Mission Survey Results

Sheriff James Perkins, Garfield County, UT, highlighted his perspective from 27 years of law enforcement and experience working with various federal law enforcement agencies.

“BLM’s attitude towards coordinating with local law enforcement is summed up best by a conversation I had with a BLM law enforcement officer while we were attending a drug task force meeting in Cedar City, Utah. He told me point blank that he didn’t care about any authority that I thought I had as the Garfield County Sheriff, and that he did not feel like he had to coordinate anything through my office… This refusal to coordinate, coupled with a lack of any meaningful oversight, has created a perfect environment where the abuse of federal law enforcement powers can occur.”

Leland Pollock, Garfield County Commissioner, Garfield County Utah, testified on how BLM law enforcement has moved away from a public service philosophy due to polarization of personnel and bullying and cancellation of cooperative agreements.

“Our concerns/ complaints are not just a matter of hurt feelings, bullying, intimidation, lack of integrity, and a host of social issues. BLM’s Chief of Law Enforcement has cost Garfield County real dollars… We are befuddled how one individual can override a State Director and negatively impact an entire county with impunity.”

A. Grant Gerber, Elko County Commissioner, Elko Nevada, discussed specific examples of wrongdoings, threats, intimidation, and bullying by both BLM law enforcement and a district manager.

“When I was a boy and as I grew up the few Federal Agents were mainly local or from rural areas and fit in well with the local area. They knew the people and worked cooperatively. Now the Federal agents are predominantly from outside the area and do not develop connections with the locals as was done previously. Many start off with a belligerent attitude, even a commanding presence. They are especially offended if anyone opposes any Federal Government actions. The worst are the Federal Law Enforcement Agents that arrogantly announce that they are not governed by Nevada law, but can enforce it if they choose. Now we have been informed, that without notice of hearings, the BLM has determined that two more BLM Law Enforcement Agents are necessary to control the people in the Elko area. All of this is resulting in less use of Federal Lands by citizens as the citizens become afraid of being accosted and berated.”

Jose Valera Lopez, President of the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association, Rancher, Santa Fe New Mexico, testified on current justifications Federal Land Managers use to intimidate and bully including Endangered Species protection and resource protection.

“Endangered species ‘protection’ is the biggest culprit. At the moment the Fish and Wildlife Service is considering critical habitat for the lesser prairie chicken, the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse, and two varieties of garter snakes. Expansion of the Mexican wolf habitat is expected as early as tomorrow. We have had 764,000 acres in New Mexico and Arizona recently designated critical habitat for the jaguar although only a few male jaguar have been sighted in the U.S. over the last 60 years… In my own case, the BLM has been buying up private lands near my family ranch within the boundaries of an Area of Critical Environmental Concern that they designated part of their Resource Management Plan. They not refer to our ranch as an in-holding. What this designation has done is de-valued our land and effectively prohibits any type of future development on the ranch.”

Call Oregon Senators & tell them to Support H.R.1526 

HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN POVERTY?

The Planning for Growth and Open Space Conservation Webinar Series Presents…

From a Lane County Watchdog:

Memo From the US Forest Service

S. 1784: Oregon and California Land Grant Act of 2013 Introduced:

Oregon: Transfer public lands from feds?

State Forests Management Superior to Federal Forests
for Job Creation, Revenue Production, Local Economies and Fire Prevention

“[Washington state] lands generate an average of $168 million annually, support construction of public elementary, middle school and high schools statewide, facilities at the state’s universities, and other state facilities and institutions. In comparison, the U.S. Forest Service is responsible for managing over 9 million acres of forest land contained within seven different national forests in the State of Washington, yet harvests just 2 percent of the new growth, yielding a four-year average of only $589,000 in revenue,”  said Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04).  “Rather than offering all-too-familiar rhetoric of how complying with one federal law or another ‘costs too much,’ it’s time for the federal government to adjust how it does business, and honor its own statutory responsibilities to manage the forests, including allowing sufficient timber harvests, that benefit forested counties and their schools, as well as improve declining forest health and reduce the threat and soaring costs of catastrophic wildfire.” 

“Over the last few decades we’ve seen our National Forest System fall into complete neglect—what was once a valuable asset that deteriorated into a growing liability. I believe our forests and public lands are long overdue for a paradigm shift,” said Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Chairman Rob Bishop (UT-01).“It’s time for the federal government to cease being the absentee landlord of over 600 million acres of land in this country that it controls and start leveraging those lands in a way  that benefits rather than burdens the taxpayers and communities who are forced to play host to the federal estate.”

75th Anniversary of the Code of Federal Regulations

Please register in advance for this and future webinars.

