U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) delivers opening remarks at a hearing to examine how the BLM land use planning process under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) affects permitting before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Nove. 19, 2025. Courtesy photo
NATIONAL News:
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In his opening statement at a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing to examine how the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land use planning process impacts permitting under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), the Committee’s Ranking Member, emphasized the importance of making resource management plans more efficient and more responsive to changes in how we use our public lands, while making sure that our public lands continue to serve the public for generations to come.
“The Federal Land Policy and Management Act, or FLPMA, says something pretty simple: it says that the Bureau of Land Management should look at the lands it manages and decide how to manage those lands for multiple uses,” Heinrich said. “The BLM has a complicated job—it has to figure out how to fit energy development, and wilderness and grazing and wildlife habitat and mining and fishing and timber and camping and cultural resource preservation on the lands it manages.”
“Finding ways to accommodate the broad range of everything from wilderness to mining is not easy, but the planning process makes sure that all uses are considered, and everyone’s voices are heard,” Heinrich continued.
“The BLM has not been able to keep up with revisions to keep these plans aligned with today’s priorities and technologies,” Heinrich followed, emphasizing the importance of updating resource management plans. “On BLM land alone, recreation supports 76,000 jobs and contributes to more than $12 billion in economic output… I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today about how we can make the planning process more efficient.”
A video of Heinrich’s opening remarks can be found here.