New Directions for the National Landscape Conservation System

This week saw Secretary Salazar signing a new order that should increase protection for the more than 27 million acres of land (and associated rivers) designated as part of the National Landscape Conservation System.

The National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) is made up of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands with special designations from Wilderness to Wild and Scenic Rivers to Historic Trails. The idea of this system is only 10 years old, but it covers many areas near and dear to western river lovers from the Klamath to the Owyhee to the Rio Chama to the Virgin.

Idaho Conservation League Director Rick Johnson does an excellent summary of the importance of Secretary Salazar's order in his blog posting Landscape System Gets a Boost. Johnson says there are two critical messages from the new order. First he says: "...it makes clear that the NLCS is a priority of that BLM, and that protection of the values "for which they were designated" is the priority of the agency and science should drive decisions." And second: "It further defines and elevates the BLM's role as a true conservation agency and creates even more distance from the old line about bureau of livestock and mining."

These are truly big shifts for an agency like the Bureau of Land Management. Of course, no order changes the patterns of decades, but it is a step (or two) in the right direction. Hopeful, warming thoughts for a cold and windy Friday in November.