Alaska Gov. supports lawsuit against BLM targeting 'wild lands'

Gov. Sean Parnell has directed the Department of Law to join in a lawsuit brought by the state of Utah against the Bureau of Land Management regarding recent changes in federal policy on how that agency manages public lands. The lawsuit was filed today by Utah officials and Parnell prompted directed Alaska's law department to support Utah in the litigation. Parnell alleges that the BLM policy imposed in December by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar arbitrarily creates a new public land designation of "wild lands," directs federal agencies to protect the wilderness values of such lands, creates additional potential costs and delays in the permitting process, and overrides existing regional land use management plans...more

Alaska's motion for Amicus Curiae is here.