Grouse About This: A Funny-Looking Bird Is Holding Up Key National Defense Legislation

Long considered a joke to defense watchers, the odd-looking sage grouse is not longer a laughing matter, but a bona fide threat to progress of a massive multibillion-dollar defense policy bill. The bird is at the center of a high-level showdown between House Republican leadership and the "Big Four" leaders of Congressional armed services committees. That's because accommodations for the sage grouse touch energy, mining and ranching interests, and at least if some House Republicans are to be believed, such accommodations would hinder operations at some US military bases. The House's No. 2 Republican, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of California, has indicated he will not let the annual National Defense Authorization Act proceed to a vote in the House unless it contains language to bar the sage grouse from the federal endangered species list until at least 2025. “I think it needs to stay in the bill,” McCarthy told reporters on Monday, referring to the sage-grouse measure. “I think that’s been delivered very clearly to everybody.” Yet the "Big Four" — Senate Armed Services Chair John McCain, R-Ariz., and Ranking Member Jack Reed, D-R.I.; and House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, and Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash. — argue the Defense Department has said it has no need for the provision and it should be excluded from the final bill...more

Sandoval approves of U.S. Senate passing Nevada land bills

After more than five years of wrangling, the U.S. Senate has passed a bipartisan package of land bills to promote economic development in northern Nevada while protecting some unspoiled sites as wilderness areas. “The passage of this important legislation will have a direct impact on all Nevadans. This bill will open the door to economic development, job creation, mining, ranching, and protect some of Nevada's treasured lands which will preserve our state for its next generation of citizens,” Gov. Brian Sandoval, R-NV said. “I would like to thank the members of our Congressional delegation who supported the NDAA and hope for a swift signature from President Obama so all Nevadans can begin to enjoy the benefits of this significant bill.” The Senate's action follows the House's approval of the bill last week. The legislation, included in a defense spending bill, now goes to President Barack Obama for his signature. One of the measures allows the sale of some 10,000 acres of federal land to Yerington to support development of Nevada Copper Corp.'s mine and other industrial projects while creating the 48,000-acre Wovoka Wilderness. Another bill sets aside 26,000 acres northwest of Winnemucca as the Pine Forest Range Wilderness while allowing nearby ranchers to secure land exchanges with the government to ensure their economic future. AP

Senate Sends Massive $560 Billion NDAA to Obama's Desk

The US Senate on Friday passed, 89-11, a massive Defense Department policy bill, sending to President Barack Obama a bill crafted in secret that would clear the military to spend $559.2 billion in fiscal 2015. In a bipartisan vote, the chamber easily approved a compromise version of the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that includes $495.5 billion in base funding and $63.7 billion in war funding. The House approved the same measure last week...more

With all the wilderness and other enviro provisions included.

Sage grouse rider -- what it all means

Phil Taylor, E&E reporter

A one-year ban on new Endangered Species Act protections for sage grouse in this year's $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill is a foreshadowing of partisan wildlife battles to come when Republicans take over the Senate.

The rider, pushed by Republicans at the behest of grazing, mining, and oil and gas interests, passed the House last night in H.R. 83, which squeaked by 219-206 and is expected to clear the Senate by the weekend.

It sparked an outcry from environmentalists, who accused Congress of blocking crucial protections for Western rangelands, among other environmental safeguards.

Republicans and their allies said next September's court-imposed listing deadline for greater sage grouse was arbitrary -- it was set in 2011 settlements between the Obama administration and green groups, including CBD -- and will ultimately harm the bird. More time is needed to ensure that state conservation plans can bear fruit, they said.

This is not the first time Congress has intervened in a major wildlife battle -- it stepped in to delist the gray wolf in the northern Rocky Mountains in 2011 -- but it's a preview of battles next Congress when Republicans legislate with a unified voice.

President Obama has pledged to block GOP attempts to dismantle his climate change agenda, but the White House's support for the omnibus bill yesterday proves that wildlife and their habitat are bargaining chips in spending fights.

If Democratic appropriators could not stop a sage grouse rider when they controlled the upper chamber, there's almost no chance they'll be able to defeat it when they're in the minority.

"Once a rider is into an appropriations bill, it is very hard to get out," said one conservation lobbyist.

In its policy statement on the omnibus bill, the White House said it "objects to the inclusion of ideological and special interest riders," but said it supports passage of the bill.

Its main beef with the bill was policy riders increasing the amount of money individuals can donate to political party committees and relaxing banking regulations from the Dodd-Frank law. But there was no mention of sage grouse.

The Interior Department has blasted the sage grouse rider, but the truth is it had limited sway in the high-level spending negotiations between the White House and House and Senate leaders.

