In December we were barraged with a series of expensive television and radio ads from a Montana-based group alleging that 2 million acres of federal land in the west had recently disappeared. The group appeared to be sharing their disapproval of the Trump administration’s recent rollback of western state federal lands in national monuments designated under the Antiquities Act of 1906 by prior administrations, and falsely claiming that federal lands outside the recently revised monument boundaries were no longer in federal ownership.
We are writing as retired career federal employees, to let people know that federal lands are not for sale, and that areas where monument boundaries have been adjusted remain in federal ownership and are open to all. They are managed by the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management under a complex set of laws, regulations, and practices which support professional, science-based management of federal lands for multiple values and uses.
The ads also target Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, and Rep. Greg Walden, R-Oregon. It’s been our observation that these representatives, along with bipartisan congressional colleagues in the Pacific Northwest, strongly support federal lands and their active management.
We hope groups like the one with the recent ads seek and share the truth in future actions rather than create false alarms.
