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WASHINGTON — Utah Rep. John Curtis says a conservation rule proposed by the Bureau of Land Management would prevent Utahns from recreating on, grazing livestock on or developing public lands.
Along with Republican colleagues from several Western states, including Utah's three other congressmen, Curtis is sponsoring a resolution directing the BLM to withdraw the rule, which he says undermines the multiple-use requirement for public lands.
"The BLM's proposed rule would undermine the livelihoods of Utah's farmers, ranchers, recreation businesses and more," he said in a news release. "In a state that has so much natural beauty to share, this rule attempts to lock up those precious lands that should be open and accessible to the public."
The rule, titled "Conservation and Landscape Health," would clarify that conservation and preservation are "uses" under the BLM's purview and "apply land health standards to all BLM-managed public lands."
"Our public lands provide so many benefits ... and it's our job to ensure the same for future generations," BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a news release in March. "As pressure on our public lands continues to grow, the proposed Public Lands Rule provides a path for the BLM to better focus on the health of the landscape, ensuring that our decisions leave our public lands as good or better off than we found them."
The rule has not gone into effect, as it's still within the 75-day public comment period.
Curtis introduced HR3397 — which was assigned to the House Committee on Natural Resources — last week to have the rule withdrawn. Utah Reps. Burgess Owens, Chris Stewart and Blake Moore are cosponsors of the bill, along with Republican representatives from Idaho, Wyoming, Minnesota, Arizona, Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Montana.
The representatives are all part of the Congressional Western Caucus, for which Curtis serves as vice chairman.
The caucus members note that the rule would substantially impact Western states, where more than 90% of BLM-managed land is located.
Curtis told KSL NewsRadio's "Inside Sources" that he trusts the local BLM workers in Utah, but not Washington bureaucrats, to manage the land.
"I want to make sure we give a shoutout to our local BLM people with feet on the ground in Utah. They're some of the best women and men you'll ever find, and they work really close with our locals to understand how to use the land to maximize the land," he said. "What we're talking about is bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., who've never been to Utah, being able to pull the triggers and keeping all the uses off the land."
"I'll come back to my belief that our ranchers and farmers in Utah are the best environmentalists in the world," he continued. "They hate being called environmentalists, right, because the name has been tainted for them, but they care deeply and they should be consulted and should be part of the decision-making process."
HR3397 has yet to be heard by the Natural Resources Committee.
