Latest news with #Zinke
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP Strips Public Land Sell-Off From Trump Budget Bill, Narrowly Passes House Vote
Supporters of outdoor recreation scored a major victory Wednesday. For 2 weeks, public land advocates had sounded the alarm over a budget amendment from House Republicans that aimed to sell about half a million acres of federal land in Utah and Nevada. Representatives Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Celeste Maloy (R-UT) added the controversial proposal on May 7, arguing that the land sell-off would help President Trump fund his budget. The move quickly drew the ire of both local representatives and a large coalition of outdoor brands and organizations. Now, those same outdoor groups are applauding the efforts of Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), who successfully spearheaded efforts to remove the provision late Wednesday evening. Zinke, who served as Trump's Secretary of the Interior during the president's first term, said it's 'folly' to sell public land to 'get out of debt.' 'This was my San Juan Hill,' Zinke said in a news release Wednesday, referring to a key battle of the Spanish-American War. 'I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands. Once the land is sold, we will never get it back. God isn't creating more land. Public access, sportsmanship, grazing, tourism… our entire Montanan way of life is connected to our public lands.' Zinke's efforts were crucial, as no House Democrats voted to pass the reconciliation bill — which squeaked through by a single vote (215-214). The bill now heads to the Senate. On Thursday, outdoor organizations were quick to praise Rep. Zinke as one of the only House Republicans to support Democrats' efforts to prevent the sale of public lands. Outdoor Recreation Roundtable (ORR) and Backcountry Hunters and Anglers both issued statements applauding the political victory. Approving land sell-offs to fund the federal budget would set a 'dangerous precedent,' according to ORR. 'Over the last week, the entire outdoor recreation has been diligent about putting the word out,' Outdoor Alliance spokesperson Nicole Brown said Wednesday in a meeting that brought together many outdoor organizations. 'We have sent 80,000 letters to lawmakers over this. The outdoor recreation community is paying attention …This is a very unpopular thing for these lawmakers to be doing.' However, both groups also said that the public land sell-off was merely the most egregious of several proposals that threaten Americans' access to the outdoors. Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' which refers to Trump's budget as it moves through the House, has several other provisions that still worry advocates for land access. Those include: Reinstating Twin Metals' mining leases in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota, which would threaten the health of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Requiring oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over the next 10 years and reinstating previously canceled leases, exempted from judicial review, as well as rescinding previous environmental reviews Rescinding Bureau of Land Management (BLM) funding allocated for conservation, ecosystem, and habitat restoration projects Cutting $100 million from the Forest Legacy Program, which adds protections on rural, private 'working forests' that support hunting and recreation access, Moreover, Trump is planning even more cuts to the federal agencies that manage public lands. After massive layoffs, spending freezes, and other measures, the president's budget now proposes another $1 billion cut to the National Park Service. Many of the nation's parks still lack the majority of the seasonal staff that would normally be in place for the busy summer season. 'Most parks, including Yosemite, are lacking 50-70% of their seasonal staff,' Jesse Chakrin, executive director of The Fund for People in Parks, said in a Wednesday meeting of outdoor groups. 'I live right outside Yosemite … I was cleaning bathrooms with my friends a few weeks ago.' While the removal of language that would have allowed public land sell-offs marks a win for outdoor access advocates, the bill itself still faces an uncertain future. Senate Republicans have already signaled lackluster support for various provisions in the bill. 'Unprecedented Threat': Outdoor Brands to Raise Prices If Trump Tariffs Continue
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
While Public Land Advocates Celebrate House Bill Victory, Several Troubling Provisions Were Passed
An incendiary provision that would have required the sale of more than 500,000 acres of BLM land in Nevada and Utah was removed from the federal budget bill late Wednesday, however the legislation working its way through Congress will still reshape how Americans engage with their public land. The mega reconciliation bill, which cleared the House of Representatives last night by a single vote, includes cuts to land-management agency budgets, acceleration of logging and mining on public land, and the requirement that nearly every acre of eligible federal land be opened to oil and gas leasing. Also remaining in the bill is a green light for mining activity near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most-visited wilderness area in the United States. The budget package now goes to the Senate, where it's expected to face further revisions — and further opportunities for the public to influence their senators. Led by all House Democrats and a coalition of break-away Republicans including Rep. Ryan Zinke (R — Montana), two controversial elements were stripped from the House version of the budget bill at the last minute: a requirement to sell 547,000 acres of BLM land in Utah and Nevada, and approval of the so-called Ambler Road in Alaska. The road would provide all-season access to mining claims in the pristine Brooks Range. While the public-land sale provision got most of the attention from the conservation community in the weeks since it was slipped in as a last-minute amendment, the Ambler Road withdrawal was cheered by Hunters & Anglers for the Brooks Range, a coalition of 65 groups that has resisted its construction for years. 