皇冠体育app官网平台

DENVER — Congress’ decision to remove a problematic public-lands sell-off provision from the House reconciliation bill is a testament to the overwhelming public outcry and the leadership of Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.). The provision, added to the bill in a late-night maneuver, would have directed the Bureau of Land Management to sell or exchange hundreds of thousands of acres of public land in Nevada and Utah, and required the proceeds of any sale be deposited into the general treasury. This would have circumvented existing law that requires robust public participation in land management decisions, and would have diverted money away from acquiring new lands, securing public access, or improving habitat quality of public lands.  

“The public lands sell-off provision would have set a dangerous precedent that would open the door to the further disposal of public lands without public input, and could eventually lead to widespread sale or transfer of public lands all across the nation. The existing law that has governed land stewardship for nearly 50 years already allows for appropriate sales and transfers under limited, well-defined circumstances. A separate law requires that money raised from those sales go right back into land stewardship. This provision would have undermined all of that,” said David Willms, associate vice president for public lands at the National Wildlife Federation. “In recent weeks, hunters, anglers, conservationists, recreationists, and rural community leaders have expressed outrage at this proposal. Thank you to Rep. Ryan Zinke and his colleagues who listened to their constituents and worked with House leaders to eliminate the provision from the budget reconciliation bill. We urge all members of Congress to refrain from similar attacks on 皇冠体育app官网平台’s public lands.”

“Tens of thousands of Montana hunters, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts have been flooding the Capitol switchboard, attending weekend rallies, and writing letters and postcards to Congress, asking that the public lands transfer amendment be killed,” said Mike Mershon, board chair and president of the . “The Montana Wildlife Federation applauds Rep. Zinke and Rep. Downing for getting the provision removed and encourages our entire Congressional delegation to confront additional threats to 皇冠体育app官网平台n public lands.”

“Hunters, anglers, and all public lands users in Idaho thank Speaker Johnson for listening to the voices of sportsmen and women across the nation and pulling this amendment, preventing half a million acres of our shared heritage from being disposed of in a reconciliation process that lacked any of the standard public input that such a drastic step should require,” said Nick Fasciano, executive director of the. “We also thank Idaho’s own Rep. Mike Simpson for standing up for public lands and pushing for this amendment to be removed.”

“Nevadans and the outdoor community across the country showed that support for public lands is still a bi-partisan issue,” said Russell Kuhlman, executive director of the . “We are thankful to the organizations, businesses and individuals that utilized the only way to voice that support during this process by engaging with their House Representatives and asking them to keep public lands in public hands.”