Conservation Lands Foundation Urges Senate Subcommittee to Support Legislation That Will Protect Valuable and Vulnerable Public Lands

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee will hold a hearing on more than a dozen public land, energy and natural resources bills.

Brian Sybert, executive director of Conservation Lands Foundation issued the following statement ahead of today’s subcommittee hearing regarding six bills that CLF supports:

“Each of these bills has the support of local communities and we urge the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee to support them and protect these vulnerable and valuable public lands and waters, safeguard the cultural continuity of Tribal Nations and help rural economies thrive.

The Conservation Lands Foundation is proud to work with our Friends Grassroots Network members to help craft legislative solutions that balance public land protection with economic development, two of which will be discussed in today’s hearing: 

• S. 1890, the Malheur Community Empowerment for the Owyhee Act, introduced by Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, protects 1.1 million acres of the most important and threatened places in the Owyhee Canyonlands, establishes a science-based grazing program, transfers lands to the Trust for the Burns Paiute Tribe and provides essential economic development investments for Malheur County. Conservation Lands Foundation and Friends Grassroots Network members Oregon Natural Desert Association and Friends of the Owyhee have been working closely with Tribal representatives, ranchers and recreationists to craft this community-driven solution.

• S. 636, the Dolores River National Conservation Area and Special Management Area Act, introduced by Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, protects more than 68,000 acres of public lands and 76 miles of the spectacular Dolores River. The Conservation Lands Foundation and Friends Grassroots Network member the Dolores River Boating Advocates have been working with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, local county commissions, landowners, farmers and more to develop this bill that carries broad-based local support.

“The Conservation Lands Foundation also supports the following bills that will be heard by the Subcommittee:

• S. 1622, the End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act, introduced by Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, puts an end to a wasteful practice that ties up public lands with very limited oil and gas resources in costly and unproductive fossil fuel speculation. We support this legislation that promotes better land-use management and maximizes government efficiency while enhancing the management of more sustainable revenue-generating activities on public lands such as outdoor recreation.

• S. 1634, the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Economy (CORE) Act, introduced by Colorado Senators Bennet and Hickenlooper, protects nearly 400,000 acres of public lands to ensure some of Colorado’s and America’s most iconic and historic places are preserved for the benefit of wildlife and local economies.

• S. 1776, the Protect Unique and Beautiful Landscapes by Investing in California (PUBLIC) Lands Act, introduced by California Senators Alex Padilla and Dianne Feinstein, protects more than one million acres of public wildlands and over 500 miles of free flowing rivers from the Los Angeles region to near the state’s northern border. 

• S. 2042, the Sloan Canyon Conservation and Horizon Lateral Water Pipeline Act, introduced by Nevada Senator Cortez Masto, expands the Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area by nearly 20% and addresses critical water needs of the Las Vegas Valley.

We applaud the leadership of the Senators who introduced these bills and we urge Congress to advance these bipartisan crafted solutions.”

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