|
On Tuesday, the Trump administration missed a key deadline to submit a list of projects that could be funded by the recently passed Great American Outdoors Act. The landmark law provides funding to address deferred maintenance at our parks and public lands, and fully funds the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which helps establish local parks, increase access to public lands, and purchase national park inholdings from willing sellers.
Champions of the bill in Congress worry the administration is trying to undermine the law before it can even be implemented. "This demonstrates that the Trump administration was only ever interested in using the Great American Outdoors Act to influence the election, and isn’t actually interested in effective governance," said U.S. Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich. Other senators, including Steve Daines of Montana, are demanding answers from the Interior Department.
Remarkably, an Interior Department spokesman said the blame lies not with Interior Secretary Bernhardt, but with President Trump. The spokesperson pointed Outside Magazine to a line in the law saying, "The President shall submit to Congress a detailed account" of projects to be funded by the Great American Outdoors Act. Lawmakers who wrote the bill understand this provision to mean the Interior Department, as part of the executive branch, should draft and submit such a list.
Supporters of the Great American Outdoors Act are watching the developments closely. “These delays suggest an effort by Secretary Bernhardt to circumvent the will of the American people and Congress,” said Phil Francis, Chair of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, in a statement. “That is unacceptable and will not stand.”
|
This Interior Department continues to ignore the law and court rulings, as well as the reality of our economy and the best uses of public lands and waters, at its peril. Instead of penning a description of its record that is overwhelmingly at odds with the evidence, [Interior Solicitor] Jorjani should be taking heed and advising the DOI to follow the law and the duty it owes to the public as steward of our public lands.”