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

'CRomnibus' may include sage grouse rider but no money for forested counties

A $1 trillion bill to fund most of the federal government through the remainder of the fiscal year is believed to contain language to restrict an Endangered Species Act listing decision for the greater sage grouse and does not include payments for forested Western counties, according to sources on and off Capitol Hill. Inclusion of those riders as well as possible other language aimed at U.S. EPA rulemaking on Clean Water Act authority could be a tough pill to swallow for environmental groups. National Journal yesterday reported that lobbyists believe the package may also include language exempting lead bullets and tackle from being regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Multiple lobbyists who track public lands issues yesterday said it appears the final deal includes language to push back the Fish and Wildlife Service's deadline next September to decide whether to propose federal protections for the sage grouse. A listing would be bitterly opposed by Western Republicans and oil and gas, ranching and mining interests. The deadline was set under the Obama administration's 2011 legal settlements with wildlife advocates. A final listing decision for the sage grouse would likely not occur until the very end of the Obama administration, or possibly beyond. One public lands lobbyist said the sage grouse language in the CRomnibus would be "less controversial than people might think," though the lobbyist had not seen the final spending deal. Another source close to Capitol Hill said he had heard the sage grouse language would be more "surgical," though still not palatable to greens. One conservation lobbyist said it appeared "very likely" a sage grouse listing delay would emerge in the package, and that greens at this point are doing all they can to clean up the language rather than remove it. Some concessions to Republicans may be inevitable in the spending bill, given that the GOP will be controlling the Senate next month and will then have much more leverage to pass environmental riders. Republicans can tell Democrats they can back out of CRomnibus discussions if they want and pass a CR until the GOP solidifies power, the conservation lobbyist said. "Republicans are saying we can come back and do this in three months," the lobbyist said, "but if you want a full-year budget, we're going to get some cats and dogs." Sources on and off Capitol Hill yesterday said there are strong signs that the spending deal will not include a reauthorization of the expired Secure Rural Schools, a program that for more than a decade has compensated forested counties that historically depended on federal timber revenues...more

Western Watersheds Project urges no on National Defense bill full of “riders”

The National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA) set for a Senate vote this week contains language that will forever change the West. Renewal of many grazing permits would be exempted from public oversight and environmental review by being tucked in with a sprawling public lands package, undermining the already inadequate public lands grazing management performed by federal agencies The new laws would mean that the BLM and Forest Service must continue status quo grazing regardless of the environmental laws being violated until the agencies have sufficient funding (or inclination) to do otherwise. If this seems like a bad dream, it is. Congressman Raul Labrador and Senator John Barasso snuck the language of the Grazing “Improvement” Act (GIA) into this must-pass defense bill. The GIA would severely limit the ability of groups like WWP to hold the agencies accountable for impacts to clean water, imperiled wildlife and plant species, soils, and sensitive cultural sites. Title XXX would result in a net loss of wildland and wildlife protection on tens of millions of acres of public land. The provisions would undermine some of our nation’s preeminent environmental and public lands laws, such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Wilderness Act,would give landscapes deemed sacred by Native American tribes to a foreign-owned mining company, and would diminish the federal estate held in trust for all Americans as an important part of our natural birthright...more

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

Senator to delay NDAA vote

Lawmakers are still searching for a way to avoid a government shutdown, while a conservative senator is vowing to delay a must-pass Pentagon policy bill. It’s just another end-of-session Tuesday on Capitol Hill. House and Senate leaders and the heads of both Appropriations committees had hoped to introduce a “crominbus” spending bill Monday or Tuesday morning. But as the Tuesday lunch hour approached, they had yet to adequately address some members’ remaining concerns. The bill would by a hybrid of the omnibus spending measure the leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations committees had been working on for weeks. It would include full-year spending bills for a dozen agencies, including the Defense Department, but not the Department of Homeland Security — a GOP legislative response to President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration. Also still pending is a $559 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the House easily passed last week. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., says the bill should be introduced Tuesday evening. However, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a longtime fiscal hawk, told reporters Tuesday he intends to prevent the measure from being adopted via unanimous consent. “It’s not going through on a UC,” Coburn said sternly. Coburn said he will force a vote on ending debate “because it has packages, and earmarks, and every other kind of thing that shouldn’t be in the NDAA.” If Coburn objects as the NDAA is brought up, “you’ll have to file cloture,” Levin said. That means a clock would begin with 30 hours of debate time, likely setting up Thursday floor votes on ending debate and perhaps final passage...more

San Carlos Apache Leader Seeks Senate Defeat of Copper Mine on Sacred Land

The leader of the San Carlos Apache Tribe is asking the Senate not to vote on the annual National Defense Authorization Act until a provision that would allow a massive copper mining project on sacred land is removed. The House approved a bill on December 4 that gives 2,400 acres of sacred Apache land to a giant international mining corporation, then sent it to the Senate for a fast vote in a process that won’t allow amendments to be made. The Senate is expected to act on it this week. The land swap bill, called the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act of 2013 (H.R. 687), was attached as a rider to the annual must-pass National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) along with several other land-related bills. If approved by the Senate and signed by President Obama, the land swap legislation will allow Resolution Copper Co., a subsidiary of the controversial international mining conglomerate Rio Tinto, to acquire 2,400 acres of the federally protected public land in the Tonto National Forest in southeast Arizona in exchange for 5,000 acres in parcels scattered around the state...more

Obama Administration Urged to Oppose Copper Mine, Grazing Giveaway in Defense Bill

WASHINGTON— The Center for Biological Diversity today called on Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to fight provisions tucked into the National Defense Authorization Act that would pave the way for a copper mine in Arizona — long opposed by local tribes and citizens — and automatically renew grazing permits on public lands without any consideration for how it will affect rivers, streams, wildlife and pristine habitat.

