America’s public lands should be conserved and remain open to the public for shared uses.
Although most public lands lie west of the Mississippi River, there are several sites here in the Eastern U.S. managed by the National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service. The Biden administration, however, is targeting millions of acres for permanent protection in the name of “conservation” to bolster their America the Beautiful (or 30-by-30) initiative–a dangerous rewilding plan masquerading as conservation.
Should the Biden administration get its way, two places — Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah and Big Cypress National Preserve in South Florida – will see areas closed off to most users going forward.
Bears Ears National Monument
The Bears Ears National Monument saga continues with the new Draft Management plan unveiled on March 14th, 2024. In December 2016, former President Obama created the 1.35 million acre national monument before leaving office and without consulting Utahns. During the Trump administration, former Interior Secretary and now Congressman Ryan Zinke announced a national monument review of 27 sites, including Bears Ears, citing overreach by the previous administration. It resulted in the shrinking–not elimination–of the monument down to about 200,000 acres. Then President Biden restored the monument to its original size in an October 2021 proclamation, disregarding stakeholder input again.
The nearly 700-page Draft Management Plan contains five plans. The White House favors Alternative Plan E, the most extreme plan of the five. Plan E places a strong emphasis on indigenous knowledge (IK), noting, “This alternative is meant to emphasize resource protection and the use of Traditional Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives on the stewardship of the Bears Ears landscape. This includes consideration of natural processes and seasonal cycles in the management of BENM and collaboration with Tribal Nations to incorporate those considerations into BENM day-to-day management.” Indigenous knowledge is extremely subjective and not scientific because it generally favors progressive notions. But that isn’t stopping the Biden administration from implementing it across all federal agencies.
Equally concerning with Plan E is the proposal to restrict multiple uses across these lands managed by both the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. Recreational shooting would be prohibited outright throughout the entire area. Grazing will be barred in 170,000 of 1.36M acres, while 570,000 acres would be off-limits to vehicles and 795,000 acres would be designated as “OHV limited areas.” This isn’t the wise use of natural resources; it’s radical preservation.
Large national monument designations are questionable under Section II of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which says presidents can only protect objects of scientific, cultural, or historic significance “confined to the smallest area compatible with proper care and management of the objects to be protected.” The nearly 1.4 million acres comprising Bears Ears today hardly fit the definition of “smallest area compatible.” That’s why Congress must clarify presidential powers and prevent future abuses like this from occurring again. Reforms are long overdue to make the monument designation process democratic and reduce the influence of radical preservationist groups.
Big Cypress National Preserve
In South Florida, a portion of the 720,000 acres comprising Big Cypress National Preserve could soon be declared a wilderness area.
Wilderness areas boast the highest degree of protection, are off-limits, and quite difficult to traverse. Under the Wilderness Act of 1964, Congress created a National Wilderness Preservation System that, today, manages 800 areas to be “administered for the use and enjoyment of the American people in such manner as will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness, and to provide for the protection of these areas...”
Native American tribes, hunters, and other recreationists relayed their concerns about the wilderness designation to the Miami Herald, arguing the designation, if approved, would restrict access to scientific inquiries, air boating, hunting, and vehicles. A Native Organizers Alliance Action Fund petition also warned closing off Big Cypress like this would restrict “Tribal citizens’ right to move freely about their homeland” and fail to “accommodate Tribal rights to permanent residence in those spaces.”
These stakeholder concerns prompted Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) to express their dismay to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland.
“Big Cypress is a cherished natural resource, and its proper management is crucial to preserving its ecological integrity while maintaining access opportunities for the public,” the Florida senators wrote to Haaland. “We are deeply concerned about the potential hindrance of natural resource management, especially regarding prescribed fire, invasive species control, and the maintenance of native fish and wildlife habitats.”
The letter added, “In light of these concerns, we respectfully request that you do not move forward with any proposed wilderness designation that will hinder the proper management of public access and natural resources within the Big Cypress National Preserve.”
Public lands are for all Americans to enjoy and cherish, not just the Biden administration’s preferred environmental buddies. This isn’t conservation; it’s a land grab.