Red Rock Alcove, Utah                                                                                                                  (Mike Painter)

 
April 27, 2017

Dear CalUWild friends and supporters —

A very short introduction this month: We’ve always had one simple membership requirement here—Each person agrees to write one letter (or make one phone call) a month to someone about something. This month, if we had a way to enforce it, we’d make all the actions in Item 1 mandatory. I hope you’ll see why.

 
Thanks for your continuing support,
Mike

 
IN UTAH
1.   The White House Orders a Review
           Of All National Monument Designations Since 1996
          (ACTION ITEM)
2.   America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act
          Reintroduced in the House & Senate
          (ACTION ITEM)

IN CALIFORNIA
3.   Sen. Feinstein Reintroduces Desert Protection Bill
          (ACTION ITEM)
4.   Mountain and Rivers Proposal
          For Northwestern California Gathers Steam—
          Great Old Broads to Hold 2 California “Broadwalks”
          July 6-10 & July 13-17
          And 1 in Washington, DC
          October 16-20

IN THE PRESS
5.   Links to Articles and Other Items of Interest

 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 
IN UTAH
1.   The White House Orders a Review
          Of All National Monument Designations Since 1996
          (ACTION ITEM)

The fight for the protection of our federal public lands with the new administration has now begun in earnest.

Yesterday the White House issued an executive order directing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to review all the national monument designations of more than 100,000 acres—or any others, at the Secretary’s discretion—made in the last 20 years. This timeline begins with the Grand Staircase-Escalante in 1996 and ends with the Bears Ears designation last December. Both are in Utah, and that state’s politicians vociferously and continuously complained. They finally found willing ears in the White House and, it seems, in the Department of the Interior, where they all gathered for the signing ceremony. So, although the executive order covers all monuments, we’re putting this item first, in the Utah section of the Update.

Although Secty. Zinke stated after the signing that nothing is a foregone conclusion—that it this only a review—his later comments belied that claim when he expressed his hostility to the use of the Antiquities Act.

A press release from the Interior Department stated:

It is true that of the monuments designated recently have been large, but they served the important purpose of protecting unique examples of the American landscape. Any such monument has to be large-scale by definition. It was an important part of then-Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s effort to refocus the Bureau of Land Management away from being strictly an extractive resource agency. Congress made the BLM National Landscape Conservation System permanent by law in 2009.

Mr. Zinke’s comments are also a gross mischaracterization of the process that the Obama Administration undertook in designating the latest national monuments. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell held numerous meetings in towns all over the West whenever a monument was proposed, and they were always well-attended. Though there were some objections raised at times, they were often based on mis- or dis-information, with the Bears Ear being the prime example. For the most part, there was widespread support for the new national monuments, both locally and nationally.

Mr. Zinke is to report back within 120 days as to whether any should be shrunk or otherwise modified, and he promised a review of the Bears Ears within 45 days. He is also make recommendations as to legislative changes to the Antiquities Act of 1906, the law authorizing the president to designate monuments.

Please call the Interior Department immediately to voice your objections. The direct number is:

Or use the contact page on the department website.

Since we are seeing government-by-tweet, you can also contact Secty. Zinke via Twitter: @SecretaryRyanZinke In fact he told one of our friends that’s how he prefers to hear from people …

 
Please contact the White House on its comment line:

 
Please contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators. Information can be found on their websites at house.gov and senate.gov. (You can combine your call with a message about America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act—see Item 2.)

 
Finally, write a letter to the editor of your local paper.

Please point out in any and all communications that the Bears Ears monument boundaries very closely matched those in Rep. Rob Bishop’s Public Lands Initiative (though he proposed a National Conservation Area instead of a monument). Pres. Obama waited until the last minute with his designation precisely because he wanted to see whether Congress would act on the PLI proposal. But since it didn’t, judging that the area was worthy of protection—as everyone seemed to agree it was—he used the only tool at his disposal, the Antiquities Act, to protect it.

Here is a list of the monuments affected by the executive order, by state or geographical area:

Reaction in the press and elsewhere was widespread, most pointedly from the Inter-Tribal Coalition, in a letter to Secty. Zinke. Here is an excerpt:

Other samples:

Please speak out as loudly and as frequently as you can. And talk to your families, friends, and neighbors, encouraging them to do the same. Our shared American heritage is at stake in a profound way right now.

 
2.   America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act
          Reintroduced in the House & Senate
          (ACTION ITEM)

As we anticipated last month, California Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-47) introduced America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act in the House of Representatives on April 6.

