Impact Of Federal Land Policy And Management Act To Be Discussed At CU

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act was passed in 1976, giving the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management a mandate to manage public lands and natural resources for the benefit of all Americans.

In a day-long symposium on Nov. 16, the University of Colorado's Natural Resources Law Center and the Center of the American West in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management will examine the impact that the ambitious law, referred to as FLPMA, has had on the West of today.

Titled "FLPMA and the New West: A Balancing Act Turns 25," the symposium is free and open to the public. It will be held on the Boulder campus at the University Memorial Center's Glenn Miller Ballroom from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Award-winning western author Daniel Kemmis will deliver the keynote speech. Kemmis is director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West and author of numerous articles and books, most notably "Community and The Politics of Place"; "The Good City and the Good Life"; and his newest book "This Sovereign Land: A New Vision for Governing the West," published in June of 2001.

Kemmis also is a former mayor of Missoula and served as speaker and minority leader of the Montana House of Representatives.

In the 25 years since FLPMA's passage, the West has experienced increasing population and changing demands for more and varied uses of public lands. The dominant question of the scholars, activists and federal officials attending the symposium is whether the 1976 Act still gives the BLM the tools it needs to manage public lands for the benefit of present and future generations.

"At one time, the BLM was almost exclusively concerned with grazing and mining," observes Doug Kenney, research associate with the Natural Resources Law Center. "Today, the list of management objectives also includes recreation, environmental protection, energy development and urban interface issues. It's a tough era to be a federal land manager."

Regional and national experts attending the symposium will include:

o former BLM director Frank Gregg;

o Elaine Marquis-Brong, director, Office of the National Landscape Conservation

System;

o Mike Menge, member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee;

o Mike Taylor, field manager for the BLM in Phoenix;

o Gary Sprung, policy adviser for the International Mountain Biking Association; o Gary Bryner of CU's Natural Resources Law Center;

o Stan Dempsey, CEO of Royal Gold, Inc.;

o Charles Wilkinson, CU professor of law ;

o Bill Travis, CU professor of geography;

o and Colorado rancher Penny Lewis.

The panel moderator is Patricia Limerick, director of the Center of the American West and professor of History at CU.

For more information call Jeannie Patton at the Natural Resources Law Center at (303) 492-1288, or send a fax to Patton at (303) 492-1297, or check these Web sites: www.Colorado.EDU/Law/NRLC/FLPMASymposium.html,www.centerwest.org. or www.blm.gov.