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Commentary: Political polarization does not serve public lands

Supporters of Bears Ears rally outside the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, where U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke was scheduled to speak at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo. (Steve Griffin/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP)

Lately we have been getting a steady dose of public lands controversy.

Late last year, President Trump shrank Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by 2 million acres, followed the next day by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke issuing his final report reviewing 27 national monuments. Next, Reps. Chris Stewart and John Curtis introduced legislation — H.R. 4558 and H.R. 4532, respectively — to codify President’s Trump’s actions and create a new national park out of a remaining piece of Grand Staircase-Escalante.

The bills are not without controversy and, at a recent townhall meeting in Monticello, Curtis said that the bill might die and that, “Everyone is mad at this bill. That might be a good signal that it is a good bill.”

While this statement may have been made in jest, if everyone is mad at a bill it is a strong signal that it is the wrong approach to resolve land management challenges.

One aspect of these bills that has been criticized is that they create “management councils,” largely comprised of state and local officials, who are charged with developing and implementing management plans for the new monuments and park. Notably, these councils would have supremacy over local public land managers, a concerning new paradigm that would shift decision-making authority away from experts who specialize in science-based land management.

America’s public lands are held in trust for all Americans and those who are making decisions regarding our lands need to be accountable to and represent all beneficiaries. Shifting authority away from public land managers violates these principles. There is a better path forward, but it requires stakeholders at the table with open minds and in good faith.

To be effective, collaborative stewardship must give due consideration to the input and needs of local governments and it is imperative that decision-making authority remain with our resource management professionals. State and local governments represent local citizens and bring a unique and critical perspective that needs to be given strong consideration. However, numerous mechanisms already exist in law and practice that give priority consideration to local governments and increased opportunities to collaborate with the Forest Service, BLM and other public land agencies.

Opportunities such as cooperating agency status, resources advisory councils and existing advisory committees such as the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Advisory Committee are the appropriate avenues to foster collaborative conservation and ensure that local voices are heard and reflected in public land management decisions. This coordination is required by laws like the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and regulations requiring that the BLM “must whenever possible consult, coordinate, and cooperate with relevant State, local, and tribal governments.”

The controversy over Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments has increased the rhetoric on both sides and elevated competing – and not always honest – narratives to a national scale. This escalating polarization over public land management does not serve our public lands nor the people who depend on them for our way of life.

Significant changes to existing law, such as those proposed by Curtis and Stewart, are unnecessary. What we need is a commitment from all stakeholders to use the tools we have more effectively and to work together to find and implement consensus-based land management solutions.

This is no small challenge, but if we want durable results that enjoy broad support, it is a challenge we must embrace. Utahans are steadfast believers in representative democracy and the ideals of our great nation. We understand that the privilege of being Americans comes with the responsibility to encourage robust and honest debate with a focus on collaborative solutions – let’s get after it.

Johnny Spillane

Johnny Spillane is a three-time Winter Olympic silver medalist. He splits time between his hometown of Steamboat Springs, Colo., and Dutch John, Utah, where he owns Trout Creek Flies.