'In every opportunity for public comment on the proposed Ambler Industrial Road, the hunting and fishing community has stood up and spoken out against this project that risks the wild and remote qualities of the Brooks Range,' said the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, a member of the coalition, in a prepared statement. The balance of the natural-resources portion of the budget bill retains many of the elements on its initial draft. They include the reinstatement of withdrawn mineral leases for metal mining in the watershed of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, opening vast areas of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration, cuts to land-management agencies that are expected to impact visitation as early as this summer, an eye-popping expansion of coal mining and timber harvesting on public land, expedited permitting, and prohibition on protests of most natural-resources regulations. 'Selling our shared public lands to pay for tax cuts for the rich was and is an awful, un-American idea, and we appreciate Rep Zinke's work to keep it out of the bill,' says Lydia Weiss, senior director for government relations at The Wilderness Society. 'His colleagues never should have considered it in the first place.' Weiss says that the conservation community has had a 'destabilizing' week. 'On Monday this was the worst bill in environmental history,' she said. 'Late Wednesday night some of the worst provisions were dropped. We are relieved, and yet this remains the worst bill in environmental history.' Here's a look at the most contentious elements of the bill that the Senate will consider as early as Friday. The bill would explicitly re-establish mineral leases sought by the mining company Twin Metals Minnesota, a subsidiary of the Chilean conglomerate Antofagasta PLC. The company plans to develop an underground copper, nickel, cobalt, and platinum metals mine about nine miles southeast of Ely, the gateway community to the Boundary Waters. Developers claim the project would bring more than 750 full-time jobs to the area. Critics claim it could pollute one of the last remaining pristine waterways on the continent, which attracts some 150,000 visitors every year. The bill also rescinds Public Land Order 7917, which withdrew from mineral leasing 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters. The acres are expected to be available for sulfide-ore mining. The bill requires four oil and gas lease sales in ANWR's Coastal Plain over the next 10 years, mandating that no less than 400,000 acres be offered in each sale, and that sales be conducted in each odd year for the next decade. The bill further reissues canceled oil leases by accepting the highest bid valid from the January 2021 lease sale. All previous environmental analyses regarding oil development on Alaska's Coastal Plain are to be rescinded within 90 days of the bill's passage. The bill mandates quarterly lease sales in Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Nevada, and Alaska, but the budget act also mandates lease sales in 'any state where there is land available for oil and gas leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920.' This includes federal land adjacent to national parks and monuments. In addition to cuts mandated by the Department of Government Efficiency and reduced annual budgets for federal land-management agencies, the bill eliminates all remaining Inflation Reduction Act funding for the National Parks Service, including an estimated $267 million for critical park staffing needs. The National Parks Conservation Association estimates work-force reductions of 33 percent since 2010, including 13 percent this year. The bill requires a 25 percent increase in timber harvest over 2024 levels on both Forest Service and BLM lands, and apparently circumvents the 2001 Roadless Rule by allowing logging to occur in some Inventoried Roadless Areas. While frivolous lawsuits have delayed and stopped many public-lands developments, the bill doubles down on eliminating public appeals. It would revise the National Environmental Policy Act to allow private project sponsors to pay an optional fee of 125 percent of the estimated cost of a NEPA analysis for expedited review. Decisions in this opt-in arrangement would be immune from judicial review. Most leasing provisions in the bill have a rider that makes those projects immune from litigation. The House version of what's called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has been transmitted to the Senate. It's unclear whether the Senate will simply ratify the House version or decide to write its own budget bill. If the latter, then the entire bill drafting process will begin in respective Senate committees. The portions of the budget that deal with public-land management, oil and gas and mineral development, and logging will go to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. That committee, like its counterpart in the House, has been charged with finding $1 billion in either savings or revenue to contribute to the overall budget. 'The House Natural Resources Committee over-performed and raised, through their policy recommendations, close to $14 billion,' observes Weiss. 'It's possible the Senate committee could try to match that or stick closer to their $1 billion contribution. All those details still have to be worked out.' Read Next: House Passes Bill That Would Deregulate Suppressors, Eliminate the $200 Tax Stamp For hunters, anglers, outdoor recreators, and other folks whose protests to the land sales caused that provision to be dropped may need to ready themselves for another campaign, depending on the budget's path through the Senate. 'We are very hopeful that the Senate reads the room,' says Weiss. 'Selling off our public lands cannot pass in the House. The more the American people learn about what the House just passed, the more certain we are that the Senate will not follow suit.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Zinke leads push to strip public lands sale from federal budget bill
