Big Access Bill Drops in Congress Today

[Ben Lamb]

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/op...solution-accessing-landlocked-federal-propert

Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) is reintroducing his HUNT act today. The bill directs the Departments of Interior and Agriculture to inventory their lands and find legally inaccessible public land and post their results in 180 days. It also directs 1.5% of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to be used to secure access to those land locked parcels through easements, trespass agreements or fee title acquisition.

The bill needs a lot of support from public land hunters. We all know that Congress is broken, but they do respond to hunters and anglers telling them what is a priority.

Get on it!

Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Trout Unlimited, National Wildlife Federation and the New Mexico Wildlife Federation are all early supporters. I hope by the end of next week, that list grows to include other hunting specific organizations. I also would hope that Republican lawmakers can look beyond the party of the person who introduced this and get on board. There are no co-sponsors right now. Ballsy move for a Freshman Senator.

 

[Big Fin]

I like that. Isn't this the same bill that was introduced in 2012, only to become a partisan casualty?

Got a link for people to contact their folks in support of this?

 

[Ben Lamb]

It is the same bill as 2012. It didn't even get a subcommittee hearing due to partisanship.

You can find your elected official here: http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml

Had this photo of the Senator cross my inbox. Thought it was too good not to share. Heinrich is an avid public land hunter. No outfitters, no pay-to-play, just straight up boots on the ground. Damned good guy to have on our side.

 

[Oak]

It also directs 1.5% of the Land and Water Conservation Fund to be used to secure access to those land locked parcels through easements, trespass agreements or fee title acquisition.

Isn't the LWCF going to sunset in 2014? Does this legislation renew that program?

 

[Ben Lamb]

No, this legislation only directs land agencies to compile the survey of landlocked public land and allocates a portion of LWCF monies to be spent on access (1.5%).

Senator Baucus of Montana has a bill that would reauthorize LWCF and he is also seeking a way to get permanent, full funding ($900 million/year of offshore O&G lease sale revenue).

The House has stripped all LWC funding and refused to reauthorize, so it's an uphill battle given the Houses lack of fiscal understanding on how conservation programs actually save money and generate revenue at the same time.

 

[krshntr81]

I have emailed both my Senators from here in Missouri!

 

[Oak]

Ok, my question would have been answered if I had gone and read the blog first.

I support the idea of the bill, but to pass it without a funding source in place seems like a waste of time. Can you save me the time of digging up the text of the bill and tell me if any funding is provided for the land inventory that is to be completed in 180 days, or do they just assume that DOI and DOA employees are sitting at their desks with nothing to do, waiting for a task to be legislated?

 

[Ben Lamb]

The funding for the inventory will come from the already apprpriated budgets. No new funding will come from this bill.

Ideally it's not that difficult. There have been some surveys done in the last 20 years or so, most notably one from 1992 done by the GAO. I would imagine that using that as a starting point and updating with current information could be done fairly soon. I've not heard if the Secretaries support the bill, but I don't see the inventory as being a budget buster.

 

[Ben Lamb]

As for LWCF being funded - Senator Baucus has said that it is a priority for him before he leaves office to get the Fund reauthorized and funded. Since he's got a fair amount of pull in congress, I wouldn't put it past him to find a way to fix the funding issue through a CR or some other legislative maneuver.

 

[Oak]

The funding for the inventory will come from the already apprpriated budgets. No new funding will come from this bill.

Ideally it's not that difficult. There have been some surveys done in the last 20 years or so, most notably one from 1992 done by the GAO. I would imagine that using that as a starting point and updating with current information could be done fairly soon. I've not heard if the Secretaries support the bill, but I don't see the inventory as being a budget buster.

As a self-employed consultant, when a client asks you to do something new for them, do you tell them that what they've given you in the past is good enough, or do you send them an invoice? Just playing devil's advocate here. There is already a laundry list of things not being completed by the land management agencies.

Maybe the money could come from the ridiculous firefighting budgets.

 

[Ben Lamb]

As a self employed consultant, I reserve the right to donate my time and work to anyone I deserve fitting.

But true - budgets are slashed and there's not a lot of money for certain things. If you want to start advocating for the increases in the federal budget to match the needs of both agencies, I'll be right next to you (or a little behind and out of the line of fire).

 

[Ben Lamb]

I'm on a press tele-conference call with the Senator now - He just said that the senate is going to work towards getting LWCF funding at last years level in the Continuing Resolution.

 

[Oak]

That's great...for one year. When will we get the reauthorization with no sunset?

 

[Ben Lamb]

That's great...for one year. When will we get the reauthorization with no sunset?

Not a year - 3 months. I don't think it'll get in because the Senate's going to want a fairly clean CR.

Re-authorization could still happen this year, but people are gonna have to stand up and demand it. otherwise it'll sit there and nothing will happen, again.

Same goes for agency budgets.

 

[Carrion Carrier]

Thanks for all of your hard work Ben Lamb!

 

[bigskyblueman]

This is a good piece of legislation, but the same senators from Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho, will probably oppose it and it will die on the vine. I hope I'm wrong.