Wednesday, March 12, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- Amid an outcry from ranchers, sportsmen and Western politicians, the Interior Department abandoned a plan to overhaul its policing regulations within federally managed land across much of the West.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said Tuesday that the proposal, unveiled in November by the Bureau of Land Management, had been plagued by "confusion and misinformation" and must gain "a higher level of acceptance" before proceeding further.
Babbitt, in a letter to Idaho Gov. Phil Batt, promised that "no further action will be taken" on the proposal to consolidate law enforcement rules and that the BLM would re-examine the issue from the beginning.
Batt had complained about the proposed changes when Babbitt visited Idaho last month.
Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan, both D-Nev., also opposed the regulations.
"The proposed regulations struck a nerve in Nevada," Bryan said. "I heard from many constituents who felt very strongly that if they went into effect, the relationship between the BLM and local officials would change significantly as more law enforcement authority over public lands would be shifted to the federal government."
Interior officials said the proposed rule changes were aimed at streamlining law enforcement within the 270 million acres of federal land under BLM jurisdiction. But in the West they have been widely viewed as an attempt by government to expand its police powers.
"This was clearly an attempt by this agency to expand its current authority," Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyoming, said, praising Babbitt's decision. "Law enforcement activities are the responsibility of state and local authorities."
Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., another sharp critic of the proposal, said Babbitt "has done the wise thing" in withdrawing the proposal, saying it did not have the support of people who use public lands.
Interior officials have denied the proposed changes would have expanded federal police powers and said they were aimed at simply consolidating and clarifying the many law enforcement regulations already on the books as they apply to federally managed land.
"My decision to stop further action on this proposal is based on confusion and misinformation about how these regulations would affect BLM's law enforcement responsibilities under existing laws," Babbitt said in a statement.
Acting BLM Director Sylvia Baca acknowledged widespread concern among Westerners over the proposed changes. She said her agency would "go back to the drawing board" and try to develop ways to improve the law enforcement rules "and make them more understandable to public lands users."
"We hear the users of the public lands and we will do all we can to help them understand the legal authority of BLM under existing statutes," she said in a statement.
The consolidation of the law enforcement regulations had twice been postponed because of intense pressure from Western members of Congress who raised their concerns with Babbitt.
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