Over the past few months, countless voters have come to us with the same question: How can we ensure that our public land is managed in a way that makes it work for everyone?
In the Committee on Natural Resources, we try to approach this issue with a spirit of unity and collaboration. We believe Americans need representatives who are bipartisan, and we are determined to reach across the aisle to find solutions to natural resource issues.
That should be easy. Republicans and Democrats actually share many of the same desired outcomes when it comes to how the government is supposed to manage our public lands. But we have to be ready to put productivity above partisanship.
Unfortunately, the Democrats have brought in a package of laws with significant economic and environmental costs for our constituents without a single committee surcharge or a single hearing. The fact that the bill should be examined prior to the formal organization of the Natural Resources Committee with its new local members is evidence of a broken process.
HR803, the US Wilderness and Public Areas Conservation Act, ignores the contributions of local and state officials by creating 1.5 million acres of wilderness, the most restrictive classification in the state. As we recover from the worst fire season in recent history, the last thing we should do is make it harder to prevent these disasters. The bill also threatens the livelihoods of those who work in the extractive industries at a time when our country is affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee sought a bipartisan compromise by proposing 54 sensible changes to HR803. These changes would have reduced the financial burden on those who will lose their jobs and, among other things, prevented government secretaries from overriding state water laws.
With Utah in mind, Congressman Moore introduced simple changes that would remove unhealthy forests from wilderness designations and prevent new land designations from restricting existing recreational activities. He also tabled an amendment to strengthen the local contribution to the land designation process. The democratically controlled regulatory committee only accepted the last of these amendments for consideration, while over 50 Republican amendments were even denied a vote. These sensible amendments were not partisan; They reflected fundamental American values, and we were disappointed that Democratic leaders preferred partiality to productivity.
This kind of top-down policymaking is unsustainable and has serious implications for Utahns. HR803 would affect the ability of Americans to restore and edit and restrict local submissions to land policy. In Utah, recovery is a fundamental asset and source of economic growth. Northern Utah has world-class national parks and destinations for skiing, rafting, camping, hiking, and more, from Flaming Gorge to Bear Lake. These communities rely on recovery to ensure economic stability.
HR803 threatens the ability of state and local officials to make decisions and fully govern their country. These types of guidelines would prevent families from cycling, snowmobiling, or even pushing a stroller through our public land, and would prevent locals and visitors from experiencing our nature. It would deprive Western states of a core component of their industry and local character.
We still believe that there is considerable room for bipartisan cooperation in the Committee on Natural Resources and we hope that we can return to the standard procedure for important pieces of legislation to go through a consultation and record process. HR803 serves as a lesson in how unilateral legislation only leads to deeper divisions and prevents compromise and progress in the conservation, development and balanced policies of natural resources. America needs our committee to show that we can work together to solve the complex challenges we face. We are ready to do just that.
Bruce Westerman, R-Arkansas, represents the 4th District of Arkansas and is the senior member of the House Committee on Natural Resources. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, represents Utah’s 1st Congressional District and serves on its committee.
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