Hunters, miners and off-highway vehicle users could be affected by legislation that would limit access to more than 26 million acres of federal land, including Oregon's Steens Mountain area, Headwater Forest Reserve in northern California and more than 4,000 miles of national trails.
The bill would grant the land additional protection from the Bureau of Land Management through its National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), which was established in 2000 by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to "conserve, protect and restore nationally significant landscapes," according to its Web site. The proposed protections in the bill are similar to those offered to national parks.
However, the NLCS is not yet permanent and has limited power. The bill, which is slated for a vote before the House Natural Resources Committee, would give it official congressional recognition, ensuring its permanency and freeing it up for federal and scientific use.
The American Lands Rights Association has put up staunch resistance to this bill, claiming it will force land owners out of their property and hurt the economics of rural communities in the NLCS's jurisdiction.
"Making the NLCS permanent threatens recreation, access, grazing, mining, oil and gas and many other uses," read a press release from the ALRA. "The economic damage will spread like a cancer."
A supporter of the bill, The National Center for Conservation Science and Policy, a non-profit organization in Ashland, Ore., recently sent a letter to Congress urging members to pass the bill. The letter was signed by 30 of their scientists.
"We see a lot of wildlife and fishery value in these lands," said Richard Nauman, a conservation scientist with the NCCSP. "It will allow researchers to invest more in long term projects and conservation ... It would really help if Congress would recognize the value of these lands."
The bill is H.R. 2016 and was introduced by Reps. Mary Bono, California Republican, Rick Renzi, Arizona Republican, Raul Grijalva, Arizona Democrat, and Jim Moran, Virginia Democrat.
The Senate version of the bill, S. 1139, is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Bingaman, New Mexico Democrat.
Update, 6:47 p.m.: Chuck Cushman, executive director of the American Land Rights Association, just called me with his thoughts on the bill.
"It's an incredibly bad bill that [Bruce] Babbitt set up in the dark of night to control 26 million acres. And now they want to ratify it into law," Mr. Chusman said.
He added that he thinks some NLCS land "includes many areas which are inappropriate" for the type of federal use the bill would allow, including scientific research.
--- Michael Farr, intern, The Washington Times
Comments (5)
This represents poor journalism. Clearly Mr. Farr failed to read the legislation and simply accepted the paranoid view of the ALRA - a group that has called for a boycott of the Minneapolis airport to protest Senator Craig's arrest.
The referenced bill adds no additional protections to lands in the National Landscape Conservation System. In fact, it promotes the idea that effective conservation can co-exist with a variety of land uses. This represents the opposite of park-like protections.
This legislation, which is supported by the Bush Administration, will ensure that NLCS lands are recognized for their outstanding historic and recreational values and the rugged individualism they promote.
I expect more from the Times.
Posted by David Jenkins | March 11, 2008 7:57 PM
Fishwrap is exactly what this article is. It is utterly false to state that the legislation would limit access. All the bill would do is codify the existing state of affairs. None of the existing management prescriptions for the monuments and other conservation areas within the NLCS would be changed by one jot or tittle. Unfortunately, the Times has swallowed the ALRA's fear-mongering.
The Conservation System, which enjoys the enthusiastic support of senior managers in President Bush's Interior Department, is a great way to showcase the historic, cultural, and natural heritage that made our country great. These are great places for hunters, hikers, and other visitors, today and in the future, to experience the West as it was at the time of Lewis and Clark and other great explorers. What could be more conservative?
Posted by Jim DiPeso | March 11, 2008 9:16 PM
It seems as if Mr. Farr has not read the legislation in question. If he had, he would see that, rather than "restricting access," the National Landscape Conservation System Act officially recognizes some of the most significant recreational opportunities in the west, everything from hunting, fishing, hiking, rock-climbing, and kayaking. Sportsmen who value these activities on Conservation System lands likely aren't reading this highly biased article, nor are they reading my reply. They're too busy pumping money into the economies of small communities, getting healthy, and living the American dream by enjoying our great and wild west.
Posted by S. Levy | March 11, 2008 11:20 PM
This is a blog, this is not a journalistic report. It is ment to spark interest in the discussion of the subject. Any time the government wants to take control of 26 million acres, people should be interested. Lets not forget, Bush also supported the immigration legislation.
Posted by Larry Stone | March 12, 2008 4:25 AM
The terminology in the this bill and the Senate bill is very broad in perspective and links to laws whose impact, only a congressional staffer would understand. Paragraph Sec 3.b.2c "any additional area designated by Congress for inclusion in the system." and Paragraph Sec 3c - Management "1) in accordance with any applicable law (including regulations) relating to any component of the system included under subsection (b); and (2) in a manner that protects the values for which the components of the system were designated." would be the first areas for review. We don't need another ARWR ban or more Clintonisque land grabs. The fact that both bills were co-sponsered 82% (55 Dem, 12 Rep ) and 80% (4 Dem, 1 Ind) respectively by Democrats would throw suspicion toward the hidden relationships.
Posted by Larry Stone | March 12, 2008 5:07 AM