The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) of 1976 directs BLM to manage public lands in a manner that will provide for multiple use and at the same time protect natural resources for generations to come. In addition to FLPMA, numerous laws, regulations, policies, Executive orders, and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) direct BLM to manage its riparian-wetland areas for the benefit of the nation and its economy.
Under BLM’s mandate of multiple-use management, a variety of activities such as livestock grazing, timber harvest, mineral extraction, recreation, and road and transportation corridor construction takes place on public lands. If not managed correctly, these activities can impact the quality of riparian-wetland areas.
In 1991, the BLM Director approved the Riparian-Wetland Initiative for the 1990’s, which establishes national goals and objectives for managing riparian-wetland resources on public lands. One of the chief goals of this initiative is to restore and maintain riparian-wetland areas so that 75 percent or more are in proper functioning condition (PFC) by 1997. The overall objective of this goal is to achieve an advanced ecological status, except where resource management objectives, including PFC, would require an earlier successional stage, thus providing the widest variety of vegetation and habitat diversity for wildlife, fish, and watershed protection. This objective is important to remember because riparian-wetland areas will function properly long before they achieve an advanced ecological status. The Riparian-Wetland Initiative for the 1990’s also includes a strategy to focus management on the entire watershed. Entire watershed condition is an important component in assessing whether a riparian-wetland area is functioning properly.
In the past, considerable effort has been expended to inventory, classify, restore, enhance, and protect riparian-wetland areas, but the effort has lacked consistency. The purpose of this document is to provide a thought process for assessing PFC for riparian-wetland areas on BLM-managed lands.