Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

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Last update 8Mar14

Background

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is a United States Department of the Interior agency that administers public land in the United States. Most of this land is located in the western states and Alaska. It's mission is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

BLM's regulatory role in recreation use (some national monuments, camping, boating, hunting, fishing, mounting biking, driving, etc.) and commercial use (mining of minerals, coal, gas, oil, forestry, grazing, etc.) of public land means that Wazers may navigate to these locations for business and fun.

In one 2006 report (1), the BLM manages over 82,000 miles of road and more than 16,000 miles of trails. Through discussion with BLM staff, this document has not been fully adopted and there is no existing BLM-wide standard on road naming, maintenance levels, and road classification. Yet, from this document, it is clear that BLM roads and land take a different approach than other public lands such as the US Forest Service (USFS) and National Park Service (NPS).

BLM Lands seem typically less structured, supervised, and maintained than USFS and NPS and therefore are trending toward a simpler three-tier road categorization as follows:

• Road: Managed for use by low-clearance vehicles having four or more wheels, and maintained for regular and continuous use.
• Primitive Road: Mannaged for use by four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicles.
• Trail: Managed for human-powered, animal (like horse), or off-highway vehicle (like dirt bike, motorcycle)Trails are not generally managed for use by four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicles.

Waze and BLM

Creating accurate and properly represented BLM landmarks and roads:

• Benefit tourists and recreational users of NPS faculties,
• Better enables commercial use of BLM lands,
• Allows Wazers to more quickly find important landmarks, such as monuments, campgrounds, and visitor centers.

Functional Classification

BLM does not appear to have a consistent and approved functional classification schema. The best reference is a 2006 study and report on Roads and Trails Terminology that suggests three levels of classification for BLM roads.

BLM Type	Description	Suggested Waze Road Treatment
Road	A linear route declared a road by the owner, managed for use by low-clearance vehicles having four or more wheels, and maintained for regular and continuous use.	Street Primary Street
Primative Road	A linear route managed for use by four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicles. Primitive roads do not normally meet any BLM road design standards.	Dirt Road / 4x4 Trail
Trail	A linear route managed for use by four-wheel drive or high-clearance vehicles. Primitive roads do not normally meet any BLM road design standards.	Do Not Map

Editing Resources

National Monuments

BLM's National Conservation Lands include 19 national monuments in western states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. See their National Monuments for details. These will be likely destinations for Wazers.

Similar Road Systems

• Indian Reservation Roads
• US Forest Service Roads
• National Park Service

References

(1) Roads and Trails Terminology Report, 2006

(2) Discussions with BLM staff.