The bill is set for a vote in the coming days by the Senate.

“If there ever was a moment for the Obama administration to come to the defense of America’s public lands, this is it,” said Randi Spivak, the Center’s public lands director. “These provisions have nothing to do with our military and everything to do with ramming through the right-wing agenda to tear protections away from the lands that Americans own and love. Secretaries Jewell and Vilsack should ask President Obama to veto the bill. ”

Included in the bill are provisions that would:

• trade 2,400 acres of national forest land in Arizona to Resolution Copper, a foreign mining company, to facilitate development of a copper mine that’s long been opposed by locals. The lands are considered sacred by local tribes who have fought the land trade for years.  
• automatically renew livestock grazing permits on tens of millions of acres of public lands, even where grazing operations are degrading wildlife habitat and fouling streams and rivers. This section, if enacted, would exacerbate habitat degradation that will imperil the greater sage grouse, increasing the need to protect this western bird under the Endangered Species Act.
• transfer 70,000 acres of public forest in the Tongass National Forest to Sealaska Corporation, thereby privatizing dozens of the best undeveloped coves, bays and recreational areas on the Tongass National Forest, damaging vital fish and wildlife habitats and jeopardizing the livelihoods of several small communities and other forest users.

“This defense bill has become a Trojan horse with provisions that will do long-term damage to our public lands, especially in the West,” Spivak said. “Secretary Jewell and Secretary Vilsack are the guardians of our public lands and we need them front and center in this fight. We’re relying on them to ensure the Obama administration does everything it can to protect these places that are owned by all Americans, not just those exploiting them for profit.”

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 800,000 members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

Land-swap Senate vote imminent

A U.S. Senate decision is imminent on legislation that would ease the way for a massive copper mine 100 miles north of Tucson. The Senate could vote Wednesday or Thursday on the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes a bill to give 2,400 acres of national forest land near Superior to a foreign mining company. Opponents are outraged that legislators inserted the hotly contested land swap into a must-pass piece of legislation at the 11th hour. “They’re trying to sneak it through,” said Superior Town Councilman Gilbert Aguilar, a former miner. “That’s pretty desperate to me.” The land-swap legislation has repeatedly failed to pass both houses of Congress since it was first introduced in 2005. It was inserted into the defense spending bill at the behest of U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona — who has been pushing the land-swap since 2005 — as well as House supporters U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Arizona, and U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Arizona “This is not unusual,” Gosar said in a phone interview. The bill is not completely unrelated to the defense bill, he said, because “critical mineral access” is in the best interest of the military. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in a Monday email, “Sen. McCain will be extremely proud if the Resolution Copper land exchange is enacted into law. There is clearly a strategic national interest in increasing America’s domestic production of copper.” Mining company Resolution Copper, jointly owned by U.K.-based Rio Tinto Group and Australia-based BHP Billiton Ltd., wants access to a massive copper deposit 7,000 feet beneath the land parcel, just east of Superior. The mine would generate enough copper to meet 25 percent of U.S. demand...more

Defense Bill Riders: Public Lands Losses Far Outweigh Any Wins

by Matthew Koehler

You may have seen the news of a supposed “Historic” day for Wilderness in Montana and America’s public lands legacy. For example: here and here.

For those who care deeply about the future of America’s public lands legacy, it’s very important for everyone to look at this 449 page pork-filled public lands rider package in its entire context, and what that means not only for Montana, but for America’s entire public lands legacy.

There are a total of 6,397,000 unprotected Wilderness-eligible roadless acres in Montana.  This public lands rider would protect only 67,000 acres in Montana as Wilderness. That means that this “Historic” “new hope for Wilderness” would amount to protecting just 1% of the total Wilderness-eligible roadless acres in Montana as Wilderness.

Nationally, the number of Wilderness acres protected in this bill is even more pitiful. This ‘historic’ 449 page-long Public Lands rider attached to the National Defense Authorization Act would protect a whopping 0.2% of all remaining Wilderness-eligible roadless acres in the United States. Nothing says “Happy 50th Birthday Wilderness Act” than boldly protecting 0.2% of what remains, right?

PUBLIC LANDS GRAZING

The so-called “Grazing ‘Improvement” rider in the bill – as was pointed out by a work colleague/public lands policy expert – is a complete roll back of environmental law and public input into public lands grazing permit renewals. Essentially, public lands grazing permits would now be renewed regardless of a NEPA analysis, public land health conditions and regardless of the impact on wildlife, including endangered species.

