The government has control of over one-third of the nation's land, and 398 million acres of that is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM 6). This land holds a wide diversity of resources, from timber and grazing lands found on the surface, to a mass of oil, natural gas, and minerals lying below the earth. The history of these lands is hardly a dull story, because it is the story of the taming of the "Wild West". Should the BLM though, still be controlling these lands under the same laws that were put in affect to establish the "Western frontier"? I feel that a radical reevaluation of these laws needs to take place, in order to adapt them to the changing demographic and technological advancements of our society. This topic is of importance to park and recreation professionals because it will directly effect how the lands that they are using for parks, are going to be used. The laws that are remaining are allowing companies to hurt the land, which is against the mission statement of the BLM.

The BLM mission statement says, "the Bureau is responsible for the balanced management of the public lands and resources and their various values so that they are considered in a

Houston, D. (1971). Ecosystems of National Parks. Science 172, 648-651.

Due to the increasing demand for outdoor recreation, there has been an overcrowding in our local, state, and national parks. There is a demand for BLM to do more in outdoor recreation. Eight of the 10 states with the highest population growth between 1970 and 1980 were states with substantial acreages of public lands administered by the BLM (BLM 12). The visitation to those lands has increased nearly three-fold in the past 20 years, and there is an expected increase of between 40 and 60 percent by the year 2000 (BLM 12). The amount of people that visit our park system each year is having a profound effect on the ecosystem of the parks. An ecosystem can only absorb the effects of a small number of man-made facilities on it. The number of large complexes that the public wants in their parks has effects that extend beyond there immediate boundaries. Yellowstone Park has to dispose of nearly 7,000 tons of garbage every year (Houston 3). The BLM needs to expand efforts to maintain facilities to protect public investments and the health and safety of the visiting public. In addition to providing additional facilities with Federal funding and private sector concessions to meet the growing outdoor recreation demands.

Wondolleck, J. (1988) Public Lands Conflict and Resolution: Managing National Forest Disputes. New York: Plenum

Since rangelands account for nearly 162 million acres of public land, the nation's rangelands are a vast source of renewable resources. Among many other values the range supports about 4 million head of livestock. Which is an important element in the economic well being of many rural communities and the almost 20,000 operators who depend on public land grazing to support them.

I feel that the United States Government needs to amend the mining law, so that it can address some of the previously mentioned problems. I feel that companies should be allowed to remove viable minerals but they should have regulations placed on them. The U.S. Supreme Court and state courts have upheld state regulations of oil and gas operations to prevent waste (Kusler 147). Since minerals are of a fixed supply I feel that they should be regulated for future use. The mines that do extract a predetermined amount of minerals would also be required to restore the sight back to the natural state of the land, before mining was started. Not only would they be required to return the surface of the land, but also the underlying ground, so as it is not polluted. But they would not receive this land for a mere $5 and acre, I propose that they be charged a certain percentage of the gold removed as rent for the land, for as long as they mine the land. Upon incorporation of all of these laws, which none of the current mines would be exempt from, I feel there would be a reduction of mines. With less mines mineral supplies would be preserved, and the price of minerals would go up, returning profit to the remaining mines, and supporting the government. Another area of the land managed by the BLM is rangeland.

Beatley, T. (1994). Ethical Land Use: Principles of Policy and Planning. Baltimore: John

Some common words found in the essay are:
AUM Arrandale, Supreme Court, American Economy, BLM BLM, Yellowstone Park, United Government, Support BLM, Mining Law, Land Management, West BLM, public lands, outdoor recreation, mining law, public land, public lands system, blm's public, land management, mission statement, bureau land, lands system, grazing lands, blm's public lands, bureau land management, management blm's public,
Approximate Word count = 2156
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)