Thread: Massive New ‘Wilderness’ Designation Slipped Into Defense Authorization Bill

Massive New ‘Wilderness’ Designation Slipped Into Defense Authorization Bill

by Stacy James / No Comments / 0 View / December 4, 2014

Stacy James

A proposal to designate more than 250,000 acres in the western U.S. as “wilderness” — thereby placing severe restrictions on land use and having the potential to ultimately drive ranchers out of business — was quietly inserted into the National Defense Authorization Act by House and Senate lawmakers Tuesday night.

Ranchers working with cattle in Doña Ana County, New Mexico. (Tom Orr/TheBlaze TV)

E&E Publishing first reported on the deal. The bill is expected to come up for a vote in the next week.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in a statement Wednesday called the move an “extreme land grab” and urged House and Senate to “reject this attempt by self-serving politicians to exploit the men and women of the military to serve their special interests.”
The new wilderness areas include portions of New Mexico, Washington, Colorado, Nevada and Montana.
Wilderness designations were created by The Wilderness Act in 1964. Wilderness is defined as “an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence without permanent improvements or human habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural conditions.”
Government land regulations, including wilderness designations, are investigated in TheBlaze TV’s season finale episode of For the Record, ”Losing Our Land,” (Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET).

Walt Anderson, a New Mexico rancher, spoke to For the Record in June. (TheBlaze TV)

For ranchers who use public lands to graze their cattle, wilderness designation can mean severe restrictions, both in number of cattle they’re allowed to raise and how they’re allowed to maintain their land.

John Fowler is an agricultural economist at New Mexico State University who has studied the impact of wilderness designations on ranching. He says that despite promises from Congress that wilderness designations would not hurt the “allotment,” or number of cows a rancher is allowed to raise on a certain piece of land, in reality, they represent a crushing blow.

“The ranches around the wilderness were cut by 55 percent, but those ranches that were in the heart of the wilderness have lost up to 95 percent of their capacity,” Fowler told For The Record.
Walt Anderson, a rancher in southern New Mexico, said that being limited to smaller herds of cattle can drive people out of business quickly.
“A real easy way is to come in and cut your cattle numbers to the point that you can no longer function,” Anderson said. “You can’t pay your taxes. You can’t keep up your waters.”
Another impact on ranchers in wilderness areas comes from the restrictions placed on motorized vehicles. Instead of using a pickup or four-wheeler to build and maintain water systems and other critical infrastructure, everything must be hauled in by horses or other pack animals.
“They tell them OK, you’ve got to do it all horseback now, load a pack mule, load your pickup and go do it horseback. You can’t do it mechanically, which it was put in mechanically to start with,” Anderson said. “The water lines have to be repaired. It’ll catch up.”

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Cruz warns of federal land grab in Defense bill

Posted on December 3, 2014 December 4, 2014 by Sam Rolley

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) issued a statement Wednesday urging his congressional colleagues to reject the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act because of an “extreme land grab” and other pork included in this year’s rendition.
The more than $580 billion bipartisan military funding bill includes expected national security provisions in addition to some energy and public lands provisions not related to the nation’s vital security interests.
“At a time where jobs are scarce and the federal government has removed billions of acres of land from productive use, Congress should not be restricting more than a half-million new acres,” he added.
Among the provisions Cruz has taken issue with are:

• 250,000 acres of new wilderness designations.
• 400,000 acres withdrawn from productive use (for energy, mining, timber, etc.).
• 15 new national park units or park expansions.
• Eight new studies for national parks.
• Three new wild and scenic river designations and three new studies for additional designations.
• Study to begin the National Women’s History Museum.

“With the military’s shrinking budget, it is offensive that this bill would be used to fund congressional pork,” Cruz said.
The 2015 Defense bill slowed the annual rate of growth for service members’ housing allowances and a more modest pay raise than the private sector average.
The Republican is urging Congress to reject the 2015 NDAA, a bill he calls an “attempt by self-serving politicians to exploit the men and women of the military to serve their special interests.”
But Cruz faces an uphill battle getting members of either party to alter the Defense authorization, long considered a piece of annual must-pass legislation.
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Armed Services Committee’s top Republican, told The Hill that he too disproves of the land provisions, but added, “[Y]ou have to have a bill. That’s what people lose sight of.”


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Posted by lastrealindians on Dec 6, 2014 in Featured



House Approves Bill to Give Apache Lands to Foreign Corporation

On December 4th, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which included a provision to transfer 2,400 acres of Apache ancestral and ceremonial lands to a foreign mining company.
“Since time immemorial people have gone there. That’s part of our ancestral homeland. We’ve had dancers in that area forever – sunrise dancers – and coming-of-age ceremonies for our young girls that become women. They’ll seal that off. They’ll seal us off from the acorn grounds, and the medicinal plants in the area, and our prayer areas.”
~ Terry Rambler, chairman of the San Carlos Apache Tribe
Prior to the House vote, the House and Senate Armed Services Committee attached a provision to the NDAA that would transfer Apache ancestral lands located in the Tonto National Forest to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of Rio Tinto an Australian-English mining company. Sen. John McCain (R- AZ) was instrumental in pushing to get the provision language included.
Apache leaders learned of the inclusion of the provision to the NDAA while attending, ironically, the White House Tribal Nations conference. Republican lawmakers have tried for years to secure the transfer of these lands, but have always run into strong opposition from the San Carlos Apache Tribe and Democratic lawmakers.
The NDAA now goes to the Senate for vote.
Sign the White House petition to stop the Apache land grab

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/stop-apache-land-grab/rnMfH0WL


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