Gunner Quinn
Between executive orders, federal layoffs, and new regulations, the last four months have been heartburn-inducing for public lands advocates. But last week, the House Natural Resources Committee offered a glimmer of hope that the voices of hunters and anglers are being heard in Washington, D.C.
When the committee released its portion of the Republicans’ budget reconciliation package, advocacy groups pointed out that the document made no mention of public land sales. This is noteworthy because it had been widely reported that Republicans were considering selling public land as a way to pay for other items in the budget.
“The decision to leave public land sales out of this package is a clear and encouraging signal that our voices are being heard — and that when we stand united for public lands, we can help shape meaningful outcomes,” said Patrick Berry, President and CEO of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. “We’re encouraged by this outcome and hopeful it lays the groundwork for a broader commitment by Congress and the administration to pursue energy development responsibly and in balance with the long-term health of these irreplaceable places.”
It’s not all rainbows and unicorns, of course. The budget proposal includes several of the items conservationists have been concerned about since the Trump administration took control.
For instance, the budget paves the way for the construction of the Ambler Road, a 211-mile private mining road across the southern edge of the Brooks Range in Alaska. Last year, the Bureau of Land Management denied permits for mining companies to build the road that would have allowed them to access copper deposits.
In their decision, the BLM cited concerns about the road’s negative impact on wildlife habitat and subsistence hunting and fishing. But this new budget rescinds that decision and reinstates the mining road permits.
The budget would also “require and facilitate” a leasing program in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska for the “expeditious exploration, development, and production of petroleum to meet the energy needs of the Nation and the world.”
The 22.8 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A) are located on the North Slope of the Brooks Range in Alaska. The largest single block of federally managed land in the United States, the NPR-A is home to a wealth of diverse wildlife and habitat along with the underground petroleum deposits.
In addition, the proposed budget removes protections for Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in northern Minnesota. In 2023, the Biden administration issued Public Land Order 7917, which withdrew approximately 225,504 acres in the Superior National Forest from disposition under mineral and geothermal leasing laws for a 20-year period. But the House budget proposal rescinds Order 7971 and reinstates certain mineral leases in this area.
These budgetary items shouldn’t come as a surprise in light of the Trump administration’s rhetoric about increasing energy production. But House Republicans’ decision to keep public land sales off the chopping block is still a major victory.
Hunters, anglers, and conservationists have been speaking out against that move for weeks, including MeatEater’s own Ryan Callaghan and Mark Kenyon. They traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to speak with their representatives and convince them of the importance of public land, healthy habitat, and thriving wildlife.
Some of those representatives are listening–and not just from one side of the aisle. Democrat representative Gabe Vasquez and Republican representative Ryan Zinke recently announced the launch of the Public Lands Caucus, a bipartisan group of legislators fighting to keep public lands in public hands. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D) and Mike Simpson (R) are co-chairing the effort, and they say their membership includes 10 lawmakers from other western states.
Mark got a chance to interact with some of these legislators last week, and the experience convinced him that hunters and anglers will need to speak even louder if they want to continue having a voice in the nation’s capital.
“Walking alongside me through the marble and glass hallways of the House and Senate buildings were thousands of other Americans, all vying for the attention and priority of our nation’s elected officials,” Mark said of his recent trip to D.C. “If we are ever going to get our message through to these people, amidst so much other noise, I realized we would need to be exceptionally loud, smart, and persistent. Most importantly, it would need to be not just me and Cal and dozens of other professionals visiting the nation’s capital, but millions of other American sportsmen and women doggedly doing the same work from home with repeated phone calls, letters, and emails.”
The budget reconciliation package isn’t finalized until it is passed by both the House and the Senate, and it can still be amended between now and then. As Cal points out, that still gives anti-public land forces a chance to have their say.
“We need to celebrate what we can here and drive home the idea, if not the fact, that our elected officials in the House are listening, and everyone in the Senate should, too,” he said. “Get your phone calls into your Senators right now. There can be plenty of changes made in the Senate, and the biggest opponent to public lands is the chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Utah’s Mike Lee. We did dodge a bullet, but there are still rounds in the cylinder, and the gun is being handed to the Senate.”
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