Montana U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke speaks at a press conference announcing the launch of the bipartisan Public Lands Caucus on May 7, 2025. (Courtesy photo) Calling it his 'San Juan Hill,' a reference to a Spanish-American War battle victory by Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders, Montana U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke announced Wednesday he had successfully led a bipartisan charge to remove a provision to sell public lands from the federal budget bill. The provision to sell off roughly 450,000 acres of federal land in Utah and Nevada passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee in early May, but met opposition from conservation groups and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The proposed sale and exchanges of land involved areas near Las Vegas, Reno and St. George, Utah, aimed at allowing for affordable housing developments on Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management Land. Zinke, a Republican and former Interior Secretary who formed the new bipartisan Public Lands Caucus the day after the provision was adopted in committee, has been a strong opponent to the sale of federal public land. 'I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands. Once the land is sold, we will never get it back. God isn't creating more land,' Zinke said in a press release on Wednesday. 'Public access, sportsmanship, grazing, tourism… our entire Montanan way of life is connected to our public lands.' The House Rules Committee removed the provision from the budget bill after opposition from several Western Republicans, including Zinke, Rep. Troy Downing, R-Montana, and Public Lands Caucus Vice Chairman Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho. The opposition to public lands sale threatened to derail President Donald Trump's 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act,' a sweeping 1,116-page bill that contains the administration's spending priorities. With the federal land transfer portion struck from the reconciliation package, Zinke and Downing both endorsed the 'Big Beautiful Bill,' which includes extending the Trump Administration's tax cuts from 2017, increasing funding for the border wall, Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and temporarily eliminates taxes on overtime work and tips. The bill could also cut funding from programs such as Medicaid and SNAP benefits, which states may have to fund in order to keep service levels intact. It also includes implementing work requirements for Medicaid within two years and accelerates the phase-out of clean energy tax credits enacted by former President Joe Biden. The bill, which passed an initial House vote by a single vote, still faces opposition for its price tag. The Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates it would add nearly $4 trillion to the nation's debt. Multiple conservation groups released statements praising the work done by Zinke, and thousands of constituents nationwide, to remove the public lands sale amendment from the bill. 'Tens of thousands of Montana hunters, anglers, and other outdoor enthusiasts have been flooding the Capitol switchboard, attending weekend rallies, and writing letters and postcards to Congress, asking that the public lands transfer amendment be killed,' said Mike Mershon, board chair and president of the Montana Wildlife Federation, in a statement. . 'Selling our shared public lands to pay for tax cuts for the rich was and is an awful, un-American idea, and we appreciate Rep Zinke's work to keep it out of the bill. His colleagues never should have considered it in the first place,' Lydia Weiss, senior director for government relations at The Wilderness Society, said in a statement. Montana Conservation Voters, Trout Unlimited, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, MeatEater and other groups also released statements. The success in appealing to Republican leaders to make the change marked a strong win for the new members of the Public Lands Caucus. Downing said in a statement that he was pleased the bill removed the public lands sale, and that it includes keeping the Bull Mountains Mine in Musselshell County operational. 'Our legislation delivers historic tax cuts, secures our borders, strengthens key programs for future generations, eliminates waste, fraud, and abuse, and sets the country on a path toward fiscal responsibility,' Downing said. 'Our work is not done, but Republicans will not rest until this once-in-a-generation legislation is signed by the President.'
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘One Big Beautiful Bill' moves ahead minus target on Clark County land, Colorado River water
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Montana Republican's threat to vote against the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' ultimately spelled the demise of a Nevada congressman's attempt to sell off public lands in Clark County, Northern Nevada and Utah. U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) infuriated conservation advocates and Nevada Democrats with his amendment, tacked onto the multitrillion-dollar tax breaks package in a late-night session last week. But the amendment died as Republicans determined they couldn't risk bringing the bill to a vote without Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke's vote. The bill passed early Thursday by a 215-214 vote. It wouldn't have been that close, but two Republicans missed the vote. According to a report by The Hill, New York Republican Andrew Garbarino 'fell asleep in the back, no kidding,' and Arizona Republican David Schweikert arrived after the vote had closed. Another Republican voted 'present.' 'I'm happy that my Republican colleagues, led by Rep. Zinke, acknowledged that it would wrongfully change the way federal lands are managed,' U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.) said in a statement Wednesday night. 'They stood their ground, and we were able to stop the unprecedented Amodei proposal.' Lee's office said land marked for sale in Amodei's proposal lined up with the public land that Utah has been targeting for its Lake Powell Pipeline, which would send water to St. George and other Utah communities. 'If this land were sold and the pipeline were built, it could divert 28 billion gallons of water each year from Lake Powell and the Colorado River to communities in southern Utah, away from Nevada and the other Basin states,' according to a news release. 