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For decades, the Bureau of Land Management has chartered dozens of Resource Advisory Councils (RACs) around the West, each stocked with a diverse range of public stakeholders who provide input on land management decisions in their region. These committees represent one of the most important venues for the agency to hear directly from the public on a broad range of issues, including conservation, drilling, and grazing.
But under the Trump administration, the Interior Department has actively worked to undermine these committees, first suspending all of them, then reinstating many with politically-driven charters requiring members to provide recommendations on how to expand drilling and eliminate regulations.
An analysis conducted by the Center for Western Priorities finds that 30 of the 37 Resource Advisory Councils have been reinstated by the Trump administration with politically-motivated mandates. The remaining seven RACs appear not to have renewed charters. Of the 30 Trump-chartered RACs, 17 have not met under their new charter. In sum, more than half of all RACs—20 of 37—have not met since 2017.
Look West taking a break Oct. 10-11
The Look West newsletter will not be delivered on Thursday or Friday of this week, and will return Monday, October 14. If you're attending the Society of Environmental Journalists conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, come meet our staff in the tabling area.
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It’s like Humpty Dumpty, and it will take a long time to put the pieces back together. It will set conservation back a generation or two.”
