Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue "ordered the U.S. Forest Service to expedite environmental reviews on its land, paving the way for more grazing, logging and oil development on public lands," Rebecca Beitsch reports for The Hill.
Perdue announced the order Friday during a visit to Montana, a state where "ranchers, miners, and oil and gas workers have long argued for increased access to public lands," Beitsch reports. It's also one of the states with a U.S. Senate race that could help switch control of the chamber to Democrats.
The order came in the form of "an unusual memo" to Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen that "lacks the formal letterhead or signature typical with such documents, and mainly sets broad goals for the Forest Service rather than laying out any specific policy directives," Beitsch reports.
Randi Spivak, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's public lands program, said the order would not only hurt the environment, but said it was essentially a political stunt meant to help Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, who is relying heavily public-lands issues in his campaign to defend his seat against former Montana governor Steve Bullock, Beitsch reports.
The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill to fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million annually. The move was seen as an effort to help Daines and fellow Republican senator Corey Gardner of Colorado in their re-election bids.
Perdue announced the order Friday during a visit to Montana, a state where "ranchers, miners, and oil and gas workers have long argued for increased access to public lands," Beitsch reports. It's also one of the states with a U.S. Senate race that could help switch control of the chamber to Democrats.
The order came in the form of "an unusual memo" to Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen that "lacks the formal letterhead or signature typical with such documents, and mainly sets broad goals for the Forest Service rather than laying out any specific policy directives," Beitsch reports.
Randi Spivak, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's public lands program, said the order would not only hurt the environment, but said it was essentially a political stunt meant to help Sen. Steve Daines, R-Montana, who is relying heavily public-lands issues in his campaign to defend his seat against former Montana governor Steve Bullock, Beitsch reports.
The U.S. Senate recently passed a bill to fully and permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund at $900 million annually. The move was seen as an effort to help Daines and fellow Republican senator Corey Gardner of Colorado in their re-election bids.
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