'This is a huge win for Nevada's and the Southwest's water security,' Lee said. For decades, federal law has ensured that proceeds from land sales in Southern Nevada stay in Nevada, reinvested in projects for parks and recreation, and also partially allocated to the Southern Nevada Water Authority. That all happens through the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act (SNPLMA). Amodei's amendment would have sent these proceeds to the federal government to subsidize tax cuts in the 'One Big Beautiful Bill.' U.S. Rep. Dina Titus also fought against Amodei's proposal, offering her own amendment to reverse that plan. In an interview Wednesday night with the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Amodei expressed frustration. 'You might have played checkers for a week, but the chess game starts now,' Amodei said. That report indicated more than 65,000 acres in Clark County would have been sold. Zinke was appointed Secretary of the Interior at the start of President Donald Trump's first term, but left less than two years later amid ethics investigations. Sierra Club leaders declared a win. 'This is proof that when people fight for the things and places they love, they win,' Olivia Tanager, director of the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter, said in a statement. 'Nevadans stood up, raised hell, and made it crystal clear: our public lands are not for sale. Let this be the dawn of a new day in Nevada and across the country, and let us all say once and for all: no land sales at the expense of communities today, not tomorrow, not ever,' Tanager said. Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, said, 'We hope that Zinke's move sends a strong message to lawmakers of all stripes: We can never break the public trust and the Colorado River for billionaire tax breaks.' The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House Passes Trump's ‘Big Beautiful Bill'—but Federal Land Sale Provision Is Axed
President Donald Trump is one step closer to seeing his 'Big Beautiful Bill' become a reality, but it's not a complete celebration. The sweeping trillion-dollar tax and spending bill passed the House by just one vote, 215-214, with two Republicans joining the Democrats in their opposition. The vote in the overnight hours extends the president's tax cuts passed in 2017 (when Trump was first president), provides more money for the military and border security but cuts hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly known as food stamps). A provision that slipped into the May 6 revision of the bill was what to do with about 450,000 acres of undeveloped land in Nevada and Utah, owned by the federal government. Republicans were proposing selling that land to the respective state or private entities, possibly with the intent to build affordable housing. Nevada and Utah were singled out as the top two states, respectively, with the highest percentage of government-owned land. On the campaign trail in August last year, Trump pledged to make housing more affordable, saying: 'We're going to open up tracts of federal land for housing construction. We desperately need housing for people who can't afford what's going on now.' America faces a housing shortage that will take more than seven years to fix at the current rate of construction, according to a report on the housing supply gap from the economic research team. Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke (R) led the effort to get the provision removed and was successful when it was axed late Wednesday, May 21. 'This was my San Juan Hill; I do not support the widespread sale or transfer of public lands. Once the land is sold, we will never get it back. God isn't creating more land,' said Zinke. 'Public access, sportsmanship, grazing, tourism … our entire Montanan way of life is connected to our public lands. I don't yield to pressure; I only yield to higher principle. There is a process to making sure that our lands are being used for the best benefit of the people.' Zinke wasn't the only politician concerned about the land sale. The change was supported by Representatives Troy Downing (R-MT), Mike Simpson (R-ID) and hundreds of other members on both sides of the aisle, according to a press release from Zinke's office. The concerns were wide-ranging, including what might happen to the land if it was sold to private corporations, such as energy companies. 'The TRCP is encouraged to see provisions removed from the House budget reconciliation bill that would sell off public lands. Hunters and anglers stepped into the arena to make their voices heard, and members of Congress listened—thank you,' said Joel Pedersen, president and CEO of the Missoula, MT-based Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. The proposed land sales would open the door for developers to build affordable housing on U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management land outside Las Vegas and Reno, and in Utah, around the tourist town of St. George, but there was no guarantee that would be the outcome. In Nevada, the federal government manages most of state's land—over 85%. The state also has the largest special recreation permit. The federal government has controlled much of the state of Utah's land dating back to the 1800s, when Utah and other states were given up by Mexico as part of the treaty to end the war. Now, the Bureau of Land Management oversees nearly 23 acres. 'Public lands in Utah serve multiple purposes,' Jonathan Malloy with the Utah Bureau of Land Management tells 'Some areas support recreation and tourism; others are used for responsible resource development or infrastructure needs such as roads, pipelines, and transmission corridors.' The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled Senate, but GOPers have vowed to make changes. Congressional leaders want to send a final bill to Trump's desk by July 4. 'The Bachelorette' Star Jenn Tran Reveals Cute Miami Apartment Where She's Hunkering Down To Finally Finish Physician's Assistant Training Natalie Portman Reveals Real Reason She Quit Los Angeles To Raise Her 2 Kids in France Bryson DeChambeau and Rory McIlroy's Rivalry Is Heating Up—but Which of the PGA Championship Stars Has Hottest Home?
