Hatch bill would force BLM to scrap resource plans, start over

Written by Julie Applegate

A bill introduced in Congress by Sen. Orrin Hatch would throw out recently completed resource management plans for Washington County’s two national conservation areas and require the Bureau of Land Management to restart the planning process. “A court-ordered deadline for publishing RMPs (resource management plans) resulted in BLM rushing its plans from the start, cutting out local voices in the implementation process,” Hatch said in a written statement. The resource management plans govern more than 100,000 acres of public land in Washington County and stirred heated debate during the public comment period that ended last fall. The plans were released in late December, just days before a court-ordered deadline. County officials protested the BLM’s proposed final management plans in October, saying that progress had been made but areas of concern remained, including a proposed northern corridor across the Red Cliffs National Conservation Area...mote