Delegation comments on internal BLM ‘Treasured Lands’ memo
BLM proposes using BLM land-use planning process for possible mineral withdrawals in Wyoming and Alaska
by Wyoming Delegation (Enzi, Barrasso, Lummis)
September 20, 2010
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mike Enzi and John Barrasso and U.S. Representative Cynthia Lummis, all R-Wyo., are angry about the contents of a Department of the Interior (DOI) memorandum that outlines the Administration’s secret plan to restrict land use in Wyoming.
The delegation sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar expressing their disappointment that an internal DOI memorandum recommends utilizing the land-use planning process at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to limit multiple use in the state. The delegation is concerned that the document promotes a backdoor strategy to circumvent current law, which prohibits the President from designating monuments in Wyoming without Congressional authority. The delegation believes it is inappropriate for the Administration to use a planning process to lock up public land.
A portion of the internal memorandum was leaked in Feb. 2010 but the full document, which mentions Wyoming, was recently made available. The memorandum mentions methods to limit multiple use of roughly 130-140 million acres in the West. The delegation seeks to protect Wyoming’s industries and jobs from Washington overreach by preventing the lock up of federal land in the state.
Click here to read the full Department of Interior Bureau of Land Management Treasured Landscapes Discussion Paper (21 page PDF)
To read the letter, click here: http://enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=bfb4b7cc-8798-4598-8632-007cbe53952a (September 15, 2010)
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