Kane County’s own Mike Noel has been publicly campaigning for the position of director of the Bureau of Land Management, but a group of conservation advocates and outdoor recreation businesses are urging President Donald Trump’s administration to look elsewhere.
The outspoken Republican legislator and backer of the state’s efforts to wrestle away control of the vast federal public lands within Utah’s borders has earned the support of many of Utah’s political leaders, but his years of conflicts with conservation groups and others worried about his ability to protect the natural resources entrusted to the BLM.
In a letter sent to Vice President Mike Pence and Interior Department Secretary nominee Ryan Zinke, the Alliance for a Better Utah writes:
Over the years, Rep. Noel has espoused positions antithetical to
leading the BLM. He has been a staunch opponent of the federal
government. He believes law enforcement on federal public lands should
rest with local sheriffs, and he has been an ardent advocate for Utah’s
multi-million dollar lawsuits seeking to have ill-prepared state
governments, like Utah’s, take title to federal public lands that belong
to all Americans. Rep. Noel has also demonstrated his disregard for the
thoughtfully and collaboratively crafted management plans of the Bureau
he hopes to direct, instead throwing his support behind illegal
protests on BLM land and the extraction companies that hope to expand
their activities on public lands...
We are also alarmed by Rep. Noel’s temperament and management style,
something we believe should be considered when deciding who should hold
this important position...
The BLM director is a Presidential appointment, but I can't imagine Trump appointing anyone who is not fully approved by the Secretary, and I find it hard to believe Zinke would support someone committed to the transfer of federal lands.
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Conservation groups buck against Noel’s bid for BLM director
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3 comments:
Noel has all the best and most needed qualifications for that position and everyone should write in support of the appointment.
Another possible candidate is property rights expert Dr. Angus McIntosh who deserves full consideration.
Mike Noel represents the rural counties in the new Bears Ears monument and the Clinton Grand Staircase Monument, and has seen first hand what the federal government can do to the people of these counties. He represents his constituents and that is why they love him and keep voting him in. He doesn't kowtow to the environmental groups that keep suing and strong arming the federal government and the rural people. He would be the perfect director of the BLM. He has been on both sides and knows how to lead.
Thank you both for your comments. I hope everyone understands my comments were not about his qualifications or skills, but were about the political realities of the situation.
President won't appoint Director of BLM unless that person is supported by the Secretary, and my guess is that Zinke, given his history, will not support anyone who is in favor of the transfer of federal lands to the state.
In this case, I would love to be proven wrong.
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