State and County Resource Management Planning

A Resource Management Plan (RMP) is a planning document used to define policy, goals, and objectives for managing natural resources on public lands (Utah Code 63L-6-103).  The State and each of its counties have adopted resource management plans, which address topics ranging from agriculture and livestock grazing to wilderness and wild and scenic rivers.

The State of Utah supports the wise use, conservation, and protection of public lands and their resources, including well-planned management prescriptions. It is the State’s position that public lands be managed for multiple uses, sustained yields, prevention of waste of natural resources, and to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public.

It is important to the State economy that public lands be properly managed for fish, wildlife, livestock production, timber harvest, recreation, energy production, mineral extraction, water resources, and the preservation of natural, scenic, scientific, cultural and historical values.

The cornerstone of this management is the coordination and cooperation between the State and Federal land management agencies. The State recognizes that federal agencies are mandated to manage public lands according to federal laws, policies, and regulations established within the framework of the U. S. Constitution, including the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). As part of this framework, the Federal agencies must provide consideration to local plans and identify any inconsistencies between local and Federal plans. The State and County RMPs provide federal land managers local plans which they shall consider in their planning processes affecting the use of public lands.

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