The bill number is H.R. 2044.

In addition to Rep. Lowenthal, six Northern California representatives were among the 30 original cosponsors:

We just learned yesterday that Rep. Doris Okada Matsui (D-6) will join her colleagues in cosponsoring the bill.

Please call their offices to say Thank You.

We would like to see the following House Members from California sign on, as well. Those with an asterisk (*) next to their names have cosponsored in the past.

Contact information can be found on their websites at house.gov.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin (D), reintroduced the Red Rocks bill in the Senate yesterday, with 17 cosponsors. He gave a floor speech to mark the reintroduction and also criticized the White House move to review the national monuments discussed in Item 1. His office put out a press release, with links to the video and text of his speech.

Please contact Sen. Kamala Harris (D) and urge her to sign on as a cosponsor.

 
IN CALIFORNIA
3.   Sen. Feinstein Reintroduces Desert Protection Bill
          (ACTION ITEM)

At the start of this Congress, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) reintroduced her bill to protect areas in the Mojave Desert. The Desert Protection and Recreation Act of 2017 (S. 32) is the same bill she had introduced in the last Congress, except that the provisions regarding the Castle Mountains, Mojave Trails, and Sand to Snow National Monuments were removed, since Pres. Obama designated them last year.

Our friends at the California Wilderness Coalition provided this summary of the legislation. It would:

—   Protect 230,000 acres (359 square-miles) of federal land as wilderness in southeastern California, ranging from the Avawatz Mountains near Death Valley to Milpitas Wash in Imperial County;

—   Enlarge Death Valley National Park and Joshua Tree National Park by 43,000 acres (67 square-miles);

—   Protect important waterways such as the Amargosa River from future dam construction and development;

—   Establish the 75,575-acre (118 square-mile) Vinagre Wash Special Management Area in Imperial County where many ecologically sensitive areas and Native American heritage sites would be protected;

—   Designate the Alabama Hills area in Inyo County (the location for dozens of movies and television shows) as a National Scenic Area so that its priceless vistas are protected;

—   Permanently prohibit the staking of new mining claims on approximately 10,000 acres of land sacred to the Quechan Tribe in Imperial County;

—   Mandate the study and protection of Native American cultural trails along the Colorado River;

—   Help make it more difficult for developers to exploit groundwater in or near the Mojave National Preserve; and

—   Require the Department of the Interior to study the future impacts of climate change on the California desert, to mitigate these impacts and to identify and protect important wildlife migration corridors in the region.

The bill also protects five existing off-road vehicle recreation areas from mining, military base expansion, or other uses that would close them, requiring the BLM to write management plans for those areas. Though we are no fans of off-road motorized recreation, we feel the protective provisions listed above more than balance these out.

Please call Sen. Feinstein’s office and express support for her efforts.

 
4.   Mountain and Rivers Proposal
          For Northwestern California Gathers Steam—
          Great Old Broads to Hold 2 California “Broadwalks”
          July 6-10 & July 13-17
          And 1 in Washington, DC
          October 16-20

A campaign, spearheaded by the California Wilderness Coalition, is growing to restore and further protect public lands and waterways in the northwestern corner of the state, District 2, represented in Congress by Jared Huffman (D).

We’ll cover the proposal in more detail as time goes on, but here are links to pages with information on the three components of the proposal as it stands now:

Great Old Broads for Wilderness will be hosting two weekend campouts—they call them Broadwalks—in July in the area of some of the proposal. Broadwalks are a fun way to get actively involved in protection campaigns, go hiking, and meet other people who share your interest. So if you love the redwoods or want to learn more about them and/or the proposal, join in the fun.

Click on the following links for more information:

Once you’ve gone to the redwoods you might consider joining the Broads for a few days, putting your knowledge to work in Washington, DC, supporting legislation growing out of the Mountains and Rivers Campaign and other campaigns in the West. Click here for more information.

 
IN THE PRESS
5.   Links to Articles and Other Items of Interest

If a link is broken or otherwise inaccessible, please send me an email, and I’ll fix it or send you a PDF copy. As always, inclusion of an item in this section does not imply agreement with the viewpoint expressed.

Public lands in general

The Bundy saga

Other

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
As always, if you ever have questions, suggestions, critiques, or wish to change your e-mail address or unsubscribe, all you have to do is send an email. For information on making a contribution to CalUWild, click here.

Please “Like” and “Follow” CalUWild on Facebook.