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Public Lands News from the Senate | ![]() |
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Greetings!
Hello, again!
Democrat Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico is now chair
of the full committee, replacing Republican Pete
Domenici.
Last year, at the beginning of what was to be
the Senate’s last public land bill hearing in the 109th
Congress, Bingaman released a statement on an
issue of great concern to us—legislation that we
came to call “quid pro quo wilderness.” His
statement included the following:
"I understand that any proposal to designate wilderness involves compromise and tradeoffs as to how many acres should be protected and what the potential impact will be to other uses... [The] balancing has been complicated, however, in that many wilderness proposals are now packaged together with directed Federal land sales; requirements to use inflated land valuations; mandatory motorized use areas; and requirements for land management agencies to fund local development projects. In my view, the packaging of wilderness bills with provisions such as these is a very troubling trend."
Bingaman also made the connection between
these bills and attempts by some to push wholesale
federal land disposal, saying further: Bingaman’s leadership in the committee could make a real difference for public land.
We are less enthusiastic about the new Democratic chair of the Public Land and Forests Subcommittee, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. Wyden is getting ready to introduce a bill designating wilderness on Mt. Hood that would also implement a controversial and lopsided land exchange. Click here to read a recent Oregonian article on the bill. You can visit the Energy & Natural Resources website to get links to bills under consideration, hearing schedules, even archived hearing webcasts (we’re more excited about that than we probably should be). As always, contact us any time to learn more about legislation we are monitoring. Yours, Janine, Joanne and Chris
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email:
e-news@westernlands.org
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