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OOil797 A COMPARISON BETWEEN THE WILDERNESS REVIEW PROCEDURES OF THE BUREAU OF LAND MANAW1ENT (BL~i) AND THE U.S. FOREST SERVICE (USFS) This brief paper is designed to explain the differences between the wilderness review procedures of the two major multiple use agencies, the BLM and the USFS. Prior to the passage of the Wilderness Act of 1964, the USFS had already identified lands to be managed as wilderness, wild, or primitive areas. The Wilderness Act of 1964 designated the wilderness and wild areas as wilderness, and called for a review of the primitive areas within 10 years. LEGISLATIVE MANDATES It is important to note the difference in the legislative mandates of the two agencies: u.S. Forest Service: The mandate for reporting to Congress specifically involved the primitive areas. Additional review and reporting has been based on administrative policy. This was accomplished by conducting a roadless area review and evaluation (RARE) effort, which reviewed roadless lands (5,000) acres or more) using 20 factors to evaluate each area's potential for preservation as wilderness. (Note--this process allowed for administrative discretion as to which areas should be recommended to Congress for wildernessJ Bureau of Land Management: TheBLM on the other hand is charged with the review of those road1ess areas 5,000 acres or more and roadless islands of the public lands, identified during an inventory as having wilderness character. The BLM was provided with strict guidelines as to wilderness characteristics (section 2(c) of the Wilderness Act of 1964). Reports to Congress are to cover each identified area (with no administrative discretion allowed once the inventory is completed). Interim management to protect wilderness values is required until Congress acts on the recommendations. The BLM has until 1991 to complete its review and report to Congress. At the present time, the BLM has no goal or "quota" for wilderness designation acreage or representativeness. u.S. FOREST SERVICE RARE II Until recently, USFS handled wilderness within its planning process. This meant that a number of "roadless areas" were identified for further study and protection pending review through the planning process. When the U.S. Department of Agriculture, expressed concern with the length of time involved in resolving the status of these "roadless areas," the USFS initiated the RARE II effort. One of the main purposes of the RARE II effort was to identify areas (1) for wilderness consideration and (2) for immediate availability to other uses. This effort consists of: