Public lands deserve management, not mayhem

Two weeks ago today, I sat at the end of a long table in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C., just a stone's throw from the U.S. Capitol. I was invited by Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet to testify to the Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry, Natural Resources and Biotechnology for a legislative hearing. For nearly two hours, I was engaged in presenting a witness statement and answered questions from many of the 10 United States senators — from both sides of the aisle — who attended the hearing to review the Fix Our Forest Act (FOFA) and options to reduce catastrophic wildfire.

I was there to represent the views of you, the citizens of Gunnison County. We earned this spot at the table because we value the federal public lands that make up 80% of our large county and touch every sector of our community. Whether it is our economy, history, culture or our values, these public lands and their sound management have shaped our way of life.

I spent a small amount of my time opining on FOFA and concerns for how the House version of the bill creates end-runs around sound environmental reviews and public participation that we, as a community, have a long history of deep and meaningful participation. The community’s fingerprints can be found on the GMUG forest and travel management plans, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) resource management plans and revisions, Gunnison sage-grouse plans, as well as many collaborative stewardship programs. 

We know that when the community gets a seat at the table, participates in good faith and shows willingness to meet in the middle, we end up with durable plans with community support that translate into the social license our public land management agencies need to carry out those plans on the ground. 

FOFA will erode the process we have successfully employed to make our local voice heard. It is my hope that my testimony will help the senators dig in and amend the bill in a way that does not cut local communities out of the conversation under the guise of efficiency and emergency.

The bulk of my testimony took on the absolutely devastating staffing cuts across the Forest Service, BLM and Park Service. I was the only elected official on the panel that could speak to what is actually happening on the ground, and how this administration’s forced retirements, firing of probationary employees and rescinding of contracts for seasonal employees — coupled with the hiring freeze —  will essentially cripple the ability of these agencies to manage our beloved public lands. 

It is my belief that this slash and burn approach is by design with the goal of rendering the agencies ineffective and broken. The administration will then utilize that chaos as the vehicle to further an agenda to allow industry to have unfettered access with minimal regulation and, God forbid, potentially the sell off of our public lands.

Let me be clear, the multiple use mandate for our public lands management is a philosophy I agree with as your county commissioner. I have supported the mineral withdrawals for Mt. Emmons and the Thompson Divide, but also extraction when sensibly regulated in other parts of the county. I support public lands grazing. Our Gunnison County ranchers have been stewards of public lands through their well-managed grazing practices on their allotments and leaders in Gunnison sage-grouse conservation. 

We have seen record high timber harvest on public lands in Gunnison County. This has contributed to better forest health, mitigated wildfire risk and improved watershed health, while also bringing wood products to the market and supporting jobs locally and at the Montrose Mill. Forest management and BLM resource plans have continued to support habitat improvements and strategies that benefit big game, healthy fish populations and continue to prioritize recovery of the Gunnison sage-grouse, while still providing some of the best sporting, recreation and outdoor experiences anywhere in the Rocky Mountains.

We have balanced multiple use on our public lands here because we have shown up for decades and relentlessly advocate for it. Gunnison County, the towns, nonprofits, conservation and sporting organizations, the Stockgrowers and recreationalists and so many individuals engage in the planning processes that are now under threat. 

In Gunnison County, we have shown what true democracy looks like — we bring many different voices and ideas to the table, we attack issues without attacking each other, we disagree without being disagreeable and we do the difficult work of finding middle ground and still believe that compromise is something worth finding.

Some of the quick-moving legislation wants to bypass this type of civic engagement and ignore our voice and thoughts. Some legislation wants to nullify BLM resource management plans we as a community worked hard to craft. The continued hollowing out of our land management agencies will have an impact on our ranchers, recreationalists, hunters and anglers, not to mention a severe impact on our economy. Remember that those folks in our community who have lost their jobs, or had their seasonal employment rescinded are hardworking public servants who renew grazing leases, mark timber sales, clear and maintain trails, inspect boats at Blue Mesa, put out abandoned campfires and caretake our public lands. They spend their hard-earned salaries here, raise families here and volunteer and make positive contributions. They are not statistics. They are our friends and neighbors. We need to stand up for them.

One of the things that truly makes America great is public lands. They belong to us all equally, and we, in turn, have a responsibility to caretake them today and for future generations. Here in the headwaters, we know that public land is the source of our clean air and water, and when managed thoughtfully, are the wellspring of our economy. 

Most importantly, perhaps, these wild public lands are a source of refuge, inspiration and reverence that have shaped our values both as a community and as individuals. Please join me in fighting to keep public lands in public hands, to demand balanced management and to fight for the dignity of those in our community who have dedicated their careers to the service of one of this country’s most valuable treasures: our public lands.

(Jonathan Houck is the Gunnison County commissioner for District 2. Houck’s written testimony and a full recording of the hearing can be found at agriculture.senate.gov/hearings.)