CHARLESTON, W.Va. – A long list of conservation groups is calling on the presidential candidates to pledge to keep public lands in public hands. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is spearheading sending a letter to each of the four candidates asking for their commitment.

Collin O'Mara, the president and CEO of the NWF, said in the past, both Clinton and Trump have said national parks and forests should be protected and preserved for everyone.

"We're asking candidates to affirm their commitment to keeping these public lands in public hands for the good of everyone that loves the outdoors, everyone likes to hunt or fish, or camp or hike, and for the nation's wildlife and our water supplies, and our natural resources," he said.

Critics of federal land ownership argue that the U.S. owns too much of the nation's landscape. They say many of the parks and forests should be turned over to the states or to private landowners.

Supporters of public lands say it's important to remember they belong to everyone, and should be open to all.

The West Virginia Rivers Coalition is the state affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation.

Angie Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition said hers isn't one of the groups pressing the candidates to sign on, but they agree national parks and forests are going to be increasingly important to West Virginia as tourism becomes a larger part of the economy. And Rosser stresses that these lands are an important link to what makes us who we are.

"Our heritage in West Virginia is tightly connected to our woods and waters," she said. "Our public lands are the essence of what makes us wild and wonderful West Virginia."

A century after the U.S. National Park system was established, O'Mara said they run the risk of being taken for granted. He said the budget for maintaining the parks has been cut, which can hamper people's ability to enjoy them. So, his group thinks it's important to speak up for our outdoor heritage and the lands that are central to it.

"They were set aside by Republicans and Democrats over many generations, from our greatest conservationist Theodore Roosevelt to the work of this President," he added. "These are the birthright of all Americans, and a lot of hunters and anglers view them as essential."


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Conservation groups are rejoicing over the decision Friday by the Biden administration to reject a proposed mining road in Alaska.

The 211-mile Ambler Road would have sliced through the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, severing the migration route for a Western Arctic Caribou herd.

Alex Johnson, interior Alaska director for the National Parks Conservation Association, said it was important for the feds to take a stand in Alaska so mining interests do not start eyeing other national parks.

"This is a very expensive, destructive and just highly speculative project that does not in any way support our clean energy goals as a country," Johnson contended. "And ultimately would permanently threaten the health and well-being of local communities and the tribes."

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski slammed the decision, warning it could limit jobs and tax revenues for Alaska by preventing exploration for minerals she said are important to national security, like copper, cobalt, gallium and germanium.

Jayme Dittmar, a photographer and filmmaker from Fairbanks, said the road would have been very disruptive to the 66 Native American villages along the proposed route.

"That'd be 168 trucks passing through close vicinity to the villages," Dittmar pointed out. "There would be hundreds of bridges built. It would dismantle a subsistence livelihood that's been in place for thousands and thousands of years."

The road was seen as a negative for tourism to the Brooks Range area. According to the Alaska Travel Industry Association, Californians make up 9% of visitors to Alaska.

Arizona conservation groups and sportsmen alike say they're pleased the Bureau of Land Management will now recognize conservation as an integral part of public lands management.

The agency's new rule puts protecting the environment on par with other land-use priorities.

Scott Garlid, executive director of the Arizona Wildlife Federation, said historically the BLM has done what he termed a "pretty good job," not only managing about 12 million acres of public lands in Arizona, but also protecting natural resources.

"They've got a tough job," Garlid acknowledged. "I think this rule helps make their job a little bit easier because it gives them some tools to balance those different demands on the 12 million acres that they manage."

Garlid predicted the rule will raise what he terms "harder-to-quantify conservation values" to the same level of importance as more extractive land uses like oil and gas exploration and mining. He thinks most Arizonans will recognize the new rule as a positive. A solid majority of Arizona voters across party lines say they are conservationists and use public lands for recreation.

To Garlid, the rule makes it clear the BLM is recognizing certain parts of federal lands, in Arizona and around the West, have been degraded. He contended restoration leases will be a good tool, allowing the BLM to lease acres to groups specifically to improve the conditions on a given landscape. He noted opponents of the new rule might see the leases as a way to "lock up" land but he argued it is not true.

"One example could be a nonprofit, like the Arizona Wildlife Federation," Garlid pointed out. "We could get a conservation lease from the Bureau of Land Management to do riparian restoration work, or work to remove invasive species along a creek bank."

According to the BLM, while a restoration or mitigation lease is in place, casual uses of the leased lands like recreation, hunting, fishing and research activities would generally continue.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

State and federal agencies are collaborating to increase the use of prescribed fires in the Northwest.

Prescribed fire is the controlled use of burns to minimize the larger risks of wildfires and smoke. It is seen as an increasingly important strategy as wildfire seasons pose greater threats to the Northwest.

Casey Sixkiller, Northwest regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said authorities want to work together to maintain forest habitats.

"Prescribed burn is one of the best tools we have for making our forests more resilient against catastrophic wildfires and they help to manage and target hazardous fuels and make for healthier forests," Sixkiller explained.

Sixkiller pointed out the EPA is involved because wildfire smoke poses risks to people's health. The collaboration is between federal agencies, departments in Oregon and Washington, and tribal governments.

Sixkiller noted the collaboration needed a formal agreement to move forward.

"That is what we've been able to do here with this agreement," Sixkiller emphasized. "To get federal land managers and states and us all in the same room, making sure that we're all on the same page about what success looks like."

Sixkiller added the collaboration has another advantage: It helps drive engagement with communities potentially in the path of prescribed burns.

"They have the confidence that the effort that's gone into planning that activity has been thought out from soup to nuts," Sixkiller acknowledged. "And that they have a seat at the table and are being engaged and their concerns are being addressed as we go forward with that activity."


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