The federal government manages vast public lands throughout California and the West. For example, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages 15.2 million acres of public lands in California, or nearly 15% of the state’s land area. With such vast holdings come important responsibilities.

Among the laws that regulate federal use of public lands, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, or FLPMA, requires BLM to manage public lands “in a manner that will protect the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and
atmospheric, water resource, and archeological values” of the land. 43 U.S.C. § 1701(a)(8).

Similarly, the National Forest Management Act, or NFMA, requires the Forest Service to manage the National Forests to “provide for diversity of plant and animal communities” and “insure that timber will be harvested . . . only where . . . soil, slope or other watershed conditions will not be irreversibly damaged . . . [and] such cuts are carried out in a manner consistent with the protection of . . . fish, wildlife, recreation, and esthetic resources, and the regeneration of the timber resources.” 16 U.S.C. § 1604(g)(3)(E) and (F).

Lawyers at the Law Offices of Stephan C. Volker represent clients seeking to enforce these and other similar public land management requirements.

For more information on the BLM, please visit its website here.

For more information on FLPMA, please go here.

Public Land and Waters Cases That the Firm or Mr. Volker Have Handled Include:

  • National Parks and Conservation Association v. Bureau of Land Management, __ F.3d__ (9th Cir. 2009).
  • Pit River Tribe v. U.S. Forest Service, 469 F.3d 768 (9th Cir. 2006). (Amicus Brief)
  • City of Sausalito v. O’Neill, 386 F.3d 1186 (9th Cir. 2004).
  • Sierra Club v. United States, 23 F.Supp. 2d 1132 (N.D. Cal. 1998).
  • Newton County Wildlife Ass’n v. Rogers, 113 F.3d 110 (8th Cir. 1997).
  • Bob Marshall Alliance v. Lujan, 804 F.Supp. 1292 (D. Mont. 1992).
  • The Wilderness Society v. Tyrrel, 918 F.2d 813 (9th Cir. 1990).
  • Bob Marshall Alliance v. Hodel, 852 F.2d 1223 (9th Cir. 1988).
  • The Wilderness Society v. Tyrrel, 701 F.Supp. 1473 (E.D. Cal. 1988).
  • Greenpeace U.S.A. v. Evans, 688 F.Supp. 579 (W.D. Wash. 1987).
  • Bob Marshall Alliance v. Watt, 685 F.Supp. 1514 (D. Mont. 1986).
  • Southeast Alaska Conservation Council v. Watson, 697 F.2d 1305 (9th Cir. 1983).
  • Humboldt County v. Bureau of Land Management, 684 F.2d 1276 (9th Cir. 1982).