Nevada is a beautiful state that off ers endless panoramic vistas that stretch as far as the eye can see, and countless experiences and opportunities for those seeking unique outdoor adventures. Endowed with approximately 48 million acres of nationally signifi cant resources, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Nevada has many special designations which are part of the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), also referred to as BLM's "National Conservation Lands".

Did you know that there are millions of acres of land in the United States that belong to you? In fact, more than 500 million acres of land are yours. These lands are not owned by any person or company. Instead, they are Federal lands that are owned by American people...and that means you!

On September 18th, 1996, President Bill Clinton stood on the south rim of the Grand Canyon and issued Presidential Proclamation No. 6920 creating the 1.7 million acre Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. Unlike past monuments created under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Clinton's Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt encouraged the President to leave management of the new National Monument within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) instead of the National Park Service. President Clinton used the Antiquities Act to create thirteen additional BLM-managed National Monuments and oversaw the creation of five BLM-managed National Conservation Areas created as legislative alternatives to National Monuments. In 2000, Secretary Interior Babbitt consolidated these and other BLM-managed protected areas into the National Landscape Conservation System (Conservation System). This thesis uses information gathered from document reviews, case studies, and interviews to explore the question, "How have BLM-managed National Monuments altered the focus of the conflict over the role of protected landscapes within multiple use management of BLM lands?" The creation of BLM-managed National Monuments changed the historical debate over the role of protected landscapes within multiple use management in four important ways. First, the debate became more localized and exposed BLM managers to a new, more sophisticated constituency. Second, the debate changed from a fight over whether these areas should be protected to a fight over how protected these areas should be given BLM's multiple use management mission. Third, the debate splintered into fights over specific definitions and resource decisions. Finally, the BLM's land use planning process allowed warring factions in the debate to channel their energy into administrative processes and allow a common vision for the management of the Monuments to begin to coalesce. The thesis concludes with a discussion of steps policy makers can take to ensure the Conservation System and its units become fully integrated into BLM's broader multiple use mission.

In 2000, under the Clinton Administration, a new national land conservation system was created by order of the Secretary of the Interior, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) was given the honor of managing this new system of public lands. Codified into Federal law in the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act enacted by President Barack Obama, it is officially called the National Landscape Conservation System and includes a wide range of special areas, called National Conservation Lands, on the BLM administered public lands throughout the country, mostly in the West.