Senate panel to mark up partisan grazing, wilderness bills

The panel will also vote on 11 additional measures to expand Gettysburg National Military Park, promote a mine cleanup in Nevada and designate wild and scenic rivers in Vermont, among other provisions.

The markup will be the first time S. 258 by Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) or S. 364 by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has come to a vote before the committee.

Barrasso's grazing bill enjoys strong support from a bevy of livestock organizations but is opposed by the Obama administration and environmental groups.

The bill would double the length of grazing permits from 10 to 20 years on tens of millions of acres of public lands and instruct the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to issue routine permits more quickly using categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act.

It would also automatically extend permits that the agencies aren't able to review before they expire at the end of each fiscal year (Greenwire, Feb. 8).

Barrasso in April said the bill provides "needed regulatory certainty" to ranching businesses that face the constant threat of environmental lawsuits.

"These endless lawsuits, aimed at eliminating livestock from public lands, overwhelm the permitting process and hurt ranchers by jeopardizing much-needed grazing permits," he said earlier this year.

But the bill still lacks a Democratic co-sponsor and has drawn significant opposition from the Obama administration, clouding its prospects.

Critics say it would prevent agencies and the public from fully evaluating grazing on public rangelands, which can cause soil compaction, erosion and the spread of invasive species if not properly managed.

Jamie Connell, then-acting deputy director of BLM, told the committee in April that the agency supports having the flexibility to issue longer permits but opposes mandates to renew grazing permits without appropriate environmental and public review under NEPA.

BLM "cannot support it because of the overarching impact the bill could have on the 155 million acres of public lands used for livestock grazing, potentially affecting other valid uses and the health of the land itself."

Moreover, environmental groups warn that the bill would hamper BLM's and the Forest Service's ability to ensure that grazing does not harm habitat for sage grouse -- a species targeted for potential Endangered Species Act protection, which could disrupt a wide range of development in the West.

"The Grazing Improvement Act, if passed into law, all but guarantees that the sage grouse will be listed," said Matt Kirby, Washington, D.C., representative for the Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program. "By throwing NEPA under the bus, the bill would make it difficult if not impossible for the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service to ensure there are adequate regulatory mechanisms in place to conserve the species without ESA protections."

It is unclear whether Democrats or Republicans plan to offer compromise language that would ameliorate those concerns.

It's also unclear whether Republicans would be able to pick up at least two Democratic votes needed to pass the measure out of committee.

Baucus' bill would designate some 67,000 acres of wilderness along the Rocky Mountain Front and a 208,000-acre conservation management area where existing grazing and motorized access would essentially remain the same.

The bill would also require the Forest Service and BLM to prioritize eradication and control of noxious weeds, including spotted knapweed, on approximately 790,000 acres, according to a summary.

While it has generated less opposition nationally, the bill still lacks a Republican co-sponsor. It is also not yet endorsed by Rep. Steve Daines (R-Mont.), whose support would be critical for the measure to pass the House.

Daines, who is running to replace Baucus when he retires in early 2015, has held listening sessions on the bill and appears more amendable to sponsoring it than his predecessor, former Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.). A spokeswoman yesterday said Daines has yet to take a position.

Baucus has said S. 364 and securing full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund are among his top legislative priorities for the remainder of his term.

"I'm doubling down on the Rocky Mountain Front Heritage Act because it protects our outdoor heritage and supports hundreds of Montana jobs related to ranching, hunting and recreation," Baucus said in July ahead of the ENR Committee hearing on the bill.

The bill will probably pass, since there is no indication that any of the panel's Democrats oppose it. The Forest Service has also endorsed the measure.

Whether it can pass by voice vote is an open question.

Some conservationists had expected Thursday's markup to also include a larger wilderness and forestry bill by Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), but it appears the measure has been deferred to a later date so as not to upset the balance of Republican and Democratic measures on this week's docket.

The other bills to be marked up are:

• S. 715, by Baucus, to authorize the Interior secretary to use designated funding to pay for construction of authorized rural water projects and for other purposes.
• S. 782, by Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), to revise the boundaries of Gettysburg National Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station and for other purposes.
• S. 974, by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), to provide for certain land conveyances in Nevada and for other purposes.
• S. 995, by Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), to authorize the National Desert Storm Memorial Association to establish the National Desert Storm and Desert Shield Memorial as a commemorative work in the District of Columbia and for other purposes.
• S. 1044, by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), to direct the Interior secretary to install in the area of the World War II Memorial in the District of Columbia a suitable plaque or an inscription with the words that President Franklin D. Roosevelt prayed with the United States on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
• S. 1252, by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate segments of the Missisquoi River and the Trout River in Vermont as components of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.
• H.R. 507, by Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), to provide for the conveyance of certain land inholdings owned by the United States to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe of Arizona and for other purposes.
• H.R. 697, by Rep. Joe Heck (R-Nev.), to provide for the conveyance of certain federal land in Clark County, Nev., for the environmental remediation and reclamation of the Three Kids Mine Project Site and for other purposes.
• H.R. 862, by Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Ariz.), to authorize the conveyance of two small parcels of land within the boundaries of the Coconino National Forest containing private improvements that were developed based upon the reliance of the landowners in an erroneous survey conducted in May 1960.
• H.R. 876, by Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), to authorize the continued use of certain water diversions located on National Forest System land in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness and the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho and for other purposes.
• H.R. 1033, by Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), to authorize the acquisition and protection of nationally significant battlefields and associated sites of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 under the American Battlefield Protection Program.

Schedule: The markup is Thursday, Nov. 21, at 9:30 a.m. in 366 Dirksen.