderness characteristics. See 44 Fed. Reg. 46,541 (1979). BLM subsequently conducted an intensive inventory of approximately 5.2 million acres to determine the presence or absence of wilderness characteristics. See 45 Fed. Reg. 20,576 (1980); 45 Fed. Reg. 27,831 (1980). In 1980, BLM completed the inventory phase of the § 603 wilderness review process for public lands in Utah and, after a public comment period, published its final inventory decision designating approximately 2.5 million acres as WSAs. See 45 Fed. Reg. 75,602 (1980). In 1991, after lengthy administrative appeals, 3 then-Secretary Manuel Lujan, Jr. recommended to President George Bush that approximately 1.9 million acres be designated as wilderness. See BLM, U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, 2 The lands subject to the FLPMA § 603 review process are managed under the IMP until Congress designates the lands as wilderness or the lands are released from further wilderness consideration. See Rocky Mountain Oil & Gas Ass’n v. Watt, 696 F.2d 734, 740 (10th Cir. 1982) (discussing § 603 wilderness review process). 3 See, e.g., Decision on Protests, 46 Fed. Reg. 15,332 (1981); Utah Wilderness Ass’n, 72 I.B.L.A. 125 (1983) (appealing BLM decision involving approximately 925,000 acres of public lands); Decision on Reassessment of Units Set Aside and Remanded by I.B.L.A., 48 Fed. Reg. 46,858 (1983); Utah Wilderness Ass’n, 86 I.B.L.A. 89 (1985) (appealing BLM’s reassessment with respect to approximately 250,000 acres). -6- Utah Statewide Wilderness Study Report 3 (1991). Shortly thereafter, President Bush forwarded the 1.9 million acre recommendation to Congress. Although various groups, including the Utah congressional delegation, have supported legislation to designate federal lands in Utah as wilderness, 4 Congress has not yet passed any such legislation.