Some members of Congress want to give public input to the dark side
The recent release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story isn’t the only thing we may soon have in common with 1983, when Return of the Jedi reigned at the box office. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is anticipated to vote on a resolution (H. J. Res. 44) that would overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) “Planning 2.0” rule and set land use planning back 34 years — a time when the public was kept in the dark until very late in the process.
Americans are fortunate to own millions of acres of incredible public lands, many of which are overseen by the BLM. We all have a say in how these lands are managed through the ability to participate in a public process to develop land use plans. Last year, the BLM established Planning 2.0, which provides earlier openings for public input in the process. The new rule gives all land users more opportunities to make their voices heard, whether they are recreationists, ranchers, scientists, local governments, or the energy industry.
Planning 2.0 also includes steps to ensure that important fish and wildlife habitats, such as migration corridors and intact habitats, are identified early in the planning process so these important areas can be managed and conserved as the agency makes decisions about development, recreation and other public land uses.
What’s more, members of Congress are using a law called the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to undermine Planning 2.0. Under the CRA, once a regulation is disapproved by Congress, the agency cannot write a new rule that is “substantially the same” unless Congress enacts a new law permitting that. As a result, the BLM would be forced to use outdated guidelines from 1983, delaying the point in the land use planning process when public input is valued.
But we all, as the public, still have a voice in how our lands will be managed in the future. Click here to tell your Representative to vote NO on H. J. Res. 44 — and maybe the ending to this story will be more like Return of the Jedi than Rogue One, with public input living on.
Photo credit: Tony Bynum














