Multiple-use management
Multiple-use management refers to the systematic approach of managing natural resources, particularly forests, for a diverse range of purposes. These purposes include recreation, habitat preservation, grazing, groundwater protection, and economic activities such as timber harvesting and mineral extraction. The primary goal is to balance conservation and sustainability with the various demands of ecological, social, and economic interests from individuals, governments, and private entities.
This management strategy is often challenged by the incompatibility of certain resource uses, which can lead to environmental degradation. Both public and private lands—such as forests, farmland, and coastal areas—are typically considered under multiple-use management frameworks. For instance, forests can provide wood while also offering aesthetic and environmental benefits like climate regulation and wildlife habitats. Recreational activities permitted in these areas include hiking, fishing, and camping, while commercial activities might involve logging and grazing.
In the United States, agencies like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service are responsible for managing multiple-use properties. Legislation such as the Federal Land Policy and Management Act supports this approach, ensuring that various land uses coexist sustainably. However, recent changes in policy have sparked concerns among stakeholders, particularly regarding the prioritization of single-use practices over multi-use ones, raising questions about the overall health of land and water resources.
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Multiple-use management
DEFINITION: The management of resources, especially forests, for many purposes, including recreation, plant and animal habitats, grazing, groundwater and flood protection, and economic uses such as timber harvesting and mineral extraction
The systematic management of resources for multiple uses while providing for conservation and sustainability is the goal of multiple-use management. Because some uses of natural resources are not compatible with each other and some can cause damage to the environment, multiple-use management poses a number of challenges.
The management of natural resources for multiple uses involves trade-offs among the current and future ecological, social, and economic use demands of citizens, governments, and private entities for goods and services. Multiple uses may take place on private and public forestlands, farmland, open lands, and along coastal resources. Forests are most often managed for multiple uses, as they provide not only wood resources but also aesthetic and environmental benefits, including regulation of climate, reduction of air pollution, provision of wildlife habitats, of soil, and preservation of water resources, some of which are used for public water supplies.
The management of forests, open lands, and coastal resources for diverse purposes such as conservation, recreation, and commerce enhances these lands’ productivity. Multiple-use management policies allow for various uses of land in tandem with practices that sustain wildlife habitats and protect the environment. Some of the recreational activities that take place on multiple-use lands include hiking, boating, swimming, rafting, camping, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, snowmobiling, and hang gliding. Commercial activities on such lands include logging and grazing, and extraction is a common subsurface use. In the United States these commercial uses generate billions of dollars in revenue each year for federal, state, and local governments. Multiple-use management also takes place in coastal ecosystems, where uses include regulated development along coastlines, commercial fishing, oil and gas extraction, and conservation.
Foresters are aware of the multiple benefits that forests provide, and they manage forest resources based on the capacity of the land to accommodate multiple uses simultaneously without destroying the environmental benefits derived from forestland. Multiple-use forest management practices include sustaining the production of renewable resources such as trees and vegetation while protecting wildlife habitats, allowing recreation, and managing for fire and diseases. Private entities and individuals are also involved in when they engage in sustainable land-use planning that ensures development of compatible uses. Multiple-use management plans may designate areas for exclusive uses, such as timber production; dual uses, such as cultural heritage preservation and recreation; and general uses, where many compatible uses such as protection, recreation, timbering, and wildlife refuges coexist simultaneously.
In the United States the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service manage many of the federal multiple-use properties. In 1976 Congress passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which mandated the BLM to manage public lands and their varied resources for multiple uses. Some of the other federal laws that promote multiple-use management include the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, which allows for subsurface mineral extraction and mining on public lands, and the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, which supports the grazing of cattle as well as wild horses, burros, sheep, and bison on public rangelands.
In 2024, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and the Public Lands Council (PLC) expressed concerns over changes to the BLM's "Conservation and Landscape Health" rule. These changes alter the agency's priorities for multiple-use management, including livestock grazing and the leasing structure for federal lands. The NCBA and the PLC opposed these changes, arguing that they increased the prioritization of single-use instances of land leasing over more sustainable practices. The organizations also argued that such changes would compromise land and water health across the western United States.
Bibliography
"BLM Rule Threatens Multiple Use Management of Public Lands." NCBA, 18 Apr. 2024, www.ncba.org/ncba-news/news-releases/news/details/37658/blm-rule-threatens-multiple-use-management-of-public-lands. Accessed 18 July 2024.
Bowes, Michael D., and John V. Krutilla. Multiple-Use Management: The Economics of Public Forestlands. Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future, 1989.
Lafortezza, Raffaele, et al., eds. Patterns and Processes in Forest Landscapes: Multiple Use and Sustainable Management. New York: Springer, 2008.
McElfish, James, and Rebecca Kihslinger. Nature-Friendly Land Use Practices at Multiple Scales. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Law Institute, 2008.