E&E PM
CAMPAIGN 2012: Tester attacks Rehberg-backed bill to lift roadless protections
Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Published: Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Supporters of a House bill to lift roadless protections on tens of millions of acres of public lands are impinging on the rights of sportsmen who depend on backcountry areas to hunt and fish, Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D) said today.
While he did not identify specific lawmakers, his comments were a shot across the bow of his opponent, Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.), who has co-sponsored the bill and is vying for Tester's Senate seat in the November election.
"It's a bill, quite frankly, that I think is a direct attack on our hunters and our fisherman in this country as far as access," Tester said of H.R. 1581, by House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The bill would overturn the Clinton administration's 2001 roadless rule and release several million acres of Bureau of Land Management wilderness study areas into multiple use.
Rehberg, who is among 42 co-sponsors, most of them Republicans, said the measure would release 43 million acres of federal lands that are currently "locked up" from development. The bill would give local communities more say in how public lands are managed, potentially allowing new oil and gas development, timber harvests and motorized recreation, supporters argue.
Environmentalists have denounced the proposal as the biggest threat to public lands in a generation, warning it would degrade habitat for elk and other big game while spoiling opportunities for solitude in the backcountry. Tester said he agrees.
"What 1581 is going to do is release a lot of pristine backcountry land -- good elk, good fisheries," he said at a hearing this morning to discuss the Forest Service's 2013 budget proposal. He noted the high percentage of Montanans who hunt and fish.
"It amazes me that some in the House want to take away these opportunities," he said. "They want to talk about the Second Amendment on the one hand and on the second hand take away the opportunity to use rifles in the wild."
Sportsmen are split on the issue, though conservation-oriented groups including the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Montana Wildlife Federation and Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation have all opposed the bill.
The bill is endorsed by the National Rifle Association, Safari Club International and National Trappers Association. Rehberg's office today released a list of dozens of other supporters, including the American Petroleum Institute, BlueRibbon Coalition and National Association of Counties.
Jed Link, a spokesman for Rehberg, today said restrictions in roadless areas are bad both for hunters and land managers' ability to keep the land healthy.
"There's a clear difference of philosophy between Senator Tester, who thinks the best way to protect land is to keep folks out, and most Montanans, including Denny, who understand that hunters and recreationists have a positive role to play in our ecosystem," he said. "The simple fact is, whether you're worried about hunting and fishing access or maintaining healthy wildlife habitat, H.R. 1581 is a good idea."
Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell today reiterated his agency's opposition to the McCarthy bill.
"There's strong support to maintaining the undeveloped character of our backcountry -- the roadless areas -- in this country to provide those recreational benefits, the clean water, the wildlife benefits that come out of that land," Tidwell said.
Natural resource issues have figured prominently in the Montana race, where Rehberg has painted Tester as an ally of the president and closely aligned with environmental groups that have opposed construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Tester, who supports construction of the pipeline as long as landowners are protected, is one of the top recipients of campaign donations funneled through the League of Conservation Voters, which has opposed the project.
Democrats in Montana have hit Rehberg hard for his support of the McCarthy bill and a separate Republican measure to exempt the Department of Homeland Security from an array of environmental laws along the U.S. border with Canada (E&E Daily, Oct. 26, 2011).
giving blue ribbon a couple thousand every year? While it helps it's nothing but a tear drop in the ocean compared to what the other side has backing them.
