Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04) and Senate Western Caucus Chair Cynthia Lummis (WY) released the following statements responding to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Final Environmental Impact Statement and amendments to 77 resource management plans on sage grouse habitat, which impacts up to 69 million acres across several Western states.
“The Biden Administration is firing another salvo in their war against public lands across the west,” said Chairman Newhouse. “This proposal will have drastic impacts on land uses like grazing and energy production creating hardships for the men and women who depend on working lands for their livelihoods. I look forward to this proposal to be discarded in the new year.”
“This greater sage-grouse plan will have wide-reaching impacts on farmers, ranchers and landowners across the west whose livelihoods depend on responsible management of federal lands,” said Chair Lummis. “Instead of trusting states like Wyoming that have proven expertise in sage-grouse management, the Biden-Harris administration is making a last-ditch effort to exert more control over the west. I am confident the Trump administration will begin work on day one to correct the wrongdoings of this administration and properly restore the role of states in managing their own wildlife populations.”