Congressman Peter DeFazio & The Land and Water Conservation Fund

FY 2008 Land Acquisition Requests
 http://www.fs.fed.us/land/staff/LWCF/purchases08/docs/PNWstreams_project_fy08.pdf 
 
Appropriation History:

 FY 2002-2006 Appropriations     $10,980,896     3,770 acres

 FY 2007 Appropriation                 $0 0

 FY 2008 Request                         $1,000,000         280 acres
             
Future requests                             $6,925,000        2,340 acres

Overlook named for DeFazio

http://democratherald.com/news/local/article_22d86e8c-f041-11e0-94c3-001cc4c002e0.html 

In 1983, Congress established the Bandon Marsh as a national wildlife refuge to protect the largest remaining tidal salt marsh in the Coquille River Estuary. In 1999, DeFazio led the effort to pass the refuge expansion to include the Ni-les’tun Unit. This area includes an intertidal marsh, a freshwater marsh, and riparian areas for migratory birds and salmon, steelhead and cutthroat
trout.

DeFazio also helped secure $765,000 in land acquisition funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund and $4.2 million in transportation act money for North Bank Lane improvements.

View from Sapsucker Woods

Since 1965 the recorded balance in offshore oil revenues credited to, but not appropriated from, the LWCF is $17 billion. Imagine the scale of conservation that could be accomplished if we decided to “settle up” and expend these technically already conservation-committed dollars! Much more realistic and urgent, however, is the need to begin committing the full, legally authorized LWCF amount every year within our federal budget. Since taking office, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced repeatedly his commitment to “fully funding the Land and Water Conservation Fund,” but previous administrations have made similar statements, without result.  Today signs are again promising: the proposed fiscal year 2011 federal budget requests more than $600 million in LWCF funding (including $384 million for federal land acquisition, $100 million for the USDA Forestry Legacy Program, $85 million for the cooperative endangered species fund, and $50 million for state transfers and grants, according to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation), and bills are being discussed in Congress that would mandate fully funding the LWCF.

Senators Introduce Package of Sportsmen's Bills

 "I am pleased that this amendment significantly advances the cause of making public lands more accessible for multiple uses including hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation," said Senator Thune.   "Our amendment reauthorizes the North American Wetlands Conservation Act and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. This amendment also includes language that I've advocated for in the past which would ensure that the EPA cannot regulate the use of lead ammunition and lead in fishing gear."
 
One provision within the legislation would direct 1.5 percent of Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) dollars towards priority recreational access projects.  The “Making Public Lands Public” provision is intended to improve access to Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands where access is blocked by private land. Priority access easements and acquisitions often do not fare well when directly competing for limited LWCF funds with large-scale habitat conservation efforts. Dedicating a small percentage of LWCF dollars towards these small but critical projects has the potential to significantly improve sportsmen’s access.

Landmark Legislation Will Benefit America's Lands, Water, and Wildlife

May 11, 2000
 https://forms.house.gov/defazio/pf_051100ENRelease.htm 
 
CARA provides $2.8 billion in annual funding for important conservation and recreation programs. Since 1965, revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling have been earmarked for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (L&WCF), which now has an unspent surplus of $13 billion.  The bill would provide full funding for the L&WCF which supports federal and state open space protection and park improvements.  In addition, the bill allocates oil and gas revenues for coastal  conservation, fish and wildlife, urban parks, historic preservation, federal and Indian lands restoration, farm and forest land protection, and endangered species recovery programs.

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the United States is nominating Poverty Point State Historic Site and National Monument in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana, for inclusion on the World Heritage List. The nomination document was prepared by the State of Louisiana in consultation with the National Park Service’s Office of International Affairs.
The nomination has been submitted through the U.S. Department of State to the offices of the World Heritage Centre in Paris, France.

If approved by the World Heritage Committee, the prehistoric earthworks would join the Taj Mahal, the Statue of Liberty, Stonehenge, the Grand Canyon and the Great Barrier Reef on the list of 962 sites in 157 countries designated as the
most significant cultural and natural sites on the planet. 

“Tucked into the bayous of Louisiana, the Poverty Point earthworks are the remarkable legacy of a prehistoric hunter-gatherer society that existed thousands of years ago,” Salazar said. “Designation as a World Heritage Site not only would be an honor for both Louisiana and the United States but also would be an invitation to domestic and international travelers, helping to accomplish
the goals of President Obama’s National Travel and Tourism Strategy to generate jobs through increased tourism.” 

“We thank the State Department and the State of Louisiana for their partnership on the nomination of Poverty Point to be a World Heritage Site,”  said Acting Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Rachel Jacobson.  “Poverty Point is a significant cultural site that is certainly deserving of recognition on the world stage.”