BLM Looks for Recreation Input for Western Oregon

The Bureau of Land Management is developing a 20 year plan for about 2.5 million acres in Western Oregon. They want input from climbers, hikers, paddlers, mountain bikers and backcountry skiers, so this is a great opportunity to help them out and make our voices heard.

The BLM is in charge of a huge chunk of western Oregon - 2.5 million acres from north of Portland all the way south to the state line. This year they are creating a new recreation plan for all of it and they want to get a handle on public demand for specific types of recreation activities, experiences and settings.  

The theory is that if the BLM has better data about various outdoor pursuits, they will end up with better plans. Better plans make it easier to conserve and protect the outdoors while ensuring better experiences for the human powered community.

The BLM is hungry for local perspectives and local knowledge not just about outdoor activities and settings, but what these things mean to our communities. Instead of just commenting on a plan after its written, this time we get to inform the BLM's thinking before they write the plan.

If you have some thoughts on new singletrack, key crags, wild and scenic river candidates, backcountry solitude or front country access, now is the time to share what you think. The BLM is hosting a series of outreach and mapping sessions throughout Western Oregon starting at the end of January: 

  • Medford – 1/29 - BLM District Office, 3040 Biddle Road
  • Roseburg – 1/30 - Umpqua Business Center, 522 SE Washington Ave.
  • Springfield – 1/31 - Public Library, 225 North 5th St.
  • Portland – 2/5 - Mazamas Mountaineering Center

All workshops will run from 4:30 to 8:30pm.

If you cannot make it to any of these sessions, you can still weigh-in with the BLM online. If you have thoughts on Wild and Scenic River matters in particular, be sure to go here.

The lane is open for us to help the BLM really get what is going on in Western Oregon from a human powered perspective and help shape future experiences in this part of the world for the next 20 years.  If you have some insight to share, please do so!