After each field office issues a ROD and Approved RMP, the BLM will develop an Implementation Strategy, which will include an annual coordination meeting between the BLM and the agencies cooperating in the Bighorn Basin RMP Revision Project (Appendix D). The annual coordination meeting will include an update on implementation of the plan, foreseeable activities for the upcoming year, and opportunities for continued collaboration with the RMP cooperating agencies. The BLM could schedule additional coordination meetings as needed. The Implementation Strategy will tie RMP decisions to BLM budget requests, and provide a mechanism through which the BLM can track, fund, and accomplish management actions (Appendix D).

Planning and decision-making for BLM administration of public lands is a tiered, ongoing process. Documents produced during each successive tier are progressively more focused in scope and more detailed in terms of identifying specific measures to be undertaken and their potential impacts. The RMP, the first tier in the planning process, provides an overall vision of the goals and objectives and includes measurable steps, anticipated management actions, and allowable uses to achieve that vision. Upon RMP approval, the BLM develops activity- or project-level plans to implement RMP decisions. If the BLM develops an activity-level plan, it usually describes multiple projects for a single resource program (such as a habitat management plan) or multiple projects for multiple resource programs. If the BLM develops a project-specific plan, it usually describes a single project or several related projects.

In general, the BLM prepares a planning-level EIS at the RMP tier and prepares a more detailed EIS or Environmental Assessment at the implementation tier. Activity-level or project-level plans reflect management direction and the broad goals and objectives in the Approved RMP. In most cases, activity-level and project-level plans include additional public review and environmental compliance. This RMP and EIS involves only the RMP tier; therefore, it does not further consider activity-level and project-level plans.

The RMP provides basic program direction and establishes goals, objectives, and allowable uses. It focuses on the resource conditions, uses, and visitor experiences the BLM should achieve and maintain over time. The RMP provides a framework for implementation-level decisions for as long as its decisions remain effective, and must take a long-term view that considers the protracted periods associated with natural processes, which can be years, decades, or longer.