OCR Text |
Show ¦nnni tion, wildlife, climate, and visual and spatial form- has various responses to, or capacity for, a particular use or development. Thus, the ability to predict or control the impact of a particular use on the environment will require detailed information on the composition of the environment with respect to those factors. The development of knowledge about the tolerance of particular environments to various uses at an early stage is essential, both to meaningful planning for land uses in a particular area and to the development of appropriate operating rules and controls for permitted uses. Although such an approach is being followed by some of the agencies in a rudimentary fashion, studies prepared for us show that much useful knowledge about the basic environment and the effects of various uses is lacking. Classification of the public lands to provide for 74 different degrees of environmental quality would provide guidance for controlling the location of activities, so as to minimize their impacts. This approach-a systematic classification and inventory of important environmental considerations on each area of public lands as part of the agencies' land use decisionmaking-will give assurance that environmental effects will be taken into account in public land decisions. We propose that the system of environmental quality classification be based on desirable levels of quality to be maintained in each area for the major components of the environment, such as water, air, esthetics or scenery, and composition of the ecosystem. This should be done in close cooperation with the states, and where the states or local governments have developed satisfactory classifications, as, for |