Trump reverses public land protection. Idaho politicians cheer | Opinion

What part of “Leave our public lands alone” don’t Idaho’s congressmen understand?

U.S. Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo, and U.S. Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher — all Idaho Republicans — sent out a press release applauding the Trump administration’s reversal of a Bureau of Land Management rule that was created to help safeguard the health of public lands for future generations.

The Conservation and Landscape Health Rule recognized conservation as an essential component of public lands management and put it on equal footing with other multiple uses of these lands, such as drilling, mining, logging, grazing and recreation.

In other words, whenever considering how to best use our vast amounts of public land, conservation had to be weighed as a possible best use of the land, competing with other possible uses.

The rule could help protect clean water and wildlife habitat, and restore lands and waters that needed it.

The rule also created a new leasing tool that would have allowed the BLM to issue leases to third parties for conservation activities (such as restoration or habitat protection) on public lands.

But now, “The repeal paves the way for increased corporate exploitation of public lands and resources, ignoring both ecological science and significant community input,” according to Defenders of Wildlife, which supports the rule and opposes Trump’s rescinding of it.

The rule didn’t mean that such activities as mining, drilling, logging or grazing would be banned or forever prohibited; it just meant that conserving the land had to be considered equally as a possible outcome.

If it’s determined that other uses — such as logging to help thin forests and prevent wildfires, or mining for rare earth minerals — were of higher use and need than conservation, those still would have been permitted.

“The rule does not prioritize conservation above other uses; instead, it provides for considering and, where appropriate, implementing or authorizing conservation as one of the many uses managed under (the Federal Land Policy and Management Act), consistent with the statute’s plain language,” according to the wording of the rule. “Many uses are compatible with different types of conservation use, such as sustainable recreation, grazing, and habitat management. The rule also does not enable conservation use to occur in places where an existing, authorized, and incompatible use is occurring.”

Repeal of the rule puts the thumb on the scale in favor of those other uses and completely shuts out conservation from the conversation.

And once you open that door to such uses as mining and drilling, it’s difficult to close it. Often, there’s just no going back, and once it’s gone, it’s gone forever.

How many times do we need to tell Republican lawmakers that we want to protect our public lands? When will they finally get the message?

It should have been loud and clear when U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, proposed selling off millions of acres of public land, including, potentially, in Idaho.

Fortunately, Crapo and Risch eventually came around and opposed Lee’s scheme. But it was only after tremendous public pressure, not just from environmentalists but from everyday citizens, both Republicans and Democrats, who enjoy the many benefits of public lands.

But the attack on public lands continues.

In addition to the conservation rule change, Trump is also seeking to overturn the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects nearly 58 million acres of National Forest lands. Fortunately, the rescission would not apply to Colorado and Idaho, which underwent separate rulemaking processes to create state-specific roadless rules, according to the Los Angeles Times. But the intent and threat to public lands from Republicans are clear.

We understand Crapo, Risch, Simpson and Fulcher must be under tremendous pressure from oil and gas companies, and mining interests, to do their bidding.

But it’s up to Idahoans — once again — to put even more pressure on our lawmakers and send them a clear message. And maybe a message they will register, once and for all:

Protect our public lands.

Statesman editorials are the opinion of the Idaho Statesman’s editorial board. Board members are opinion editor Scott McIntosh, opinion writer Bryan Clark, editor Chadd Cripe, newsroom editors Dana Oland and Jim Keyser and community members John Hess, Debbie McCormick and Julie Yamamoto.