“The only environmentally beneficial part of the Grazing Improvement Act — voluntary grazing permit retirement — was removed, making this bill a wholesale disaster,” said Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist with WildEarth Guardians. “This bill would make it harder for government agencies to manage livestock grazing on public lands, and create new obstacles to restoring damaged habitats where livestock grazing is currently degrading the health of our public lands.” More info from a coalition of conservation groups is here.

Ironically, as the coalition conservation groups point out, and as Andy Kerr mentioned in the E&E article highlighted in a previous blog post, the Grazing “Improvement” Act all but ensures the US Fish and Wildlife Service will have to list greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act as it completely circumvents the current process of revising land use plans by the BLM and Forest Service. In addition, extending public lands grazing permits to 20 years will continue the fleecing of U.S. taxpayers. A General Accounting Office (GAO) report found that federal land management agencies lose $10 for every $1 paid in grazing fees.

READ ENTIRE COLUMN 

I've read Sec. 3023 of the bill, and nowhere do I see any language to change the length of grazing permits to twenty years.

NDAA - Wilderness watchers wonder what's next for Montana wild country

While everyone wonders if the U.S. Senate will pass a huge package of public lands legislation this week, many Montanans are already looking beyond the fate of the two wildland protection bills in the mix. “The positive thing is a logjam is going to break loose,” said Scott Bosse of American Rivers in Bozeman. “That helps future conservation bills. I think members of our delegation were reluctant to take on other big projects as long as the logjam existed.” Wilderness advocate Steward Brandborg felt quite the opposite. The man who helped pass the Wilderness Act of 1964 called last week’s omnibus addition to the National Defense Authorization Act “a lamentable drift.” “It doesn’t represent anything beyond a bad precedent for managing our public lands,” Brandborg said. “It’s a totally inadequate, half-assed approach that we shouldn’t allow.” Brandborg was also angry about the deal Republican Rep. Steve Daines cut with Democratic senators Jon Tester and John Walsh to downgrade 29,000 acres of eastern Montana wilderness study areas in return for supporting the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act, which adds 67,000 acres to the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex. In addition to the Bob Marshall wilderness additions, the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act gave 208,000 acres conservation management status, which allows existing travel and recreation uses but prevents other development. And the North Fork Preservation Act took 400,000 acres along the North Fork of the Flathead River out of energy development. That dovetails with British Columbia legislation giving the northern part of the river similar protection. Montana’s trade-aways opened 112 million tons of coal tracts to the Signal Peak mining operation out of Roundup, while reassessing oil and gas potential on 15,000 acres south of the C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Daines said that kind of balance between land protection and resource opportunity was essential in bringing the deal together. It also marked a nearly unprecedented release of wilderness study areas that had been hanging in limbo for almost 40 years...more

A grazing provision, sage grouse and conflict (NDAA)

It's the kind of political firefight than can flare in the waning days of a congressional session, as members try to attach favorite legislation to bills that must pass before Congress can head home for Christmas. Language to help ranchers protect their grazing privileges - which some environmentalists say could put the sage grouse on the Endangered Species List - got added to an 11th-hour defense bill, prompting a war of words this week. But the officials at the Department of Interior in charge of both grazing and sage grouse protections said Friday that the proposal by Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho, would not have the unintended consequence of listing the grouse. Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act 300-119 on Thursday. Labrador, R-Idaho, added a provision that would automatically renew grazing permits that ranchers hold on public lands. The provision would restore a policy in place since the 1990s that was struck down this year by an Idaho federal judge, who said grazing leases needed more environmental review. Labrador, who actually voted against the bill, says the automatic renewal protects ranchers who might lose their grazing rights waiting for bureaucrats to perform the reviews. His language was passed by the House as a stand-alone bill earlier this year. But the provision caught the eye of some environmentalists. Todd Tucci, an attorney with the Boise-based Advocates for the West and other conservation groups, said Thursday that the bill could lead to the listing of sage grouse - either by the Department of Interior or a federal judge - because the BLM's lack of money could mean grazing permits would not get the conservation measures needed to protect sage grouse until funds come years later...more

Interior secretary disappointed at land swap in Defense bill

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell sharply criticized a proposed land swap deal attached to a defense bill that would threaten sacred American Indian land. The swap is part of a massive federal parks and energy package that was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act and passed by the House this week. It would transfer the Arizona site of the proposed Resolution Copper mine — estimated to be one of the largest deposits in the world — to a British mining company, enabling its development. The land, currently a national forest, contains a site sacred to the San Carlos Apache tribe, where warriors are believed to have leapt to their depth in the 19th century to avoid being captured by troops. “I’m happy to see public lands bills make progress,” Jewell said Saturday, according to the Washington Post. “The preference on public lands bills is that they go through a typical process of public lands bills and they get debate and discussion.” But she said the copper mine deal is “profoundly disappointing.”...more

NDAA - The Case of Private Rights Massacre

NDAA

The Case of Private Rights Massacre

Absurd and Suicidal Leadership

By Stephen L. Wilmeth

            My friend Myles Culbertson remains a disgusted democrat.

