On July 26, the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Natural Resources' Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands held a hearing on a bill intended to release some U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and USDA Forest Service wilderness study areas and roadless areas from protection. H.R. 1581?the "Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act of 2011"?is creating controversy within the conservation community, reports the Wildlife Management Institute.

Introduced by Representatives. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in the House and Senator John Barasso (R-WY) in the Senate (S. 1087), the Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act could affect 6 million acres of BLM wilderness study areas and as much as 36 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the National Forest System. The bill's language indicates, if signed into law, the act would address BLM wilderness lands not designated as wilderness or identified by BLM as unsuitable for further study for wilderness designation. The Forest Service would be required to release inventoried roadless areas that have not been designated as wilderness and were not recommended for designation as wilderness as a result of the second roadless area review and evaluation program or subsequent revisions of resource management plans.

"Simply put, my common sense bill would release Wilderness Study Areas and Inventoried Roadless Areas deemed not suitable for wilderness by the existing agencies so they are no longer needlessly held in regulatory limbo, which denies the American people full and appropriate access to them, and require they be managed for multiple-use," Congressman. McCarthy stated. "The bill would also return these lands to the local management process, where decisions on what can and can't occur on them are made by local land managers, communities and stakeholders in and around the areas, consistent with existing environmental protections."

During the hearing, BLM Director, Bob Abbey, and Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Natural Resources, Harris Sherman, harshly criticized the bill. Abbey stated that decisions based on indications that the study areas were unsuitable as wilderness were more than 20 years old and on-the-ground assessments of those areas were more than 30 years old. Updated mineral surveys and relinquished mining claims, as well as disturbed landscapes that have been reclaimed, may counter those earlier decisions, he added. Releasing all the areas without further review would not take into account those landscape changes.

"H.R. 1581 is a top-down, one-size-fits-all approach that fails to reflect local conditions and community-based interests," Abbey testified. "Much as the Department of the Interior would oppose a blanket designation of all wilderness study areas (WSAs) as wilderness, we oppose this proposal to release over 6.6 million acres of WSAs from interim protection."

USDA Undersecretary Sherman's testimony expressed the Administration's opposition. . "By making the 2001 Roadless Rule's provisions inapplicable to inventoried roadless areas, and by precluding the Secretary from establishing any other system-wide [National Forest System] management direction for such lands, this bill would undermine the ability of the Forest Service to carry out its responsibilities for conserving critical resource values. It would also subject local forest management efforts to increased conflict, expense and delay, as disputes about roadless area protection are reopened and replayed from one project proposal to the next, drawing limited capacity away from other efforts that could elicit broader support and deliver more benefits to rural communities."?

The issue also is divisive is within the conservation community.. To some organizations, the bill's vision to expand access to lands that have previously been ruled out for their wilderness or roadless values makes sense. "H.R. 1581 would help hunters who are being denied or limited access to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service," commented Melissa Simpson, Director of Hunter Advocacy for the Safari Club International. "Currently, the Bureau and Forest Service are managing nearly 43 million acres of public land under the prohibitions of wilderness area study area policy, even though the agencies have recommended to Congress that these areas are not suitable for wilderness designation."

Other sportsmen's organizations and outdoor industry groups have expressed concerns about the bill's blanket approach to land protection. On August 9, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership led a group of sportsmen's organizations on a telepressconference opposing H.R. 1581. The groups organized a "Banking on the Backcountry" statement, signed by 270 businesses and organizations across the country. The statement urges the federal government to "maintain maximum roadless acreages" and "support sustainable, backcountry-dependent economies." According to the groups. "Roadless areas comprise the best public-lands fish and wildlife habitat in the country and provide high-quality hunting and fishing opportunities. While roads are important for enabling access, they increase big-game vulnerability and can result in shorter hunting seasons and fewer tags. Too many roads also can decrease the quality of spawning habitat for valuable fisheries."

The House Wilderness and Roadless Area Release Act also was referred to the Agriculture Committee's Subcommittee on Conservation, Energy and Forestry, and the Senate bill was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Neither has held hearings at this time. (jas)