Caroline Gleich and Rachel Spitzer, artwork by Jeremy Collins. Photo credit: Caroline Gleich

WE GOT A TON OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK after sending out our legislative update last week so we’re back with another update today. We’re here to help the backcountry community stand up to protect our public lands and environment, so without further ado, let’s drop in!

Public Lands Heist

Across the country Americans are speaking out against the public lands heist. In Utah people packed into a town hall meeting hosted by Representative Chaffetz, challenging him on his support for overturning Bears Ears National Monument and other efforts to undermine our public lands. WWA Ambassador Caroline Gleich was in the crowd and shared her trip report on the Outdoor Alliance blog. And, we just found out last night that the Outdoor Retailer trade show is leaving Utah in response to Utah Governor Gary Herbert’s resolution urging the Trump administration to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument and Utah’s overall assault on public lands.

Meanwhile, in Idaho, skiers, hikers, hunters, and many others are gearing up for a public lands rally on March 4 to tell their elected officials to #KeepItPublic! What’s happening in your state?
Here are the bills we’re currently tracking related to the public lands heist:

• • S.J.Res.15: Last week, the House voted to pass H.J. Res. 44 and throw out BLM Planning 2.0, which provides for public input in the planning process. The bill is now in the Senate, filed as S.J.Res. 15. If passed BLM land management planning would revert to the days of limited public participation and recreation voices struggling to be heard. For more information, check out this Outdoor Alliance blog post.
    Please call your Senators today and tell them to vote “no” on S.J. Res. 15. If you don’t know your Senate office numbers directly, call (202)-224-3121 to be connected to your Senate offices (just tell them what state you’re calling from).

• • HR 622 proposes to eliminate the Forest Service and BLM’s law enforcement ability. This bill has been referred to the House Subcommittee on Conservation and Forestry and the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands and these committees will determine whether or not to advance the bill.

• H.J.Res.46, a resolution to roll back the National Park Service’s authority to regulate private oil and gas drilling within National Parks, has been referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Please tell your reps that you don’t support HR 622 or H.J.Res.46 and they shouldn’t either. We need Federal and local law enforcement to work together to protect our public lands and natural resources. As for deregulating oil and gas drilling in National Parks: really? NO. These bills jeopardize our public lands and should be shot down immediately. 
It’s not all bad news though. This week Congressmen Alan Lowenthal (CA-47) and Dave Reichert (WA-08) introduced a resolution affirming that our Federal public lands are national treasures that belong to all Americans.  When you contact your representative ask them to support H.Con.Res.27 rather than voting to undermine our public lands system.

The Environment

Meanwhile, as if undermining our public lands system weren’t enough, some members of Congress have their sights set on gutting our bedrock environmental laws and the agencies that enforce them. The Environmental Protection Agency—now headed by Scott Pruitt, one of the agency’s staunchest opponents—is at the center of this fight and we’re watching a number of bills on this front:

• • H.R.637 – Stopping EPA Overreach Act of 2017. This bill would repeal federal climate change regulations and prohibit agencies from regulating greenhouse gases in any way. Regulating greenhouse gases is the key to slowing or reversing climate change and that’s a pretty big deal. As skiers, we’d like the next generation to be able to experience the joys of winter. We don’t need Congress undermining efforts to address climate change.

• • H.R.861 – To Terminate the Environmental Protection Agency.  The title spells it out pretty clearly – this bill would terminate the EPA on December 31, 2018.  The EPA is the agency that’s tasked with protecting human health and the environment. It’s kind of a big deal and anybody who enjoys breathing clean air, drinking clean water, or living and recreating in a healthy environment should be a fan of the EPA.  Seriously, they do a LOT of important things!

• H.R.958 – To eliminate certain programs of the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes.  The text of this bill isn’t posted online yet, but the title has us pretty concerned.

Action: Tell your reps to vote NO on these bills. The EPA and our environmental laws were enacted in response to burning rivers and silent springs and we don’t need to go back to those days. 

Meanwhile, the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, led by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo), opened hearings Wednesday to “modernize the Endangered Species Act,” which sounds a lot like yet another attempt to gut important regulation. We and our partners will be keeping a close eye on that one as well!

The most effective way to speak out in defense of public lands is to call your representatives in Congress and urge them to vote against bills that threaten our public lands or undermine our bedrock environmental laws. You can call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to get connected to your political reps. If you prefer email, however, we’ve created a web portal that allows you to easily email your senators and representatives. Whether you call or email, it’s important to let them know what you value as a constituent and what your thoughts are on the bills they are considering.

Thanks,

Hilary Eisen
Recreation Planning and Policy Manager