Visual Resource Management: Other Federal Agencies
The U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management (BLM) defines visual resource management (VRM) as the inventory and planning actions taken to identify visual resource values and to establish objectives for managing those values, and the management actions taken to achieve the visual resource management objectives. By this definition, most federal agencies do not manage visual resources, because while some may have established procedures for visual impact assessment, or may have visual resource inventory processes, most do not actively manage lands, and so they do not have inventoried lands with identified resource values and established management objectives, with procedures or practices for achieving the management objectives.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) are not land management agencies, and thus do not manage visual resources according to the BLM definition above. However, all of these agencies have visual resource-related programs or procedures that they use to protect visual resources in the conduct of their activities. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) regulates utility-scale energy development on the Outer Continental Shelf, but currently does not conduct scenic inventories or set visual quality objectives for these waters.
Follow the link below to learn more about other federal agency visual resource programs and policies, including the FHWA, USACE, NRCS, FERC, and BOEM: