visual resource management program - blm

8/9/2019 Visual Resource Management Program - BLM

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_ Bur

of l nd Management

Vlsual Resource Management

isual

Resource

Management

Program

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Deoartment of the lntenot

Bureau ol

land

Management

0.vlsoon ol

RecfNtloo

end

Cultural

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ano C

Strffls

. N.W

Was llngton, o .e. 2020

2 0 2 . J . & 3 . 9 3 ~

LM O.VISion

Reclesllon aoo Cu/rural Resourr:es. Washington.

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ontents

Perspectlve

System

Proe

lnt 51ration

Appltcatlon

Concep1

II nl

lnventory/Evaluatlon

Manaaement Classes

Contrast Ratlng

Land

Use

Plannlng

VRM and E n a r g ~ D e v e l ~ m e n t

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erspective

The quality of the visual environment has become

increasingly importan to the American publlc. The

Bureau of Land Management is committed to

managing visual resources on an equal bass wlth ali

other resources as

it

ontinuas to put public land to

productive use.

Visual Resource Management (

VRM

has dual

program purposes: to manage the quality of the

visual envlronment, and to reduce the visual lmpact

of development activities, while maintainlng

effectiveness in all Bureau resource programs_VRM

also identfies scenic areas that warrant protection

through special management attenlion. lt is a specfic

process that can

be

mapped and lncorporated lnto

design planning for projects ranging from sit lng

transmission lines to harvesting timber.

This publicatlon fs an lntroeluctlon to the

VRM

program. lts intended use is to tamiliarize decislon

makers. land use planners, and designers both inside

and outside

ol

the Bureau wth VRM and its benefits.

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ew

lrectlons

Managing the visual aspects of changes to lhe

natural landscape is particularly importan for the

Bureau of Land Managernent because rnost activities

taking place on Bureau lands

ln

volve sorne degree of

alterat ion. The Bureau's responslbllitles for visual

management are spelled out In key passages of

recen Federal legislation.

The Federal Land

Po llc

y and Management Act

ol

1

976

(FLPM

A

, often

re

ferred to as the "organlc'' act

for the Bureau, requlres lhat:

publlc lands be rnanaged in a

rnan

ner that wlll

protect the quality of scient fic, scenlc,

hlstorlcal, ecological , environmental, air and

atmospherlc, water resource, and

archaeological vaJu

es

; thal, where approprlate,

wil l preserve a

nd

protect certaln pub

llc

lands

in their natural condition; that wi

ll

provide food

and habit

t

f

or

fish and wildlife and domestic

anlmals; ano that wlll provide for outdoor

recreat

lo

n and human occupancy and use

The

act also states that the Secretary of the Interior

shall:

prepare and maintain on a continuing basis

an

lnventory of ali publlc lands and thelr resource

and other

va

lues (l ncluding but not llmlted to

outdoor recreatlon and scenic values).

The Act, for the first time, places s eni resources on

an

equal basis with other resources.

lt

also makes

lnventorylng and managlng scenic and other

environmental values

an

expllclt criterlon that must

be appl ied throughout the land management activlties

of the Bureau.

Th ls same law also places new emphass on t

he

role

of land use plann

in

g by requirlng that resource

management plans:

glve priority to the deslgnatlon and protectlon

of

areas

of

critica environmental concern. The


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crlteria for ident lfying these areas are stated

In l ho deflnllion sectlon: " areas . where

specal management a'ttentron Is requlred

to protec t and prevent Irreparable damage to

Importan historical,

cul

tural, or scenic values,

lish and wldlile resources or other natural

systems or processes or to protect life and

safety from na tural hazards."

The Natlonal Envlronmental Pollcy Act

of 1969

(NEPA), an

ea

rlier and very im

po

rtan piece

of

environmental legislation, states that it is the Federal

Government's responsbillty

to

:

assure for ali Amerlcans sale, healthy

productlve, and aesthe'lically and culturally

pleaslng surroundings.

Th

e Act lurther says that:

all agencies of the Federal Government shall

ldentify

an

d develop methods and

procedures

. whlch wlll lnsure that presently

unquantil ied

en

vlronmental amenltles and

values may be gl

ven

approprlate conslderatlon

In decislon-maklng along with economic and

technical considerations.

lt

also requires:

a systematlc and lnterdlsclp

ll

nary approach

whlch wlll lnsure the lntegrated use ol the

natural and social sciences and the environ

mental deslgn arts In planning and decislon

making whlch may have an lmpact on man's

environment.

Slgnlflcant aspects

ol

lhese Federal laws are thelr

lncreased emphasis on env lronmental and scenlc

values and their requirement that the longlerm and

shortlerm consequences of all resource

commllments receive equal consideration.


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The

ureau

and Land anagement

America's publlc lands and their resources have

always been a publ lc trust,

but

the

m

nagement role

of

lhe

Fed

eral Government has changed wlth the

times. After creat

io

n of the ''Public Dom in, when

lands west of the Allegheny Mountains were

transferred to Federal admlnistratlon early in the

nineteenth cen

tu

ry, the government assumed respon

sibility for the protecllon and use of publlc lands.

Hundreds

of

laws and grants were subsequently

enacted to transfer ownershlp

ot

these lands to

homesteaders and other private partles. In the

mid-1930s, however, the emphasls changad. Since

that time, concepts for controlled management

of

the

remalning publlc land (about 2 percent of the

l

nd

area of the United States) have gradually evol

ved

.