            In discussions over the past several years, I must admit I have given him a tough time regarding his political affiliation. The basis for our friendship, however, is not predicated on absolutes. Rather, the allegiance to our families and our industry, Agriculture, gives us ample common ground. More often than not, we agree on the fundamentals of that bond. The sanctity of family and private property rights allows us to emerge from any debate to stand united. On that basis, our friendship endures.

            The matter of the idiocy of the pending National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), though, draws attention to the vacuum between Myles and the Republican Party. It came to light in a spontaneous remark.

“Every time I think about changing affiliation I am reminded of why I don’t,” he once said. “I look at a republican and ask myself why I would want to be one of those!”

More than a few of us have been asking ourselves … the same question.

NDAA

To the political skeptic yet the unbending Constitutional devotee, the measure to fund this nation’s defense should be limited to military operations. That would necessarily include a package of tanks, a submarine or two, a number of equipped combat teams, the allocation of corrupt gratuity for clandestine operatives, worldwide catastrophe reparations, electronic camouflaging technology, a new front sign for Ft. Bliss (in Spanish), paper for congressional committee presentations, the recruitment of superior coaching talent at the military academies, 7.62 brass, NightForce scopes, rules of engagement critics, a unit train of purple hearts, billet machined actions, F-18 biofuel overhaul kits, unisex caps, meager wages, cadavers without thumb prints, portable mosques, a warehouse of Starbucks coffee, 8,232,001 miscellaneous items, and toilet paper.

What actually came out of the Armed Services panels of both chambers was a package negotiated by those bastions of military nemeses, the leadership of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources and House Natural Resources committees. NDAA has been morphed into an omnibus bill that includes the noted .308 brass along with an environmental dream of immense proportions.

In a hypocritical announcement of bipartisanship, even Doc Hastings (R-WA) is proclaiming victory. “The agreement offers a balanced approach to public land management, providing opportunities for new job creation and energy and mineral production, while simultaneously protecting special areas”, he said.

 He said nothing, though, about whether the United States would be prepared to fight the next dozen world conflicts. Combine that with what others have divulged and this matter must worry us all.

To the hinterlands

We didn’t expect to face this fight on this front. We thought we could trust Representative Hastings and Senator Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member of Senate Armed Services Committee.

The problem is those of us in the hinterlands have come to know what the terms “balanced approach” and “protecting special places” actually imply. Those are code words signifying members within our ranks are going to get hosed.

We view overlaying this omnibus approach into a defense spending package as a cowardice leadership facade. To exploit the funding of military needs with a concession toward more wilderness, more agency regulations, and more restrictions on private property rights in the West is unconscionable.

There is no balance.

Tax payers are in line for 11 more national parks!

The nation is going to get gored with another 250,000 acres of wilderness for the meager offset to release 26,000 acres of wilderness study areas.

Arizona is going to be ceded the right to create jobs in the Resolution copper project on 2,000 acres of federal land by giving up 5,000 acres of private land in a state that needs more government land ownership like Washington needs more politicians.

Section 3023 of the bill is actually rewriting parts of the Federal Lands Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), the act that promised the West certain usage rights of federal lands in a vacuum of private land ownership. In a first read through this monster bill, there is a suggestion that ‘looks’ will be overlaid into grazing permit renewal and transfer process. Does that mean that if somebody sells a permit it might wind up with zero value because the ‘look’ determines cattle numbers may be reduced or eliminated?

Martin Heinrich (D-NM) is one senator who seeks such federal grazing elimination. Moreover, he and Tom Udall (D-NM) are going to be rewarded in NDAA with the inclusion of another 45,000 acres of wilderness in northern New Mexico to go along with their 575,000 acres of federal, state, and private land national monument debacle in southern New Mexico that couldn’t pass legislatively on its own merit.

In fact, none of the 250,000 acres of wilderness involved has demonstrated worthiness or it would already be law. The more you read, the more you realize this is a continuing model of self-serving political exploitation on the backs of our military and the West.

That point is particularly illuminated when Paul Spitler of the Wilderness Society labels this whole package as a wilderness …“blockbuster”.

November results

Do Republicans understand the consequences of November?

Do they comprehend they were sanctioned to put their money where their mouth is with the demand to lead this nation out of an absurd and suicidal glide path toward destruction or do they think they got elected on their looks and tedious chatter?

The signs of sincerity and capability of doing what they promised in their campaign slogans and democratic lambasting are starting to appear curiously and hesitatingly tentative. What many of us have feared … the propensity for republicans to avoid conflict by annulling political advantages when actually placed in the leadership spotlight is already starting to be manifested.

When the news of NDAA hit the airwaves, our anger was immediate!

