HR 2406, Sportsmen’s Heritage and Recreational Enhancement Act (SHARE)
Inevitable.
This (ALEC) bill was introduced by Rep. Robert Wittman (R-VA). and currently has 5 co-sponsors.
It is Similar to bills that passed the House during the last two Congresses (see H.R 2834).
This bill would effectively repeal the 1964 Wilderness Act, which had its 50th anniversary last September, and threaten all Wildernesses in the nation.
Like the bills introduced in previous congresses This bill would eviscerate the Wilderness Act in spirit and in letter. Unlike the previous bills, it is introduced in a Republican controlled congress.
Over the fold and into the Heart Of Darkness.
This "Sportsmen’s" Bill is a two pronged attack on Wilderness:
Sec. 603(f) allows virtually unlimited habitat manipulation and development in Wildernesses.
It allows for temporary road construction, bulldozer use, etc.—if at all remotely connected to hunting, fishing, shooting, or fish and wildlife management.
ATV, truck or helicopter traffic (if used by wildlife or fisheries managers) is all ok.
This language would in effect repeal the Wilderness Act’s current prohibitions on these activities and would also exempt them from environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), so the public would not have the opportunity to review or comment on them, nor would their catastrophic environmental consequences be studied.
Sec. 1301 would exempt commercial filming from the Wilderness Act’s fundamental prohibition on commercial enterprise in Wilderness.
The exemption for commercial filming is being proposed primarily at the behest of the growing hunting show industry but commercial outfitters are also promoting the bill as well as other film industry "job creators".
Think Wasilla Barbie Reality in what was once pristine Wilderness.
As with its predecessors I fear this bill will appeal to the recreational sporting community. The cynical and euphemistic use of the words "Heritage" and "Recreational" is key. Few will actually read the bill to decipher it's real goals and understand it's real impact.
They will not be aware of the true nature of this pernicious bill until America's last few oases of Wilderness are overrun and indistinguishable from suburban woods. Until the only place to enjoy riding or hiking or the quiet sports of fishing or bow hunting are private land or pay-per-kill "hunting" ranches.
As a long time hiker, hunter and fisher on our public lands I recognize the fact that precious little of that land is set aside in it's true "untrammeled" wilderness character. Those are the lands I enjoy the most, and there are more like me. Many of those people will be deceived by the clever marketing name of this bill and not realize that their "heritage" and "recreation" will in fact be gone if this bill, or its next iteration, becomes law.
The Wilderness Act defines wilderness as "...an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man...". This bill seeks to trample and destroy wilderness, opening it to destructive uses, noise and pollution.
At its inception the Wilderness Act enjoyed bi-partisan support- but no more. The Republican controlled congress will not rest in its efforts to extirpate Wilderness. If a Republican president is elected this will only accelerate. In the interim they have chosen the path of transmutation: turn the Wilderness into a garden, a Disneyland, an outdoor Walmart. With plenty of parking.
Read the bill for yourself here: H.R. 2406
Contact your elected representatives: Congress Critters
Also please contact Rep. Raul Grijalva, lead Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee: Rep. Raul Grijalva