Opinion ID: 156059
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: 1996 Inventory

Text: On July 24, 1996, Secretary Babbitt sent a letter to Utah Congressman James Hansen acknowledging the “stalemate” on the Utah wilderness issue and informing him that “a small team of career professionals, who have substantial expertise in addressing wilderness issues in Utah and elsewhere,” were going to “take a careful look at the lands identified in the 5.7 million acre bill [H.R. 1500] that have not been identified by the BLM as wilderness study areas, and report 4 In 1995, Utah Representatives James Hansen and Enid Greene sponsored H.R. 1745, which would have designated approximately 2.1 million acres of federal lands in Utah as wilderness. Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett introduced a similar bill, S. 884, in the Senate. Various environmental groups supported H.R. 1500, which would have designated approximately 5.7 million acres as wilderness. H.R. 1500, which has been introduced every year since 1989, was sponsored in 1995 by New York Representative Maurice Hinchey. None of the 1995 bills passed. In 1997, Utah Representative Chris Cannon sponsored H.R. 1952, which would designate approximately 2.1 million acres as wilderness. H.R. 1500 was again introduced by Representative Hinchey, along with its Senate counterpart, S. 773, sponsored by Illinois Senator Richard Durbin. To date, none of the 1997 bills have passed. -7- their findings.” 5 Letter from Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior, to James V. Hansen, Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands 2 (July 24, 1996). Babbitt noted the team was “explicitly instructed to apply the same legal criteria that were used in the original inventory” and estimated the work would be completed within six months. Id. Although Representative Hansen, along with Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett, strongly opposed Babbitt’s plan to “re-inventory” federal lands in Utah, 6 the BLM team began its inventory fieldwork in September 1996. The team proceeded with the inventory in accordance with the Utah Wilderness Review Procedures (“1996 Procedures”), which were adopted by BLM specifically for purposes of the 1996 inventory and which incorporated various provisions of the WIH. According to the Defendants in this action, the sole purpose of the 1996 inventory is to identify the presence or absence of wilderness characteristics on the public lands. They assert the report based on the inventory will not contain any recommendations concerning the suitability or unsuitability of the lands for 5 According to Robert V. Abbey, project leader for the 1996 inventory, the inventory was to include fieldwork, review of resource data from recent aerial photography, and review of information generated in prior federal and state reviews and public hearings on the public lands in Utah. See Letter from James V. Hansen, Orrin G. Hatch, & Robert F. Bennett to 6 Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior (Aug. 1, 1996). -8- management as wilderness and neither the inventory nor the report will affect the management of the public lands. Babbitt has consistently maintained that once he reviews the results of the inventory, he will make the report public and determine what further action, if any, will be taken.