Lack of funds hurting BLM best-lands effort

The National Landscape Conservation System was established to protect and restore the very best of the nation's public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management.

But five years after its establishment by then-Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt, management of these premier lands — including the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah — suffers from inadequate funding and insufficient staff, according to a new study released Wednesday by the Wilderness Society and World Resources Institute.

"Conversation is supposed to be the priority for these places, but despite the presence of talented and committed staff, the report is dominated nationally by grades of C and D," said the Wilderness Society's Wendy VanAsselt, one of the authors of the report.

VanAsselt also noted a need for "true commitment from the leadership to protect these irreplaceable treasures from vandalism, overgrazing and off-road vehicle abuse."

The NLCS nationwide scored mostly C's in the seven categories analyzed in the study, although no grades were assigned for resource conservation and ecosystem health because there just wasn't enough data to draw conclusions.

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument scored better-than-average in most categories, including a B for visitor services and law enforcement — the highest grade of any of the crown jewels in the system.

However, that grade came with an asterisk noting the score does "not reflect the BLM's failure to enforce travel restriction decisions and take legal action against Kane County for posting illegal off-road vehicle signs in the monument."

Grand Staircase was also praised for its conservation approach to its management plan and its plan to restrict off-road vehicles and preserve wilderness qualities. The study also noted that BLM's failure to implement some of those management decisions, like OHV restrictions, is placing natural and cultural resources at risk.

"Places such as Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument have dedicated a talented staff, but these staff simply are not given the funding or support they need to protect these lands from the impacts of increased visitation, damage from illegal off-road vehicle use, and vandalism," said Jill Ozarski with the Wilderness Society.

The report noted that NLCS lands constitute about 10 percent of the 261 million acres of public land managed by the BLM, but only 2.5 percent of the agency's $1.8 billion budget is earmarked for managing the best of the best public lands.