In a stunning reversal, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has shelved a controversial policy that directed the Bureau of Land Management to designate public lands in the West as “wild lands.”

Introduced on Dec. 23, Secretarial Order 3310 required the BLM to designate appropriate areas with wilderness characteristics under its jurisdiction as wild lands. Salazar said Wednesday that he was ordering Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes to work with the BLM and other stakeholders to draft recommendations about the future management of America’s public lands.

“We will focus our effort on building consensus around locally-supported initiatives and working with members (of Congress) to advance their priorities for wilderness designations in their states and districts,” Salazar said in a statement. “Together, we can advance America’s proud wilderness legacy for future generations.”

Uintah County commissioners criticized the policy from the get-go as an effort by the federal government to create de facto wilderness without congressional oversight and lockout access to oil and gas extraction areas in the West.

In March, the county and the Utah Association of Counties amended a prior lawsuit against the Interior Department to include a challenge of Salazar’s order. Since then, a number of Utah counties have joined the suit in protest over the policy.

All that changed in April when Republicans and Democrats in Congress agreed not to fund the BLM’s implementation of Salazar’s order as part of a deal to resolve a budget impasse. Without sufficient federal monies the BLM would have to “cease plans to unilaterally designate wilderness,” said Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chair of the House Natural Resources National Parks, Forests and Public Lands Subcommittee.

A vocal critic of the Obama administration’s management of multiple-use lands, Bishop has long held that western stakeholders were excluded from consultation before Salazar announced his policy.

“Today’s announcement is welcome news for many communities in the West as well as all those whose livelihoods depend upon access to our nation’s public lands,” Bishop said Wednesday.

Sen. Orrin Hatch’s office said the senator consulted directly with Salazar’s office on the wild lands matter on more than one occasion.

“I stressed just how disastrous the Obama administration’s sweeping new wilderness policy would be to our rural economies in Utah and Western states,” Hatch said.

From an energy standpoint, state and federal officials feared the secretary’s order would put roughly 10 million energy-rich acres of Utah’s 22 million acres of BLM land off limits to development.

Gov. Gary Herbert called the reversal a win for Utah, particularly for the counties.

“I have defended Utah’s process in my multiple conversations with Secretary Salazar and Deputy Hayes, so I am pleased they are listening,” Herbert said. “This may be a step in the right direction, but Utah will remain vigilant and engaged on this critical front.”

Utah has 3 million acres of wilderness study areas, and wilderness was recently designated in Washington County after a lengthy effort involving residents, local government and environmental groups.

Mark Ward, who represents Uintah County and the Utah Association of Counties in their suit against Salazar, said the legal action is necessary.

“We’ll be going forward until we’re certain the managing practices on the ground are consistent with the 2008 Vernal RMP and the BLM is truly managing (public) lands for oil and gas development,” he said.

Stephen Bloch, attorney and energy program director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, said at the outset of the policy that it was a long overdue step to protect wilderness lands in Utah. He took a slightly different tone after Wednesday’s announcement.

“We are disappointed with this interim step from Secretary Salazar, but SUWA and our partners the conservation community will be pressing hard this summer with the administration and department to reclaim the authority to designate wilderness and take back the wild lands policy,” he said.

Bloch’s reaction was echoed by Suzanne O’Neill of the Colorado Wildlife Federation.

“Americans want places to recreate for themselves and for the next generation,” she said. “Even now, some important wildlife habitat is at a tipping point due to a combination of factors, including development.”