Subject: Congress To Consider Omnibus Land Bill Urgent Action Needed
Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:32:16 -0600
BRC National Legislative Action Alert
Omnibus legislation would designate millions of acres of Wilderness in eight states, designate at least three wild and scenic rivers, designate four national trails, and allow well connected lobbyists to funnel millions into pet projects.
UPDATE: The Interior Department\'s Inspector General investigating links between BLM and environmental lobbyists regarding the omnibus lands bill!
ACTION ITEM INCLUDED BELOW - PLEASE FORWARD TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY
Dear BRC Action Alert Subscriber,
Senator Reid is planning to push through a massive omnibus lands bill during the Lame Duck Session of Congress. For those of you who are new to BRC\'s Action Alert list, the omnibus land bill is \"catch all\" legislation consisting of more then 150 separate pieces of legislation!
According to an article in Public Lands News (
www.publiclandsnews.com), the Senate Energy Committee recently added bills to the package that would designate millions of acres of Wilderness in eight states, designate at least three wild and scenic rivers, designate four national trails, and authorize dozens of land exchanges and land conveyances.
And the news just keeps getting worse. Although unconfirmed, Washington D.C. insiders say Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson is trying to attach the Central Idaho Development and Recreation Act (CEIDRA) to the omnibus package.
I suppose that could have been predicted. See, the omnibus package is a not-so-clever way our Congressional representatives can pass bills, like Simpson\'s CEIDRA, that can not pass on their own merits. CEIDRA would close hundreds of thousands of acres of premium high country snowmobiling and over 80 miles of mountain bike trails. Idaho\'s recreational community has successfully fought to oppose the bill in its current form.
But the news is not all bad, and there is good reason to believe action taken now could be effective. Some legislators, such as Idaho\'s Larry Craig and Utah\'s Rob Bishop are trying to shed some light on some of these bills, just to see exactly why they can\'t stand on their own merits.
Bishop initiated an investigation of the bill that would formally establish the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) and guess what he found? Information suggesting that Bureau of Land Management employees may have violated the 1939 Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from lobbying Congress.
As a result of Bishop\'s inquiry, the Interior Department\'s Inspector General is investigating links between BLM and environmental lobbyists. Environmental lobbyists and BLM officials appeared to have inappropriate discussed the passage of the NLCS legislation and may have worked together on draft policy memoranda.
In addition, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn continues his opposition to the pork-barrel spending included in the omnibus package. The $4 billion omnibus package funds such things as birthday celebrations for cities, tropical botanical gardens, and a study determining whether Alexander Hamilton\'s boyhood estate is suitable to become a new National Park.
BRC is asking all our members and supporters to contact their Senators by phone and ask them block passage of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008. Senator Reid plans a vote for NEXT WEEK, so please make your call today.
Brian Hawthorne
Public Lands Director
BlueRibbon Coalition
208-237-1008 ext 102
PS: A friend of mine asked me if BRC was working the omnibus issue. I said yes, and I told him about an action alert we blasted last July. He said he remembered the alert, so I asked him if he\'d called his Senator. He said he hadn\'t. He said he just \"figured\" BRC was on the case. I told him that the way BRC gets on the case is when our members call their Senators! PLEASE CALL TODAY!!
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BRC National Legislative Action Alert:
Please call your Senator and tell them to vote NO on Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008 (S. 3213)
SITUATION:
Senator Reid recently stated that the passage of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008 will be a high priority for the Lame Duck Session of Congress beginning November 17, 2008.
The omnibus package includes bills that could not pass on their own, like the \"Owyhee Initiative.\" It also includes dangerous legislation such as the National Landscape Conservation System Act, which would formally establish a Clinton/Gore administrative fiat established by Bruce Babbitt.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO:
Please call your Senator and ask them to vote NO on the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2008.
1. Go to BRC\'s Rapid Response Center at
http://www.sharetrails.org/rapid_response/, type in your zip code and click GO.
2. Under the column \"President & Congress,\" click on the name of the \"Senator or Representative\" you wish to call.
3. Click on the \"Contact\" tab, this will show all the contact information for that person, including phone numbers for their state and federal offices.
4. Call one of their offices.
Comments you can make:
Please vote NO on the Omnibus Public Lands Act of 2008 (S. 3213).
I strongly oppose combining many of these so-called \"land bills\" into one \"Omnibus\" package. Doing so eliminates careful review and allows special interest groups with large powerful lobbies in Washington DC to outweigh the voice of individual citizens, such as myself, who regularly visit and enjoy our public lands.
I am also very concerned about how specific bills contained within the Omnibus package will eventually eliminate public access to public lands. Specifically, the National Landscape Conservation System (S. 1139 & H.R. 2016), the Prehistoric Trackways National Monument (S. 275) and the Owyhee Public Land Management Act of 2008 (S. 2833)
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