The Biden administration wants to make conservation equal to ranching and mining in the West. The GOP won’t have it – By Tracy Ross (Colorado Sun) / June 22, 2023
The Republican-led House Committee on Natural Resources voted Wednesday to withdraw a BLM rule it links to “Biden’s preservationist agenda”
Members of the Republican-controlled U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources advanced a bill Wednesday seeking to block a new rule by the Bureau of Land Management that would put conservation on equal footing with energy development, livestock grazing and recreation. But the measure is unlikely to go anywhere given that Democrats control the U.S. Senate.
If the rule passes, it would elevate conservation during a time when officials say it is gravely needed amid mounting evidence of the effects of global warming on natural landscapes. The BLM says it will “allow managers to better respond to the growing need for oversight on public lands, waters and wildlife in the face of devastating wildfires, historic droughts, and severe storms across the West.” And it will “deepen the agency’s collaborative work with communities to support responsible development of critical minerals, energy and other resources.”
The rule is of particular interest in Colorado, where the BLM manages 8.3 million acres of public lands as well as 27 million acres of mineral estate with multiple programs generating nearly $9 billion in economic output and 41,000 jobs. In Colorado, oil and gas development on the BLM’s mineral estate generates $6.1 billion, compared with $1.4 billion from recreation. Coal mining on mineral estate contributes about $577 million to the state’s economy, while grazing rolls in at $74 million.
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