H.R. 2834, Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act
This bill is sponsored by Rep. Dan Benishek (R-MI) and 42 co-sponsors.
It has passed out of the House Resources Committee and is on its way to the House floor.
This bill would eviscerate the Wilderness Act in spirit and in letter. It would open Wilderness to motorized use of all kinds: ATV's, snowmobile, motorboats, aircraft would all be allowed as long as you fired a gun at some point or packed your fishing rod.
The bill also eliminates the Wilderness Act's provisions against structures and other buildings.
In addition the bill instructs federal agencies to implement the Wilderness Act “only insofar as [it] facilitate[s] or enhance[s] the original purpose or purposes for which the Federal public lands or…unit was established.” For National Forests and BLM lands, that means logging, grazing, mining, drilling, fracking, etc. It also exempts all of these activities from National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
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 one-time destructive uses, noise and pollution. Before the Wilderness Act reaches it's 50th anniversary it will be effectively eliminated.
Since its inception the Wilderness Act has enjoyed bi-partisan support.- until now. The opponents of Wilderness employ sophisticated duplicitous methods to mask their real intentions. ALEC (a business organization that helpfully writes legislation for lawmakers- at plush all expenses paid resort conferences) uses dense language and slick marketing strategies to make otherwise objectionable bills appear appetizing. Although Wilderness has long been under attack from industry I fear that this bill has legs that others have not. The cynical and euphemistic use of the words "Heritage" and "Opportunities" will appeal to the recreational shooting community as will its sponsorship by the NRA, perhaps the most powerful lobby in D.C.
Few will actually read the bill to decipher it's real goals and understand it's real impact.
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 many like me. Many of those people will be deceived by the clever marketing name of this bill and not realize that their "heritage" and "opportunities" will in fact be gone if this bill becomes law. Indeed I can see from the postings on sporting sites and blogs that many already are.
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.
Read the bill for yourself here: H.R. 2834
Contact your elected representatives: Congress Critters