BLM indicated that the proposed rule aims to improve the planning process by making it more collaborative, transparent and effective. Implementation would allow the BLM to apply the best practices that it has identified in the past 30 years of land-use planning in the management of the 245 million acres of public lands that the BLM administers. The rule also establishes an upfront assessment of baseline conditions in the planning area using the best available science and other relevant information, like traditional ecological knowledge and public views.
According to the Public Lands Council, of which the American Sheep Industry Association is a partner member, federal-land ranchers are concerned that these plans will undermine conservation efforts already underway by ranchers. PLC stressed that conservation efforts and land-use decisions are best made as close to the ground as possible.