"On the sagebrush plains of eastern Montana, cattle graze alongside mule deer, and pumpjacks rise from coal seams. For nearly a decade, the future of this landscape was hammered out in the Miles City Resource Management Plan, a compromise shaped by ranchers, tribes, hunters, energy companies and conservationists. Now, with one vote in Washington, Congress has thrown that bargain into doubt, and with it, decades of public-lands decisions across the West."
"Resource management plans serve as guidelines for how the BLM manages the public lands it oversees. The plans are developed through a lengthy process that combines local and tribal input with environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The goal is to create a blueprint for "multiple use" management, balancing economic activities such as grazing and oil and gas development with other concerns, including wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation and conservation."
The Miles City Resource Management Plan governed 12 million acres of BLM land and 55 million acres of federal mineral estate in eastern Montana and balanced ranching, tribal interests, hunting, energy development and conservation. Finalized in November 2024 after years of negotiation and litigation, the plan established guidelines through local and tribal input and environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act. On Sept. 3, the U.S. House voted to overturn Miles City and two other BLM plans under the Congressional Review Act, creating immediate uncertainty for ranchers, risking tribal protections and potentially undermining long-standing environmental safeguards.
#miles-city-resource-management-plan #congressional-review-act #blm-land-use-planning #public-lands-conservation
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