Consolidate land ownership to achieve management efficiency with regard to the following considerations:
Consider and evaluate the overall combination of all resource values and factors including wildlife habitat, riparian areas, wetlands, cultural resources, recreation opportunities, scenic value, watershed protection, timber and mining resources, rangelands, public access and a broad array of recreation uses;
Consider the use of patent reservations and habitat management plans when conveying lands from Federal ownership; and
Consider and evaluate making public land available for disposal to local governments and non-profits under the Recreation & Public Purposes Act.
Obtain reasonable public and administrative access to BLM-managed lands in the following ways:
Require reciprocal access easements to meet specific program needs;
Consider and manage the use of public lands for rights-of-way, right-of-way reservations, easement, permits, leases, licenses, agreements, etc, except for those areas identified exclusion areas; and
Secure access easements as needed to prevent closing of access to public lands.
Consider and evaluate in land adjustment actions (including disposal, acquisition, sale, donation) the following:
Reduction of BLM administrative costs and improvement of management efficiency;
Identify for disposal relatively small, isolated, inaccessible tracts of BLM that do not meet resource management needs; and
Consider and evaluate conveyances or acquisitions that would reduce conflicts between BLM and non-Federal landowner objectives, especially when conflicts are adversely affecting BLM management.
Consider opportunities to acquire non-Federal lands by purchase or exchange (willing seller) where lands are valuable for achieving BLM resource management objectives. Evaluate the following:
key wildlife habitat, fisheries management areas and habitat for threatened, endangered, or sensitive species,
designated wilderness and other special management areas,
lands with historical or important heritage resources, outstanding scenic values, or critical ecosystems when these resources are threatened by change of use, or when management may be enhanced by public ownership,
lands with water frontage, such as lakes, streams, flood plains, wetlands, and associated riparian ecosystems,
land with important value for outdoor recreation purposes,
land needed for visual resource protection,
lands needed to bring existing BLM land into consolidated geographical units,
lands that will maintain or stabilize the economies of local government,
lands where BLM programs will provide the best insurance against existing or potential uses that are incompatible with effective watershed management,
consider partial interest acquisitions , such as access, minerals, water rights or conservation easements to benefit public land management,
consider public/private land management and stewardship opportunities to assist in the management of BLM-managed lands, and
consider disposal of Federal subsurface estate under non-Federal surface estate on a case-by-case basis. Seek opportunities to consolidate surface and mineral ownership.
Corridors to be designated in the Resource Management Plans (RMPs) and EIS should be considered on the basis of their suitability to accommodate right-of-way for facilities of particular threshold sizes or volumes. A corridor is defined only if it contains or is planned for one or more of the following major facilities:
natural gas and other pipelines are at least 10 inches in diameter,
electric transmission facilities have a capacity of 115 kV lines or greater voltage,
significant canals are those which provide delivery of water to urban areas, and
transportation facilities are those formally defined as Current or Proposed Roads of regional Significance or Current or Proposed Major Arterials (functional class) identified by a local government jurisdiction as regionally significant and projected to carry 20,000 or more vehicles per day by the year 2015.
Utilities, whether interstate, intrastate, or local, should be co-located in designated corridors to the maximum degree possible to minimize impacts to BLM-administered lands.
Transportation routes, whether interstate, intrastate, or local, should be co-located with utilities in designated corridors to the maximum degree possible to minimize impacts to BLM-administered lands.
BLM will strive to coordinate applicable transportation-related planning efforts for the Bradshaw-Harquahala Planning Area with the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT), the Maricopa County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), and the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG), and Yavapai County.
Smaller utility lines needed for local service in the vicinity of the corridors should be co-located within a corridor unless doing so would limit the opportunity to add additional major utility lines in the corridor.
Avoidance of sensitive or special resources is a primary consideration in future planning and designation of utility corridors.
BLM’s planning should promote, whenever possible, optimal energy transfer efficiency and support alternative energy sources such as use of photovoltaic cells (solar energy) and wind power.
In February 2003, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued the National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets (DHS 2003) which summarized the initial assessment of, and planning to protect against, vulnerabilities to the terrorist threat. As DHS continues to carry out its mandate, the designation of utility and transportation corridor location and the planning and maintenance of utilities, railroads, and Federal, State, and interstate highways that cross BLM-administered lands, will be consistent with any directives, policies, and procedures that DHS may institute to minimize vulnerabilities to the energy grid.
Whenever possible, utility transmission lines will be designed and/or routed so as to minimize adverse visual impacts to the surrounding lands and vistas.
BLM’s utility corridor designations must be consistent with authority granted under FLPMA Title V, Sections 501–511 (43 USC 1761–1771), the Mineral Leasing Act of 1928 (CFR 2880), and the BLM Right-of-Way Manual, Sections 2801.11 and 2801.12. In accordance with Executive Order No. 13212, the Energy Project Streamlining process (signed May 18, 2001), Federal energy-related planning must serve to expedite the production, transmission, or conservation of energy.
BLM will continue to cooperate as a full partner (with U.S. Forest Service, APS, and SRP , in AZ) in the Western Utility Group, whose mission is to facilitate an exchange of information and coordinate planning efforts between Federal agencies and utility providers throughout the western U.S.
BLM will, as appropriate, coordinate communication-related planning efforts with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
BLM’s planning related to telecommunication infrastructure must, in accordance with the Telecommunications Act of 1996, help facilitate implementation of wireless telephone systems, in compliance with existing law, by making Federal lands and facilities available for communication sites.
The common land uses requiring permits are commercial photography, apiaries, geological and hydrological testing, and some military activities. The recipients of R leases or patents are State and local governments and qualified nonprofit organizations.