Ove r time, a number of public agencies have been

created to oversee and manage public lands. One of

these, the Bureau of

Land Management, was

established in 1946 and given responslbllity primarily

for the larga grazing

l

nds o f lhe West. That

stewardshlp has been expanded unti l now the Bureau

bears responsibility tor the total management of ovar

400 mllllon acres of publlc land In the Far West,

Alaska , and small areas scattered through the rest of

the Natlon. In addlllon, the Bureau manages

an

estimated million acres of property on the Outer

Continental Shelf. The Bureau's variad land manage

ment programs concern themselves wlth energy

sources such as o

ll

and gas, wlth llmber, wlldllfe, and

grazJng activities, and with the cultural siles and

recreation areas located on publlc land. In

1977

,

revenues from these lands and resou

rc

es totalled

more than

S3

bill ion. These funds were deri

ved

from

mineral leasing, land and timber sales, and other

license, lee, and permit prog

ra

ms administered by the

Bureau.

By Congressional mandate, management of the

resources of these varied lands for

mu tiple use

and

sustained yi

el

is a major part of the Bureau's

responsibility. Mu tiple use involves balancing the

development of diversa resources, both renewable

and non-renewable. Sustai

ne

d ye d involves

coo

rd

inating the management

of

these resources

so

that environmental quality and the productivity of the


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land are not permanently lmpalred. Managing vast

and varied resources under this mandate

is

a

complex undertaking, particularly since the priorities

set for one management c l i v i ~ y otten conflict with

the prioritles set

lor

another.

The ureau and Visual Resources

The Bureau

of

Land Management 1s concerned with

managng visual resources equally with other

resources and

tt

inlng acceptable leve ls

of

visual

lmpact without unduly reduclng commodlty

product ion or

li

mitlng overall program effectlveness. lt

is therelore Bureau policy that visual resource

considerations be included in environmental assess

ments, in land use plannng decisions, and in the

implementatlon of resource projects.

Since it was put into effect in 1975 the VRM program

has helped set standards

lor

transmisslon line

lcx:allon, tlmber harvestlng, recreallon development,

range management. mlning actlvitles, and highway

placement.

Because the scenic value and

m

nagement

objectlves of public lands vary,

lt is

not practicaJ to

provide a uniform level

of

visual management for ali

areas adminlstered

by

the Bureau. The agency has

therefore developed a system for

eva

luating the visual

resources

of

a given area and for determinlng what

degree of protection, rehabllltatlon, or enhancement

is desirable and possible. This Bureauwide system

provides an interdisciplinary approach

to

managing

visual resources. The lntegratlon

of

VR into the

Bureau s procedures for plannlng and envlronmental

analysis ensures maximum coordination between a

proposed land use and the existing visual conditions.


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lnvantory Evaluatlon

Managament Classes

Contrast Ratlng

LM

Priva

t

se tor

Govemment

Agencias

Proposed

Actlvttles

lmplementetJon

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oncepts

The

VRM

system Is an analytical prooess that

identifies, sets, and meets objectives for malntalnlng

scenlc values and vlsual quallty.

The

system is based on research lhat has produced

ways of assessing aesthetic qual lties of the

landscape In objeclive terms. What had

bee

n

oonsidered extremely subjective (aesthetic judgment,

particularly concernlng the landscape) was found to

have ldentlf

la

ble, consisten qualltles that can be

described and measured. Whatever the terraln (and

whoever the observar), perception

of

visual qua

li

ty in

a landscape seems to

be

based on several common

principies:

Landscape character is primari ly determlned by

the four basic visual elements of torm

//ne o or

t xtu

Although a

ll

four elements are present in

every landscape, they ex

en

varylng degrees of

influence.

The stronger the influence exerted by these

etements, the more lnteresl ing the landscape.

The more visual variety in a landscape, the more

aesthetically pleasing the landscape. Variety with

out harmony, however, is unattractive, particularly

In terms

of

alteratlons (cultural modiflcations) that

are made wlthout care.

The Bureau incorporales these and other principies in

lts broad program for man

ag

lng visual resources.

The

VRM

system functions In two ways.

First, for management purposes, the Bureau conducts

an lnventory that eva luates visual resouroes

on

all

Form Une

mu

lated Ac t

lvity

lands under its jurisdiction (

ln

ventoryfEvaluation).

Once lnventorled and analyzed , lands are glven

relative vlsuaJ ratlngs (Management Classifl

ca

tlon.

The development

of

Management Classes is not

project-speci

fic

. lt Is a general process to ldentlfy

broad visual objectives for a

ll

pub

li

c lands.

Second, when development Is proposed, by the

Bureau itself (through its planning process

,

or by

other agencies or the prlvate sector, the degree

of

contras between the proposed actlvlty and the

ex isting landscape is measured (Contrast Ratlng).

These comblned steps const ltute the VRM process,

which has a number

of app

li

cations. The process can

he

lp

ma

ke the visual lmpact of proposed actlvl tles

more acceptable whlle these activltles are stlll In the

deslgn stage. Graphlc slmulatlons of proposed

actlvltles he lp illustrate the extent of potentlal visual

impact. Modifications may

be

suggested. Ourlng

pro)ect oonstructlon, monltorlng assesses actual

visual impact. In both lnstances, VAM plays a support

role.

VRM

also functions in ctose conjunc

ti

on with two

other key Bureau programs: Land Use Plannlng,

which aflects nearly every resource declsion, and

Environmental Assessment, whlch Is requlred In

proposals made for projects on BLM managed lands.

The flexlblll ty of VRM allows

it

to

be

easlly

incorporated i

nto

these curren decision-making

processes as well as into those that may be

developed In the future.

Telduro

onltOflng t y Sltelll te lmaQllllY

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visual resource management program - blm

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