FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 14, 2016
In response to the release of the second draft of Rep. Rob Bishop’s Public Lands Initiative, the Center for Western Priorities released the following statement.
Jennifer Rokala, Executive Director:
“It’s unfortunate that it has taken Congressman Bishop so long to take this process seriously. This draft bill should have been the starting point over 1000 days ago when the process began. Now, it’s been over three years since Rep. Bishop first proposed the Public Lands Initiative, and six months since he introduced a discussion draft that was heavily criticized by most involved. This all raises one big question: Is Congressman Bishop serious about compromise, or running out the clock? Regardless, he is now under serious time pressure.
“Unless this bill makes it to the President’s desk in a matter of weeks with necessary improvements, it will be incumbent on President Obama to ensure lands in Southern Utah are protected after an eight decade effort.”
The current draft of the PLI has major flaws which need to be fixed within days if Rep. Bishop intends to get his bill to the President’s desk. Among them:
The PLI’s proposed Bears Ears National Conservation Area excludes many important areas that are part of the Inter-Tribal Coalition’s proposed Bears Ears National Monument
The bill fails to provide local tribes with co-management authority within the Bears Ears region
The proposed Recapture Canyon Recreation Zone rewards the illegal activities of San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman and puts archaeological sites at risk
Forcing the Interior Secretary to grant rights-of-way to cow paths and historic trails (“Class D roads”) in Uintah County is an egregious attack on wilderness protections
Requiring grazing to continue inside National Conservation Areas at current levels prevents ecologically sound management policies
Handing over federal lands to the state for energy development is the worst kind of giveaway of the American public’s shared resources