Policy Updates
There’s an assumption that summer is our busy season, but in one week this past November, Friends of the Inyo’s staff illustrated how ambitious and inspiring we are at the following events: Presented about the connection between stewardship and advocacy at Winter Wildlands Alliance’s Grassroots Advocacy Conference in Lake Tahoe. Mobilized our members and the public to provide overwhelming opposition to the proposed gold mine at Conglomerate Mesa at the Inyo County Board of Supervisor’s meeting. Took 91 Mammoth Elementary students out for a Fall Field Day for SnowSchool to learn about watersheds and have fun in the Mammoth Lakes…
HR 3990 This bill, sponsored by Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) to gut the Antiquities Act, advanced out of the Natural Resources panel on a party-line vote in October. The bill will likely not go to the House floor for a vote until early 2018. Please continue reaching out to members of Congress to educate them about this bill and what it could mean for new and existing monuments. Read more about the bill on govtrack
HR 2936 The deceptively named Resilient Federal Forests Act passed the House on Nov 1st (232-188). The bill will now move to the Senate for a vote where it is expected to receive increased scrutiny. Please contact your Senators to express your opposition to this bill. November update: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
ACTION ALERT: CONGLOMERATE MESA THREATENED BY GOLD MINING Conglomerate Mesa is, once again, under attack from mining interests. This is the first roadless area in California targeted for development under the Trump administration. We are not being alarmist when we say these exploratory drill sites are only the beginning. The ultimate land management goals of the current administration are explicitly extractive: mine the land until it stops making money, and then abandon it with as little regulation as possible. Conglomerate in a natural, wild state is precious and irreplaceable for the following reasons: • Conglomerate Mesa is a spectacular wilderness…
National Monument Update: The Washington Post has published a leaked copy of Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke’s National Monument report. Read it here. It has the following suggestions: Bears Ears National Monument, Utah: Shrink (separate reports suggest by as much as 1 million acres) the National Monument and allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah: Shrink the National Monument and allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected areas. Cascade Siskiyou National Monument, Oregon and California: Shrink the National Monument and allow ‘traditional’ uses like mining, logging and drilling in protected…
The White House stalls on releasing Zinke’s report on National Monuments All summer long we have been working with our state and national colleagues to pressure Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to listen to the 2.8 million comments received (99% in support) of saving national monuments and the defense of public lands. Thursday, August 24 was Zinke’s deadline for his final report on National Monuments and the White House is still keeping everyone in the dark about their plans. We did learn that Zinke is recommending to drastically reduce at least four national monuments. You can read Department…
