Westerman Blasts BLM for Tone-Deaf Land Lock Up in Wyoming

Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued its final Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Rock Springs Field Office in Wyoming.

"Today's decision is another attack on American energy and mineral production by the radical environmentalists of the Biden-Harris administration. Communication between local communities, entrenched bureaucrats and administration leadership is so poor that Secretary Haaland admitted she's never even heard of Rock Springs RMP in May. How then can the administration move forward with a final plan less than four months later? This level of rogue bureaucratic extremism has defined the Biden-Harris administration's land lockup policies, and we will do everything in our power to fight for balanced land management to support local communities and America's critical mineral needs."- House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.)

"The BLM's most recent RMP and preferred alternative does not address the concerns previously identified, and will substantially reduce economically productive and environmentally safe land uses such as grazing, energy production, mining, recreation, and other important activities on nearly a million acres in our state. It is essentially a land lockout, converting thousands of acres of federal land in Wyoming from being managed for multiple-use into being set aside for non-use and non-access. This is exactly what the radical environmentalists have been demanding and this administration has been implementing all across the West.

"It is impossible to overestimate the level of harm this will cause to our local communities, our State and our country as a whole, due to the impact on our mining, livestock, recreation and energy industries - all because bureaucrats in Washington, DC are choosing to follow the 'climate change' marching orders of the Biden-Harris administration instead of science and fact. While the BLM has addressed some of the concerns voiced last year, it continues to pursue a reckless policy that simply cannot be let to stand."- U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.)

Background

Under the BLM's enabling statute, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, BLM's mission of managing for multiple use and sustained yield is codified. These multiple uses include livestock grazing, energy and mineral development, outdoor recreation, timber harvesting, watershed protection, and maintaining wildlife and fish habitat. To balance these multiple uses, BLM prepares RMPs, which serve as the land-use plan for specific units of BLM land.

Today's decision to reduce acres available for oil and gas, mineral development and grazing comes despite significant opposition from local communities and elected officials. The lack of stakeholder engagement and overwhelming local opposition to the draft RMP prompted the introduction of H.R. 6085 by U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.). By halting the administration's blatant land grab, H.R. 6085 would protect domestic energy production and allow the BLM to restart a new RMP process that more appropriately balances multiple uses and provides stakeholders with greater levels of engagement.

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