WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced legislation to direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to withdraw the proposed rule titled “Conservation and Landscape Health.” The proposed rule undermines FLPMA’s multiple-use requirement for BLM lands and would hinder access to public lands for energy and critical mineral development, grazing forest management, and recreation, which would have an outsized effect on Central Washington’s ranchers and its residents.
“In Central Washington, we know locking up lands with preservationist designations does not automatically guarantee healthy landscapes. In fact, the opposite is often the case,” said Rep. Newhouse. “Farmers and ranchers are the best stewards of the land, not bureaucrats in Washington D.C. who seek to hamper our land managers’ ability to conserve the land they rely on for their livelihoods. The BLM has time and again shown their aim is to drastically reduce, or even eliminate, grazing on public lands, and this proposed rule is the latest iteration of this effort. I am proud to introduce legislation to rescind it.”
“The Washington Cattlemen’s Association (WCA) exists to protect, preserve and grow the cattle industry in the State of Washington,” said Chelsea Hajny, Executive Vice President, Washington Cattlemen’s Association. “Grazing on public lands is critical to our ranchers. We applaud Congressman Dan Newhouse for introducing legislation to rescind the BLM’s proposed rule that would threaten this grazing. Cattlemen have, and will continue to be, the ultimate stewards of the land while simultaneously producing the most desired protein source in the world.”
Original sponsors of the legislation include Reps. Dan Newhouse (WA-04), John Curtis (UT-03), Doug Lamborn (CO-05), Mark Amodei (NV-02), Pete Stauber (MN-08), Chris Stewart (UT-02), Russ Fulcher (ID-01), Harriet Hageman (WY-AL), Paul Gosar (AZ-09), Blake Moore (UT-01), Burgess Owens (UT-04), Cliff Bentz (OR-02), and Ryan Zinke (MT-01).
Read the full text of H.R. 3397 here.
Background:
- Yesterday, Rep. Newhouse and Senator Cynthia Lummis sent a letter to BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning to point out how the new rule would lock up public land and hurt local communities and request the BLM extend their public comment period to a minimum of 120 days to hear from people across the west about the impacts of the new rule.
- BLM’s proposed rule subverts the Congressional “multiple-use” mandate—established by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act—that federal land and its resources must be utilized for various purposes to “best meet the needs of the people.” By enacting a restrictive framework for ‘conservation leases,’ the rule threatens access to federal lands for other critical purposes such as grazing, mining, outdoor recreation, and energy development projects while giving conservation lease holders the power to prevent access to public lands.
- Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) introduced companion legislation in the Senate.
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