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Part 1: Laying the Groundwork for Range Monitoring
Mandates For Monitoring
In several pieces of legislation, the U.S. Congress has recognized
the importance of rangeland monitoring by directing the use of
monitoring.
Here are some examples of this legislation:
- Federal
Land Policy Act of 1976 calls for “public lands
to be periodically and systematically inventoried”, and
that this inventory be “kept current so as to reflect changes
in conditions and to identify new and emerging issues and their
values.”
- National
Environmental Policy Act (1969) charges federal agencies
to evaluate the consequences of projects using ecological data;
this evaluation requires monitoring information to determine
the response (or possible response) of environmental changes
on rangeland resources.
- Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) is directed by legislation
and executive orders to continuously update management objectives
and monitor federal lands, especially concerning plant populations
and native habitats.
- Endangered
Species Act of 1973 (amended
in 1988) directs all Federal agencies to conserve threatened
and endangered species and to assist the Secretary of the Interior
in monitoring all listed species, and “species
of concern.”
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