If the recommended critical tweaks are made to remove the ugly parts (grazing “rights” and further exaltation of livestock grazing in wilderness areas) of S.1890, the Senate and the House of Representatives should pass the bill and the president should sign it into law.
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Malheur County Federal Land Legislation Take 4, Part 1: The Good, the Whatever, and the Bad
With a few critical tweaks, Senator Wyden’s legislation could be a net gain for the conservation of nature for the benefit of this and future generations. Without those tweaks, the bill as drafted is an existential threat to the conservation of federal public lands and should not be enacted into law.
Read MoreSenator Wyden’s Owyhee Wilderness, and More, Legislation
third try may be the charm in Senator Wyden’s long effort to enact public lands legislation to conserve wildlands in the Owyhee and lower Malheur Basins in Oregon.
Read MoreL’Affaire Malheur, Part 2: Backstory and Analysis
L’Affaire Malheur, Part 1: The Proposed Legislation
Malheur is the French word for adversity, misfortune, and/or tragedy. It is also, among other things, a name for a county in Oregon, a national forest, a national wildlife refuge, and a river. Senator Ron Wyden’s proposed Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act is indeed a misfortune and a tragedy.
Read MoreOwyhee Canyonlands: Faux Conservation and Pork Barrel Development
The Owyhee Canyonlands in Oregon are worthy of inclusion in the National Park System, administered by the National Park Service. Now that would be local economic development! The Owyhee Canyonlands are worthy of designation by Congress as an overarching national conservation area with underlying wilderness and wild and scenic rivers where appropriate. The Owyhee Canyonlands are not deserving of a half-assed mineral withdrawal that locks in other harmful uses.
Read MoreNational Monuments: Long-Term National Versus Short-Term Local Interests
The people of Boston might make more money chopping up Old Ironsides into souvenirs and leasing out the space on the water to a floating casino, but they can’t. The oldest commissioned ship in the United States Navy doesn’t belong to them alone. The people of Washington DC might make more money if the National Mall were converted to condominiums, but they can’t. The nation’s lawn doesn’t belong to them alone.
Nor do the nation’s federal public lands belong to locals alone.
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