The Conservation System Act is simple legislation that codifies the National Landscape Conservation System. The Conservation System has been administratively supported by the most recent Democratic and Republican administrations, but has not yet received a formal congressional authorization. The Act will provide overdue congressional recognition for the National Landscape Conservation System, which contains some of America’s most stunning lands and waters. The Conservation System is focused on preserving intact Western landscapes with historical antiquities in their original settings. These BLM lands have wild, rugged characteristics where visitors can enjoy a remote experience symbolic of the American West. Congressional recognition provides the System with the recognition of a unified system and an endorsement of their importance.

The National Landscape Conservation System

• Provides a Congressional Stamp of Approval for the System: The Conservation System Act is straightforward legislation that simply provides statutory recognition of the existing National Landscape Conservation System, its units, the purposes for which the System was established and a general authorization for appropriations. Bipartisan support for the System and codification legislation already exists within the National Landscape Conservation System Caucus, co-chaired by Representative Grijalva, Moran, Bono and Renzi.

• Unifies Separate Units into a Coherent System: While each of the units, such as National Monuments or National Historic Trails, were created pursuant to various statutory authorities and have been informally organized as a system, the National Landscape Conservation System itself has not been established statutorily. Codification will recognize a single, unifying System within the Bureau of Land Management, ensuring consistent management in keeping with the System’s conservation mission and each area’s establishing legislation or proclamations. This will also facilitate more efficient communications and management within the BLM, as it will now have clear direction from Congress to manage these lands and waters as a System.

• Ensures Permanence: The Act will permanently establish perhaps the last great American system of protected lands. By enacting codifying legislation, Congress will ensure the System’s permanence and an enduring legacy of the West’s natural and cultural heritage for future generations. Codification would prevent any future misguided attempts to dissolve the System.

• Enhances the System’s Stature within the Department of Interior: By taking action, Congress can ensure that the System will rise in stature as a system of crown jewel lands alongside those administered by the National Park Service. Codification will ensure that BLM recognizes the Conservation System as a priority program.

• Would not impact private in-holdings or lands managed by other agencies; alter existing oil and gas or grazing leases or other grandfathered uses; limit public access or activities such as fishing and hunting; or in any way affect units that are co-managed with other federal agencies, as only BLM lands would be included in the System. It would not affect the underlying enabling legislation for individual units.