by Public Lands Council

Country Remembers Carter & Congress Discusses Reconciliation

Congress had its first full legislative week for the 119th Congress. Members took time to pay their respects to the late Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States. All living presidents were in town to pay their respects, and Congressional activity largely paused for President Carter’s funerary proceedings. 

While the House and Senate are still ramping up for larger activity later this month, conversations about the first order of business – passing a reconciliation package – were underway in earnest. Leaders met with President-elect Trump to discuss whether to pass reconciliation measures in a single package, or a two-bill process. 

Reconciliation allows Congress to consider high-priority fiscal policy in an expedited way, and Congressional Republicans are looking for ways to rein in some of the high-volume spending of the last four years. High-priority targets include remaining funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, many of which have been used as negotiating chits in the Farm Bill discussion. 

Energy and permitting are at the top of the incoming Trump Administration’s agenda and are likely targets to be revenue-raisers in the reconciliation negotiations. While many public lands grazing issues aren’t direct targets for inclusion, PLC remains engaged with Speaker Johnson and House Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman to discuss strategies to save money in costly permitting processes and reduce unnecessary expenditures in land management.

Senate Committee to Hold Hearing for Interior Secretary

Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Mike Lee announced this week that the Committee will hold the nomination hearing for Governor Doug Burgum, who was nominated by President-elect Trump to lead the Department of the Interior. 

Despite objections from Ranking Member Heinrich, Chairman Lee made clear he is committed to ensuring a swift and streamlined process for Governor Burgum’s nomination and confirmation. After this week’s hearing, the Committee will need to hold a vote on Burgum’s nomination, which then will need a full-Senate vote to complete the process. 

PLC applauded President-elect Trump’s decision to nominate Burgum to lead the Department of the Interior late last year and supports Burgum’s swift confirmation. Contact your Senate delegation today to urge support for Burgum’s nomination. 

PLC Win: USFS withdraws old-growth plan

This week, Forest Service Chief Randy Moore announced in a press release that the agency is abandoning their effort to develop a nationwide old-growth strategy that would have required amendment of all USFS forest plans to prioritize protection of “old-growth” vegetation. 

This effort was doomed from the start. While most of the timber industry is already effectively prohibited from cutting timber that qualifies as old-growth, USFS definition of “old-growth” in this effort would have further limited hazardous fuels mitigation and other conservation efforts. The USFS plan would have even stopped work to prevent woody encroachment, an about-face from the partnership USDA has had with ranchers for decades to address invasive pinyon-juniper and red cedar spread. 

PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover applauded this welcome news on behalf of all PLC affiliates: 

“We are pleased to see that the Forest Service has abandoned their ill-conceived plan amendment process. Going down this road would have put ecosystems at higher risk of catastrophic wildfire. Even worse, formalizing this kind of old growth strategy would have been a direct affront to the work cattle and sheep producers have been doing for decades to protect lands and waters. In one fell swoop, the Forest Service would have taken decades of work to prevent pinyon juniper encroachment and turned it on its head, penalizing the very people who prevented total woody conversion of grasslands and rangelands.”

As part of their official announcement, USFS cited the information they received in the process and expressed appreciation for the scientific data submitted. PLC continues to believe that undertaking a costly and unnecessarily complicated regulatory process was not the appropriate way to gather data. An official notice to withdraw the agency’s plan was published in the Federal Register on Friday. 

USFWS Undermines Decades of Grizzly Bear Recovery in the West 

This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its proposed rule to revise the Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing for grizzly bears along with 12-month findings for both the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE). 

The grizzly has been protected under the Endangered Species Act since 1975 nationwide and its population numbers have steadily been rising. The proposed rule would abandon decades of success in established Distinct Population Segments (DPS) and establish a single DPS encompassing areas in Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming. In these areas, the grizzly bear DPS would retain threatened status under the ESA and would be subject to the proposed 4(d) rule to provide for incidental take authorizations for protection of livestock on public and private lands, and other purposes listed below. 

This approach does two things: sets totally new expectations for grizzly bear population numbers across a much wider area – in areas where the bear cannot feasibly exist, and virtually ensures that the grizzly bear will no longer be delisted. 

It’s no surprise that the move was heralded by activists who have long sought permanent protections for grizzly bears. PLC views this as a clear exploitation of ESA authority in the last days of an outgoing administration. This proposed rule is unscientific, politically unpopular, and a clear weaponization of the ESA. Read PLC’s full statement from Director Garrett Edmonds. 

Once published in the Federal Register the rule will be subject to a 60-day public comment period. PLC plans to engage with agency officials on the proposed rule and will be inviting producers as well to share their perspectives and submit comments. In addition, the agency will hold 4 public meetings:

• January 28: Missoula, MT at the Hilton Garden Inn, 3720 N Reserve St 
• Information meeting 3pm-5pm, public hearing 6pm-8pm (Mountain Time)
• January 29: Coeur d’Alene, ID at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds, 4056 N. Government Way, Building 19
• Information meeting 3pm-5pm, public hearing 6pm-8pm (Pacific Time)
• January 30: Virtual meeting (DETAILS TBA)
• 6pm-8pm (Mountain Time)
• February 10: Cody, WY at the Holiday Inn, 1701 Sheridan Ave
• Information meeting 3pm-5pm, public hearing 6pm-8pm (Mountain Time)