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The Trump administration is throwing up barriers to prevent the public and press from reading public comments on major policy decisions. Bloomberg's Bobby Magill reports that the Bureau of Land Management, rather than posting public comments online, is requiring that "public scoping" comments on major upcoming rules only be released through the Freedom of Information Act—a cumbersome and lengthy process that can take months or years to complete.
The agency is hiding comments behind a FOIA barrier for several new rules, including a major overhaul to grazing on national public land, a 1,000 mile network of natural gas pipelines in Wyoming, a highway through a tortoise conservation area in Utah, and 11,000 miles of fire breaks across the West. And even if those comments are later released under FOIA, the agency says it plans to hide the names of commenters—making it impossible to see who is influencing the rulemaking process.
These new attempts to hide comments come in the wake of a report by the Center for Western Priorities that analyzed millions of public comments on previous rulemakings and found more than 95 percent of public comments opposed the Trump administration's changes. The Interior Department moved ahead with 8 of 10 rulemakings regardless.
Tomorrow: Join us on the Road to 30
CWP's Road to 30 Virtual Tour returns on Thursday with a look at opportunities to protect public lands in Colorado as part of the bold vision to protect 30 percent of American land and water by 2030. RSVP now, then join Congressman Joe Neguse, Senator Tom Udall, and Conservation Colorado's Kelly Nordini at noon Mountain Time on YouTube or Facebook.
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Above all, it seems to me, America's public lands teach the etiquette of sharing. They instruct us in the manners of coexistence, cooperation, and consideration toward others. Over time, that etiquette of sharing may become something deeper, something akin to an ethic of compromise.”
