We often tell you that your voice matters.
Last week we asked you to tell your elected representatives in Congress that you were opposed to a plan to sell off public lands in Nevada and Utah. I’m happy to report that these land sales were removed from the proposed federal budget passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives.
Photo by: Tyler Hartje
The outcry from the outdoor recreation and conservation community — hundreds of thousands of individuals and private groups like the Pacific Crest Trail Association — was too loud to ignore.
These sell-offs would have included more than 500,000 acres owned by the American people. While the Pacific Crest Trail would not have been affected, the move would have set a potentially damaging precedent: using public lands to finance future government spending.
We can thank a bipartisan group of lawmakers for striking the sales language from the budget bill. The newly formed Public Lands Caucus, more than a dozen lawmakers, protested the sales. This group worked together across the aisle to do what is best for public lands and taxpayers. Public lands, like those that the PCT traverses, are owned by all Americans.
All that said, there is more work to do.
The budget bill still includes language that waters down the environmental protections and public engagement processes that are cornerstones of our democracy. It will allow significant changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), giving developers the ability to pay for speedy reviews and bypass courts—potentially limiting the public’s ability to engage with project proposals, for example.
It also severely cuts funding and staffing for federal land management agencies like the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, among others. These agencies are already understaffed, and the proposed funding and staff cuts will hinder their ability to care for and manage our trails and public lands.
The budget bill still needs Senate approval, so there is still time to influence the outcome. Please contact your senators and ask them to consider the impact steep budget and staffing cuts will have on public lands and national trails like the PCT. It’s up to all of us to help shape this spending bill. Your voice truly matters. Helps us make a difference today.
Our public lands are an essential part of our heritage and identity as a nation; let’s take care of them together. Thanks for caring about the PCT and these special places.