How dare this congress horse trade into another 1,648 page entanglement suggesting that it is a law of fairness and bipartisanship. The reality is we are embarking on another example of leadership tomfoolery that must be passed before we figure out what is in it and what the consequences will be to our freedoms.

In short, what the hell does a defense appropriation measure have to do with creating wilderness, rewriting the FLPMA, ostensibly streamlining oil and gas permitting, and nominating at least 67 additional provisions in a natural resources title of measures that should begin and end with munitions to kill our enemies?

This nation is in the throes of a systemic private rights massacre.

If NDAA is indeed a bipartisan victory, we can expect nothing new from this incoming republican congress. What we are witnessing is a continuation of citizenry sacrifice for a subversive environmental policy that has become an existential threat to the West, specifically, and to America’s economic base, in general.

If republicans waver and continue on this imbecilic path… their fate will be sealed in a similar November ambush.

Stephen L. Wilmeth is a rancher from southern New Mexico. “America has committed to a unilateral effort to create wilderness. This country is now feeling the affects of a policy that can only exist on the expansion of itself.”

First, I don't like the precedent of the House agreeing to land use legislation that hasn't even had a hearing in the House.

Second, I question the timing of this agreement.  Why not include the NDAA in the short-term CR and then negotiate these provisions when the Senate is controlled by the R's?

And third, this shows the R's are as guilty of package log-rolling on non-related legislation as the D's.  

Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) released the following statement on the House passage of the NDAA:

“Voting against the NDAA today was a difficult decision for me,” said Congressman Steve Pearce.  “As a Vietnam veteran, I always look to support the military and their families. However, the NDAA does not fully meet the needs of our troops and grossly expands the federal footprint in the West.”  “As well as being a veteran, I am the co-chair of the Congressional Western Caucus. In this capacity I have a responsibility to protect and fight for the West.  Included within this NDAA is a massive lands package, added at the last minute of negotiations.  Creating nearly 250,000 new acres of wilderness that will greatly restrict multiple use on the lands, is simply unacceptable.  Already extremely disadvantaged by massive amounts of public lands, the West continues to be under attack by environmental and special interest groups that degrade the Western way of life.  In the past year, New Mexico has seen this first hand with the President designating a nearly 500,000-acre monument, the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. While the bill does include a small allocation for local governments through a payment system called Payments In Lieu Of Taxes (PILT), this does little to offset the dramatic damages this package will have to access and ranching in the West.”...

Defense bill hits snag over land swaps, wilderness

Quick passage of a sweeping defense policy bill hit a snag on Wednesday over public lands, dividing Senate Republicans. The $585 billion measure authorizing funds for the military includes several unrelated bills to expand wilderness areas in the West and expand the program streamlining oil and gas permits, a popular step with western state lawmakers. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., objected to their inclusion and promised to block any attempt to quickly finish the bill next week in the final days of the lame-duck session. "A bill that defines the needs of our nation's defense is hardly the proper place to trample on private property rights," Coburn wrote in a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. "Nor is it the place to restrict access to hunting, fishing and other recreational opportunities on massive swaths of taxpayer-supported lands."...more

Boy, are we gonna miss Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, who is retiring.  Instead we are stuck with R's like Senator Murkowski who somehow believes restricting people's access to federal lands (Wilderness) creates jobs:

In a closed-door GOP lunch, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski argued that the wilderness expansion and other changes create jobs...

Is she thinking that Wilderness will create more federal jobs?  How does not managing the lands require more employees than managing it?  Besides, Section 2(b) of the Wilderness Act states:

No appropriation shall be available for the payment of expenses or salaries for the administration of the National Wilderness Preservation System as a separate unit nor shall any appropriations be available for additional personnel stated as being required solely for the purpose of managing or administering areas solely because they are included within the National Wilderness Preservation System.

Perhaps we have a new statesman in Senator Cruz of Texas:

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined Coburn in criticizing the legislation, complaining about the designation of 250,000 acres of new wilderness, in addition to 15 new national park units or expansions and three new wild and scenic river designations.  "With the military's shrinking budget, it is offensive that this bill would be used to fund congressional pork. And, at a time where jobs are scarce and the federal government has removed billions of acres of land from productive use, Congress should not be restricting more than a half-million new acres," Cruz said in a statement.

Notice that both Senators who are proceeding as statesmen on this issue are from non-federal lands states. 

R.J. Smith with the National Center for Public Policy Research hits the issue hard: 

The leaders of both parties have cut a dark-of-night deal to slip a public lands lock-up package into the murky depths of the nearly 2,000 page National Defense Authorization Act. The federal lands package will take still more of the so-called public lands -- lands supposedly owned by all the people and available for multiple use -- and lock them up for the benefit of elite minorities and pressure groups in mainly limited-use or non-use categories, preventing their use by or benefit to the vast majority of the American people. Hundreds of thousands of acres of land all across the West will be permanently locked up. Still more un-inventoried land will be locked up as Wilderness Areas, set aside and left completely unmanaged to serve as source of forest disease, insect infestation, degradation, death and catastrophic wildfires. America already has over 107 MILLION acres of its lands permanently locked up as Wilderness, which is an area larger than the state of California plus Massachusetts. There is hardly a pressing need for any additional Wilderness.  

