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Show DECEMBER Hansen 1995 and Waldholtz: Taking the Public Out of ‘Public Lands’ Essay by Lawson LeGate, Sierra Club — Abraham Among those leading this backward charge is Utah’s own First District Congressman James V. Hansen. From his seat as the new chairman of the House subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands, Rep. Hansen broods over a nest-full of anti-public lands, anti-parks, and anti-wilderness eggs, in hopes that at least some of them will hatch. De er ee CL OTR UIA | Imagine your neighbor having the den with the ability to expand any one of the paths to a driveway. The garden wilderness in Utah, in wouldn't would it? licly-owned land out of nearly 6 million available. Look a little closer, however, and one will see why Mr. Hansen con- Transfer this concept to our public lands and multiply it by the thousands of miles of rights-of-way claimed by siders the bill to be a “test case” for Utah counties across our desert wildlands, and H. R. 2081 becomes an excellent tool for killing any chance of wilderness ever being established. the minimalist approach of pro- future wilderness bills — it includes many new non-wilderness provisions. Here are just a few of the unprece- dented Mr. Hansen is the chief sponsor of many of these bills; for some, he is a leading co-sponsor; and for others, he has been joined by Utah’s first-term Congresswoman Enid Greene Waldholtz. Together, these two Utah representatives are out to radically change the traditions of public land ownership and management. Anti-Wilderness Bill Consider the so-called “Utah Public Lands Management Act,” H.R. 1745. This is the Utah Congressional delegation’s attempt to settle the issue of features of the and nat- ural gas pipelines in some wilderness areas. No protection in the form of a reserved water right for the water that flows into wilderness areas. Motor vehicles would be permitted. e Areas not designated wilderness could never again be considered for wilderness. Severe curtailment on the ability of lands managers to limit and control livestock grazing within the new wilderness areas. sine giveaway of thousands of wild Kaiparowits acres of the Plateau, so that a Dutch coal company can turn it into a coal mine. This is also true of H.B. 1713, the Call _ So’s the dog! The z+f, 801-64-REMAX REMAX @ Network Park City Matthews Team MatTTHews David Working For You & Jane 14 Days A Week 1500 Kearns Blvd., Suite E-200 Office: 64-REMAX Fax: Home: 647-0023 649-3556 Livestock Grazing Act, a bill co-sponsored by Reps. Waldholtz and Hansen. This bill would, in essence, make the commercial grazing of livestock the dominant use of public lands. uSes, Non-commodity such as wildlife management and recreation, would take a legally mandated back seat. If this bill is passed, the United States of America will be faced with an Orwellian future, where all citizens are equal, but its citizen-ranchers are more equal than others. Rights-of-way If the first two bills fail to wrest control of public lands away from the American people, then perhaps H.R. 2081 will effectively do the job. This bill, sponsored by Mr. Hansen, would permit states, rural counties and even individuals to claim control over jeep and foot roadless could trails across lands. Any publicly-owned of these then be upgraded really MHansen- Waldholtz Wilderness Bill: e The construction of dams There is more to this wildernessbut the in-name-only legislation, theme is clear: private and corporate interests would be granted rights and privileges heretofore unknown on owned by all wilderness lands Americans. Le right to three footpaths across your gar- tecting only 1.8 million acres of pub- takes Lincoln. he new majority in Congress talks a great deal about “the Republican Revolution” as it turns its attention to issues such as welfare and Medicare arid balancing the budget. No matter how one views the Republican efforts in these areas, a look at the issues related to America’s public lands reveals a very backward-looking agenda — the ultimate aim of which is the abandonment of our nation’s long tradition of management and ownership of public lands. terms favorable to extractive industries and other anti-wilderness interests. At first glance, the bill (S. 884 in the Senate) desert Be not deceived. Revolutions do not go backward routes to a highway. be yours any more, Land Transfer Of course, public out in the effort to take the of public lands, there is much to be said for the direct approach embodied in H. R. 2032, Mr. Hansen’s land transfer legislation. This bill would simply hand over 270 million acres of the public trust to individual states. Given the inordinate influence of extractive industries in states like Utah, its easy to imagine the bleak future for our formerly pubic lands. In a state that offers oil and gas leases in state parks, it's clear that non-commodity values would take a back seat. Still, while he waits to see the outfrontal Rep. come of the assault, Hansen can try to whittle away at the edges. Thus he supports legislation which would sell several ski areas now on National Forest land to private interests. In addition, he has touted the idea of establishing a process aimed at closing national parks and cited Great Basin National Park as an example of one that could be closed. Not one to take “NO” for an answer, when the House overwhelmingly rejected his idea, Mr. Hansen then maneuvered to have the proposal attached to budget legislation. Moderate Republicans Concerned There is some evidence that related attempts by right-wing Republicans to dismantle such laws as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act are discomfiting their more moderate col- leagues. Newt Even Gingrich Speaker has been of the House wringing his hands at the prospect of losing environmentally sensitive voters in the 1996 elections. Whether this new-found concern will put the brakes on the anti-public lands agenda of Congressman Hansen and supporters, such as Congresswoman Waldholtz, remains to be seen. Nonetheless, it is clear that the ulti- mate fate of our public lands heritage rests not with the politicians but with us, the owners. Let’s hope that enough of us awake to the threat before the damage is done. @ |