BRC NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Western lawmakers move key issues via budget battle
Greetings BRC Action Alert Subscribers,
We wanted to update everyone about some significant news regarding public lands issues and the federal budget Continuing Resolution approved last week by the U.S. House and Senate and signed by President Obama on April 15, 2011.
We'll refrain from making any amusing comments about Congress approving our nation's fiscal year 2011 budget -- in the middle of April 2011. Mostly because we don't find it particularly amusing.
Still, there is a very bright side to this year's budget kerfuffle, at least for public lands visitors and multiple use advocates. Below is a brief update on some of the more important recreational and public land use issues affected by the budget bill.
Enjoy the good news and, as always, please feel free to contact BRC with questions or comments.
Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102
BRC NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Western lawmakers move key issues via budget battle
No funds for Salazar's Big Wilderness
Last week the U.S. House and Senate approved the final fiscal year 2011 appropriations continuing resolution (HR 1473). The 2011 budget deal hammered out between Democrats and Republicans was signed by President Obama on Friday. The bill included several key budget riders affecting recreational access and public lands management.
Specifically, a provision pushed by Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson and supported by Washington Rep. Doc Hastings, Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, several western governors and others, precludes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from using any funds for the implementation of the Wild Lands policy.
Simpson's budget line item was made necessary when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued Secretarial Order 3310 requiring all Bureau of Land Management planning decisions to first consider impacts on "wilderness characteristics," embedding what amounts to a "de-facto Wilderness" authority in the land managing agency.
This provision is in affect for the 2011 fiscal year, so the Bureau of Land Management could begin finding more Wilderness beginning in October.
Simpson said in a press release his line item was to ensure the Department of Interior remained focused on its core mission, "ensuring that agencies like the BLM, the Forest Service, and the National Parks Service can continue to carry out fundamental operations that serve the American people." Simpson chairs the House subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies appropriations.
It remains to be seen what impacts, if any, the budget line item will have on the BLM's never ending Wilderness inventory. Frankly, it would be wise for recreational advocates to assume BLM will not cease its Wild Lands policy, which is currently being implemented in planning projects in Utah, Idaho, Montana and other western states.
Western lawmakers move key issues via budget battle
Greetings BRC Action Alert Subscribers,
We wanted to update everyone about some significant news regarding public lands issues and the federal budget Continuing Resolution approved last week by the U.S. House and Senate and signed by President Obama on April 15, 2011.
We'll refrain from making any amusing comments about Congress approving our nation's fiscal year 2011 budget -- in the middle of April 2011. Mostly because we don't find it particularly amusing.
Still, there is a very bright side to this year's budget kerfuffle, at least for public lands visitors and multiple use advocates. Below is a brief update on some of the more important recreational and public land use issues affected by the budget bill.
Enjoy the good news and, as always, please feel free to contact BRC with questions or comments.
Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Policy Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102
BRC NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Western lawmakers move key issues via budget battle
No funds for Salazar's Big Wilderness
Last week the U.S. House and Senate approved the final fiscal year 2011 appropriations continuing resolution (HR 1473). The 2011 budget deal hammered out between Democrats and Republicans was signed by President Obama on Friday. The bill included several key budget riders affecting recreational access and public lands management.
Specifically, a provision pushed by Idaho Rep. Mike Simpson and supported by Washington Rep. Doc Hastings, Utah Rep. Rob Bishop, several western governors and others, precludes the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from using any funds for the implementation of the Wild Lands policy.
Simpson's budget line item was made necessary when Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued Secretarial Order 3310 requiring all Bureau of Land Management planning decisions to first consider impacts on "wilderness characteristics," embedding what amounts to a "de-facto Wilderness" authority in the land managing agency.
This provision is in affect for the 2011 fiscal year, so the Bureau of Land Management could begin finding more Wilderness beginning in October.
Simpson said in a press release his line item was to ensure the Department of Interior remained focused on its core mission, "ensuring that agencies like the BLM, the Forest Service, and the National Parks Service can continue to carry out fundamental operations that serve the American people." Simpson chairs the House subcommittee on Interior and Related Agencies appropriations.
It remains to be seen what impacts, if any, the budget line item will have on the BLM's never ending Wilderness inventory. Frankly, it would be wise for recreational advocates to assume BLM will not cease its Wild Lands policy, which is currently being implemented in planning projects in Utah, Idaho, Montana and other western states.
