Groups want public lands bills pulled from defense act

A coalition of 47 environmental organizations called on U.S. senators Monday to remove public lands riders from a defense bill, criticizing what they described as a "kitchen-sink" approach to conservation. Several public lands proposals in several states including Montana have been attached to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2015. The House approved the bill Wednesday. The Senate is expected to vote later this week. Greenpeace, WildEarth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Watersheds Project and a handful of Montana-based groups sent a letter to senators Monday urging them to remove the natural resources related provisions from the defense act. Calling the public lands package a "stealth" provision driven by provincial political considerations, the groups say the bills will result in logging, mining and grazing in exchange for modest wilderness protections. "I don't know what's going to happen with the defense bill, but if nothing else the public is becoming more aware what's in the bill is bad news," said George Nickas, executive director of Missoula-based Wilderness Watch. Other conservation groups are standing by the public lands package in the defense bill, despite misgivings about individual provisions, arguing it will result in protections for national treasures such as the Rocky Mountain Front. Nickas said the bill is pitting public lands advocates against one another. The price to protect some areas, such as the North Fork of the Flathead, should not be logging old-growth forest in Alaska or mining in Arizona, he said...more