| The U.S. Federal Land Policy and Management Act was passed in 1976. It gave the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, known as the BLM, the authority to manage its lands. The Act was created because the BLM needed some sort of Congressional purpose and
recognition, while wanting to retain its lands. After numerous failed attempts at passing bills in Congress to help with the issue, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, or the FLPMA, was passed. This Act dealt with four areas: the BLM's new authority, and its grazing, mining, and preservation policies. To begin with, the Act declared that the lands in question would remain classified as public. It gave the BLM power over these lands and mandated that the Bureau produce
land-use plans, as well as resource inventories. The President was to name a director for the BLM, and the appointment was to be approved by Senate. The Act permits the sale of these public lands, but only under certain regulations. It also authorizes the BLM to enforce the law on its public lands in compliance with local law enforcers whenever possible. The BLM now had the power to capture, remove, or relocate wild horses and burros from public land, and the Secretary
of the Interior could grant permission for electrical cables and pipelines to pass through this land. A controversial issue was a grazing fee. The 1976 Act requested that this be determined the following year by the Secretary of Agriculture. FLPMA also stipulated ten-year grazing permits, with compensation for the permittee if the permit was canceled. In addition, the FLPMA stated that BLM lands were to be considered for wilderness status. Finally, it required that
mining claims be recorded with the BLM, as opposed to at the local county courthouse, and that this be done within three years. It amended the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 by providing states with more money from the leases. In some cases, the FLPMA has been questioned. The Act is accused, for example, of having caused the Sagebrush Rebellion, a movement to give the control of federal lands over to the states. The text of the law |