And nobody sums it up better than our own Caren Cowan:

"This is a continuation of the governance by blackmail," Cowan said. "The national defense authorization is vital to our nation and those who serve in the military. It should not be used as a bargaining chip for land grabs. Working on land packages in this manner is a disservice to the land and the people who enjoy it."

Livestock grazing language in NDAA

Below is the grazing language in the NDAA.  The bill is 1648 pages long, and this language starts on page 1187.  You can see the entire bill here.  I'm not sure we have gained much as this has been handled on a yearly basis through appropriations language.  The enviros got 250,000 acres of Wilderness (45,000 in NM), plus more parks (including Valles Caldera) and wild & scenic rivers.

SEC. 3023. GRAZING PERMITS AND LEASES.

Section 402 of the Federal Land Policy and Manage-

ment Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1752) is amended—

 (1) in subsection (c)—

 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2),

and (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), re-

spectively;

 (B) by striking ‘‘So long as’’ and inserting

the following:

 ‘‘(1) RENEWAL OF EXPIRING OR TRANSFERRED

PERMIT OR LEASE

.—During any period in which’’;

and

 (C) by adding at the end the following:

 ‘‘(2) CONTINUATION OF TERMS UNDER NEW

PERMIT OR LEASE

.—The terms and conditions in a

grazing permit or lease that has expired, or was ter-

minated due to a grazing preference transfer, shall

be continued under a new permit or lease until the

date on which the Secretary concerned completes

any environmental analysis and documentation for

the permit or lease required under the National En-

vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et

seq.) and other applicable laws.

 ‘‘(3) COMPLETION OF PROCESSING

.—As of the

date on which the Secretary concerned completes the

processing of a grazing permit or lease in accordance

with paragraph (2), the permit or lease may be can-

celed, suspended, or modified, in whole or in part.

 ‘‘(4) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS

.—The Sec-

retary concerned shall seek to conduct environmental

reviews on an allotment or multiple allotment basis,

to the extent practicable, if the allotments share

similar ecological conditions, for purposes of compli-

ance with the National Environmental Policy Act of

1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) and other applicable

laws.’’;

 (2) by redesignating subsection (h) as sub-

section (j); and

 (3) by inserting after subsection (g) the fol-

lowing:

 ‘‘(h) NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT OF 1969.—

 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL

.—The issuance of a grazing

permit or lease by the Secretary concerned may be

categorically excluded from the requirement to pre-

pare an environmental assessment or an environ-

mental impact statement under the National Envi-

ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et

seq.) if—

 ‘‘(A) the issued permit or lease continues

the current grazing management of the allot-

ment; and

 ‘‘(B) the Secretary concerned—

 ‘‘(i) has assessed and evaluated the

grazing allotment associated with the lease

or permit; and

 ‘‘(ii) based on the assessment and

evaluation under clause (i), has determined

that the allotment—

 ‘‘(I) with respect to public land

administered by the Secretary of the

Interior—

 ‘‘(aa) is meeting land health

standards; or

 ‘‘(bb) is not meeting land

health standards due to factors

other than existing livestock

grazing; or

 ‘‘(II) with respect to National

Forest System land administered by

the Secretary of Agriculture—

 ‘‘(aa) is meeting objectives

in the applicable land and re-

source management plan; or

 ‘‘(bb) is not meeting the ob-

jectives in the applicable land re-

source management plan due to

factors other than existing live-

stock grazing.

 ‘‘(2) TRAILING AND CROSSING

.—The trailing

and crossing of livestock across public land and Na-

tional Forest System land and the implementation of

trailing and crossing practices by the Secretary con-

cerned may be categorically excluded from the re-

quirement to prepare an environmental assessment

or an environmental impact statement under the Na-

tional Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C.

4321 et seq.).

 ‘‘(i) PRIORITY AND TIMING FOR COMPLETION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSES

.—The Secretary concerned, in

the sole discretion of the Secretary concerned, shall deter-

mine the priority and timing for completing each required

environmental analysis with respect to a grazing allot-

ment, permit, or lease based on—

 ‘‘(1) the environmental significance of the graz-

ing allotment, permit, or lease; and

 ‘‘(2) the available funding for the environmental

analysis.’’.

Major package of wilderness, parks and energy bills hitches ride on defense authorization

Phil Taylor, Manuel Quiñones and Annie Snider, E&E reporters
E&E Daily: Wednesday, December 3, 2014

 

In a major bipartisan breakthrough, House and Senate lawmakers last night successfully attached a slew of public lands and energy bills to the defense authorization bill that Congress hopes to pass in the coming week.

If passed, the dozens of bills would represent -- by far -- the largest public lands package advanced by Congress since the 2009 Omnibus Public Land Management Act.

