Sierra Club Statement on Congressional GOP’s Targeting Protections for Western Landscapes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senate Republicans have approved resolutions to remove safeguards for wildlife, water, and recreation on landscapes across three Western states, including areas vital to Tribal communities.

Senate Republicans utilized a dubious interpretation of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn three Resource Management Plans overseeing areas of public lands in Alaska, Montana, and North Dakota. The resolutions now move to the White House, where Donald Trump is expected to sign them.

Invoking the law in such an unprecedented manner potentially throws management of millions of acres of public lands across the country into chaos. The Clinton-era law allows Congress to overturn administrative rules developed by executive agencies, but it has never been used to overturn a Resource Management Plan prior to these three resolutions. Bureau of Land Management RMPs that were finalized after 1996 currently manage 166 million acres of public lands, all of which may be subject to future CRA resolutions. 

Scrapping the plans would have dangerous effects, potentially allowing additional mining, drilling, and logging in areas previously protected. It has also generated outcry from local communities and Tribes, who are heavily consulted to develop RMPs, along with conservation, recreation, and hunting and angling organizations.

In response, Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, released the following statement:

“Senate Republicans have voted to throw millions of acres of our public lands into chaos. These votes are an unprecedented abuse of authority, and they set a dangerous precedent for the management of these landscapes. Congressional Republicans have decided they know better than the local communities, Tribes, and stakeholders who help craft these plans, and the consequences could be disastrous for our country’s natural heritage.”

Todd Leake, Sierra Club North Dakota Chapter Chair, released the following statement: 

“Senators Cramer and Hoeven sponsored and voted for a resolution that silences the voices of the North Dakotans they represent, overturning a plan that was developed with input from locals, including farmers, ranchers, hunters, and Tribes. This vote jeopardizes access to mule deer and elk habitat for North Dakota’s hunters. Public lands should be managed by the people and for the people, not for the oil companies that have come into North Dakota.”   

Caryn Miske, Sierra Club Montana Chapter Director, released the following statement: 

"This vote to undo years of work that brought together so many different interests on these public lands shows that Sen. Daines and Sen. Sheehy have no interest in actual balance for the use of our national public lands," said Caryn Miske, Montana Chapter of Sierra Club Director. "The Miles City plan considered the interests of farmers and ranchers, conservation groups, hunters and anglers, local communities and business to strike some real compromises in uses here, but this throws that all out the window in favor of the coal industry. Daines and Sheehy should be prioritizing access to public lands like they fought attempts to sell these landscapes over the summer, instead of making empty promises about reviving a dying industry." 

Andrea Feniger, Sierra Club Alaska Chapter Director, released the following statement:

“Senators Murkowski and Sullivan’s vote to overturn the Central Yukon Resource Management Plan ignores the Alaskans who made their voices heard during the creation of the plan and threatens the future of iconic lands and wildlife we rely on. For many in this area, a majority of food comes directly from the surrounding lands and waters. We stand in support of Alaska Native communities who have advocated for the protections critical to sustain Indigenous ways of life and wild food economies. Overturning the Central Yukon RMP could also make it easier for projects like the Ambler mining road, which would be an environmental disaster and massive threat to caribou herds and fisheries, to skate through the permitting process without proper vetting.”