Following is an outline of Frank DuBois' comments to 12/12/06 Regional Land Management Planning Committee Meeting.  Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.

There are many resources on our Federal lands worthy of protection.  Where multiple use management is not adequate to protect these resources, many immediately turn to the Wilderness Act as the solution.  In fact, there are many options available to more appropriately manage specific resources and provide more flexibility to the land management agency and more access to the general public.

1.  If the primary threat to the resource is future development, that portion of the land can be withdrawn from the disposal provisions of Federal law.  The land could no longer be disposed of by sale or exchange, thus preventing future development.

2.  If the primary threat is mining or oil and gas leasing, that portion of the land can be withdrawn from the mining and mineral leasing provisions of Federal law. If a mining claim or mineral lease already exists on the property, they can be purchased outright or exchanged for claims or leases on other Federal land.

3.  If the primary threat is ORV use Congress has several options it could impose.  Congress could totally ban ORVs, ban them on certain portions of the land or during certain times of the year. Under any of these options, Congress could allow vehicular access to the BLM for administrative purposes and to the grazing permittee for normal ranching operations.

4.  The BLM’s National Landscape Conservation System includes in addition to wilderness the designation of National Conservation Area, Cooperative Management and Protected Area, National Recreation Area and Outstanding Natural Area, all of which have been created by Congress.  None of the latter designations have an “organic act”, so each is tailored by Congress to meet the specific needs of the resource and the local public.

5.  Congress has also established five Special Management Areas on national forest in Arkansas, California, Colorado and Washington.  The legislative designation of a Special Management Area also allows for total flexibility in designing a management system to protect a unique resource.

I would encourage the Task Force to:

1.  Review each parcel and determine it’s special resource (wildlife, archeological, historical, cultural, scenic, etc.) worthy of protection, and

2.  Determine the primary threats to the unique resource, and

3.  Apply the most appropriate land use designation which will protect the unique resource while at the same time doing the least harm to other users of the Federal land.