The package, negotiated by leaders on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources and House Natural Resources committees and backed by leaders on the Armed Service panels in both chambers, represents a major compromise between conservation and development interests.

It would designate nearly 250,000 acres of new wilderness in a handful of Western states while preserving hundreds of thousands of additional acres from drilling and mining in states, including Montana and Colorado.

It would also allow the Bureau of Land Management to expedite oil and gas and grazing permits, promote a copper mine in Arizona and convey federal timberlands to an Alaska Native-owned corporation in the Tongass National Forest -- all major Republican priorities.

In total, there appear to be roughly 70 provisions in the natural resources title of the 1,648-page National Defense Authorization Act, which was crafted by members of the House and Senate Armed Services panels.

...It remains to be seen whether senators who have historically opposed omnibus parks packages -- including Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) -- will oppose the package once it reaches the Senate floor.
It's also unclear whether the measure will garner opposition from any major environmental groups.
Like the 2009 omnibus bill -- which contained a controversial bill by Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) to authorize a road through an Alaska wilderness area -- the package attached to NDAA contains some potential poison pills for green groups.

They include a proposal by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to swap lands in Arizona to build a copper mine and a bill by Murkowski to convey tens of thousands of acres of the Tongass National Forest to Juneau, Alaska-based Sealaska Corp., allowing the clearcutting of some old-growth trees. The package also appears to have a proposal by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) to expedite grazing permits on public lands.
Some environmental activists yesterday were girding to oppose the package if it included those three provisions.

...Also included was a bill by Sens. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) to designate the 45,000-acre Columbine-Hondo wilderness in Taos County, N.M.

"We are closer than ever to making historic gains in protecting some of New Mexico's most treasured landscapes," Heinrich said yesterday in a statement. "From designating the Columbine-Hondo as wilderness, increasing public access to the Valles Caldera, and establishing the Manhattan National Historical Park, to streamlining the oil and gas drilling permit process, these provisions will have a significant impact on growing our economy."

READ ENTIRE ARTICLE

Natural Resources Provisions Again Included Within NDAA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bipartisan agreement has been reached on the natural resources provisions that will be included within this year’s National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  The House-Senate agreement supports American job creation and economic growth through a balanced approach to improve the management of our public lands and natural resources while protecting treasured areas.

For multiple Congresses, the NDAA has included provisions within the jurisdiction of the House Natural Resources Committee and the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.  This year’s provisions are included in Title 30 of NDAA, with the multiple sections reflecting individual bills, each of which has been subject to public review in the House or Senate, and the majority have already passed the House or Senate.

The bills in the agreement will create thousands of American jobs, cut red-tape to energy production on federal lands, boost American mineral production, protect multiple-use and public recreation on federal lands, convey over 100,000 acres of federal land for job-creating economic and community development, protect treasured lands through the measured establishment of locally-supported parks and wilderness areas, and provide new means to enhance private dollars to support America’s National Parks.

“As it has traditionally done, this year’s annual national defense bill contains natural resources provisions that are the result of a bipartisan agreement.  Of great importance to the House is the inclusion of long-standing priorities and House-passed bills that have languished in the Senate.  The agreement offers a balanced approach to public lands management, providing opportunities for new job creation and energy and mineral production, while simultaneously protecting special areas,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04). 

Key highlights include:

 

Expanding American Energy & Mineral Production

·         Boosts new oil and natural gas production on federal lands by reducing permit delays, providing regulatory certainty to American job creators, preventing the Obama Administration from increasing costs, and extending a successful pilot program that helps the Bureau of Land Management deal with a backlog of drilling permit applications. 

·         Responsibly facilitates several proposed mineral development projects, which includes allowing for opening up the third largest undeveloped copper resource in the world – supporting nearly 3,700 American jobs, creating $61.4 billion in total economic impact, generating nearly $20 billion in federal, state, county and local tax revenue, and producing enough copper to meet 25 percent of current U.S. demand. 

Protecting Jobs and Multiple-Use of Federal Lands

·         Reduces grazing permit backlogs and adds needed certainty to America’s ranching community. 

·         Updates fee structure to provide predictable, fair rates so families are not forced to tear down cabins they own in national forests.  

Balancing Conservation Designations with Federal Land Conveyances

·         Provides for over 110,000 acres of land to be conveyed out of federal ownership – to be utilized for economic development (including mineral production, timber production, infrastructure projects) and community development (ie, local cemetery, shooting range). 

·         Supports America’s National Parks by providing new means of enhancing private funding (through donor recognition and the issuance of a commemorative coin to recognize the 100^th anniversary of the National Park Service in 2016) and by designating a select number of new park units that have strong local support.

·         Designates approximately 245,000 acres of wilderness in specific areas with strong local and Congressional support.  Nearly half of those acres are already managed as if it were wilderness due to its current status as a roadless or wilderness study area.

·         Releases 26,000 acres of current wilderness study areas to multiple use.

·         Protects private property owners by ensuring that no private property can be condemned.