Cause for Rebellion? Examining How Federal Land Management Agencies & Local Governments Collaborate on Land Use Planning

This article examines how federal agencies and local governments are collaborating in land use planning, with a particular focus on the West. Part I provides a brief overview of local government planning as well as the overarching National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) requirements that apply to federal planning. Part II offers a comparative study of the varied planning approaches across federal agencies, with a particular focus on the role that local governments can play in agency planning. Based on case studies and interviews with federal and local officials, Part III then recommends how to improve federal-local planning efforts so that both federal and local land use planning can be more robust and effective across the landscape. The Article concludes that, while there is an increased awareness of the linkages between federal and local land use planning, and limited examples of emerging collaboration, there is significant room for improvement before we see truly integrated, large landscape planning in the West