April 29, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on the WEST Act and its Impact on the Public Lands Rule – 4.29.24
Contacts:
Travis Hammill, DC Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); travis@suwa.org
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Washington, DC – A vote by the U.S. House of Representatives is anticipated Tuesday on the WEST Act of 2023 (H.R. 3997). This federal legislation, introduced by Rep. John Curtis (R-UT 3rd District) would require the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to withdraw the recently finalized Public Lands Rule. Among other things, the Rule reiterates that conservation is part of the BLM’s multiple-use mission and ensures that the agency will manage for this use on a day-in and day-out basis. Below is a statement from SUWA DC Director Travis Hammill and additional information.
“SUWA supports the long overdue Public Lands Rule, appreciates the Biden administration’s commitment to conservation, and looks forward to seeing the Rule’s positive impact on Utah’s redrock country. The WEST Act is nothing more than election-year grandstanding and has no chance of becoming law,” said Travis Hammill, SUWA’s DC Director. “Representative Curtis’s decision to sponsor the WEST Act is at odds with the majority of Utahns who support conservation and know climate change is a serious problem.”
SUWA joined with 114 other environmental and conservation organizations urging a No vote on the WEST Act, saying “This dangerous legislation circumvents the administrative process, stifles public input, ignores the law, and halts the implementation of an overdue regulatory update which balances management of public lands managed by the BLM.” SUWA has also expressed opposition to two bills that will have votes on Wednesday: the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2024 (H.R. 2925) and Alaska’s Right to Produce Act of 2023 (H.R. 6285).
Additional information:
The Public Lands Rule establishes a “… framework to ensure healthy landscapes, abundant wildlife habitat, clean water, and balanced decision-making on our nation’s public lands.” The rule will go into effect 30 days following publication in the Federal Register. It does not preclude any uses on BLM-managed public lands; it puts conservation on equal footing with grazing, mining, and energy production, and promotes restoration, provides for responsible development, and conserves intact healthy landscapes.
- BLM’s webpage on the Public Lands Rule.
- SUWA’s April 18, 2024 Statement when the Final Rule was announced.
- “The BLM Public Lands Rule is a common-sense solution” June 25, 2023 Editorial from the Salt Lake Tribune
- March 30, 2023 SUWA Statement on the Proposed Rule; Advocacy Action from SUWA during the public comment period
- Information regarding public comments received by BLM – 92% of which were supportive.
- Utah-specific polling data from the 2024 Conservation in the West Poll, which shows a clear and resounding preference for conservation when voters are given a choice over how public lands are used.
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.
