EFFECTIVE LAND MANAGEMENT: President Trump’s management of America’s lands promotes conservation, encourages good stewardship, and expands recreational opportunities.
- Earlier this year, President Trump signed the largest public lands legislation in a decade, designating 1.3 million new acres of wilderness.
- The Department of the Interior has proposed to open more than a million acres across the country for expanded hunting and fishing access, ensuring that hunters, anglers, and outdoor enthusiasts are able to enjoy fully our Nation’s lands and waters.
- To prevent devastating forest fires, President Trump took action to improve management of forests under Federal supervision and worked with State and local leaders to do the same.
Do you see any contradictions there? For one, they opened a million acres for additional access, while at the same time shutting most of the public out of 1.3 million acres of new wilderness. Looks like a wash to me, except for one thing: The next Sec. of Interior can administratively reverse the actions on additional access, while it would take a majority in both Houses of Congress and a supportive White House to reverse the wilderness designations. Which do you think is most likely to happen?
But let's take a look at what the President actually said:
My administration is strongly promoting bipartisan solutions for conservation. And we’re really getting along very well with the Democrats on that one. We’re getting things done.
This year, I signed the largest public lands package in a decade, designating 1.3 million acres — that’s a lot of land — of new wilderness and expanding recreational access.
Well, he is getting along with the Democrats all right, as he has done exactly what Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich wanted in designating the many new Wilderness Areas in New Mexico. This was something they attempted to do under President Obama, but failed to accomplish.
In December, I signed a historic executive order promoting much more active forest management to prevent catastrophic wildfires like those that recently devastated California and Oregon. (Applause.)
I went to the fires in California and I said, “It’s also management.” It’s a lot of things happening, but it’s management. You can’t have dirty floors. You can’t have 20 years of leaves and fallen trees. After the first 17 months, they say the tree is like a piece of tinder. You have to be very careful. So you can’t have that. That’s why you have so many fires.
And I will say this: Spoke with the Governor of California, spoke with many people, and the process of cleaning is now really taking precedent. It — a lot of people are looking at forest management. It’s a word that people didn’t understand last year. Now they’re getting it. And you don’t have to have any forest fires. It’s interesting.
I spoke to certain countries, and they said, “Sir, we’re a forest nation.” I never thought of a country — well-known countries: “We’re a forest nation.” I never heard of the term “forest nation.” They live in forests and they don’t have problems.
One was telling me that his trees are much more susceptible to fire than what they have in California, but they don’t have fires because they manage, they clean, they do what you have to do. There’s not so much to burn. And we’re going to start doing that. And it’s called, remember, “management.” It’s called “forest management.” So it’s a very important term.
The President is correct about forest management. But he should understand and acknowledge that his policy on active forest management will not apply in Wilderness Areas. How are you going to "clean" the forests if you are not allowed to use mechanized vehicles or mechanical equipment of any kind in Wilderness Areas? If the other country of which the President spoke is "a forest nation" where the folks "live in the forests" and "don't have fires because they manage, they clean, they do what you have to do", then we know for sure they don't have Wilderness Areas as defined by U.S. statute.
What did Secretary of Interior David Bernhardt have to say about the omnibus federal lands bill and the new wilderness areas? Again, from the transcript:
...The President mentioned that he signed into law the largest public lands legislation in over a decade. Thank you all on your side.
We are aggressively implementing this act, which, among other things, designated 1.3 million acres of public land as wilderness, as you said. To put that into perspective, 1.3 million acres exceeds the entire size of the state of Rhode Island.
Today, the geographic area of our nation’s wilderness system is actually larger than every state in the union except for Texas and Alaska. We are ensuring that future generations receive the benefit of an enduring wilderness system.The President mentioned that he signed into law the largest public lands legislation in over a decade. Thank you all on your side.
We are aggressively implementing this act, which, among other things, designated 1.3 million acres of public land as wilderness, as you said. To put that into perspective, 1.3 million acres exceeds the entire size of the state of Rhode Island.
Today, the geographic area of our nation’s wilderness system is actually larger than every state in the union except for Texas and Alaska. We are ensuring that future generations receive the benefit of an enduring wilderness system.
Well, at least Secretary Bernhardt puts things into perspective. However, does President Trump understand he has just set aside an area larger than Rhode Island where there will be no active forest management? Where you can't "clean" the "dirty floors" of "leaves and fallen trees" and where, by law, the policy is non-management, i.e., the exact opposite of active forest management?
Mr. Secretary, you speak of "the benefits of an enduring wilderness system." We are having to endure it alright, all 110 million acres of it, and the "benefits" are killing us in the West.
Of course, this is the run up to an election year and much of this is electioneering. Let's also recognize that Rep.Rob Bishop deserted us. This is his last term in office and he was able to cut some land deals in the omnibus bill that he had been working on for years. The result was the most knowledgeable and effective opponent of wilderness on our border with Mexico, turned his back to us as he pursued his personal legacy at home.
Still, it would have been nice to bring some truth to this discussion, and this was an opportunity lost. Instead, it serves as another example of how ranchers and rural residents are being crushed by the onslaught of national environmental politics.
Frank DuBois
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