In a session that’s seen more than its share of scary legislation make it through the House of Representatives, a bill of almost unimaginable impact has been approved by committee: If made into law, this act would make the Department of Homeland Security arguably the most powerful agency in the United States. DHS would actually be above the law, because no part of the statute could be challenged in court.

The National Security and Federal Lands Protection Act, sponsored by Utah’s Congressman Rob Bishop and approved by the House Committee on Natural Resources 26 to 17, waives the power of 36 environmental and other laws within 100 miles of U.S. borders nationwide (angering environmentalists, since that territory includes Olympic National Park, Big Bend National Park, Allegheny National Forest, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and Glacier National Park), and cuts the knees out from under the Department of Agriculture as well, which means all rights to timber claims, grazing, and farming would go by the wayside.

A more libertarian editorial in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle tabs up the fears:

[DHS could] shut down any recreational activities, grazing, hunting, fishing, logging projects — you name it…Bureaucrats could build roads, fences, and even buildings wherever and whenever they want — without public input or due process — and even if it impacts your private land…The federal government would have incredible power to stop timber sales on Forest Service land. DHS could prevent us from snowmobiling or fishing or hunting in our forests.The department could prevent grazing on the C.M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Bureaucrats could kick all the cattle off of BLM land. It would be able to shut down Glacier National Park indefinitely.

That’s not paranoia, since the law truly would give that much free reign to DHS — and would even impact border cities. Environmental laws waived by this legislation include the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Clean Air Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Wilderness Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, National Park Service Organic Act, Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act.

As the above litany makes clear, even though the law is said to prevent illegal immigration, editorials nationwide, including in Bishop’s conservative home state of Utah, point out that its true intent is gutting environmental regulation on an unprecedented scope. An editorial in the Salt Lake Tribune entitled “Bishop’s Blunder,” says if the bill were to be enacted it would “…threaten air and water quality, national parks and sensitive lands, not only in the Southwestern states where illegal immigrant crossings were once common, but also in such states as Florida, Maine, Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan and Washington — 30 states in all.”

If the bill actually makes it out of the House, similar legislation is pending in the Senate — where Montana Senator John Tester will be waiting to argue vehemently against it. Tester, quoted in Whitefish’s Hungry Horse News, said the law “runs roughshod over the rights of law-abiding Americans and seizes vast swaths of land we all own and use – like Glacier National Park – with no public accountability. This nation is very capable of fighting terrorism without turning into a government police state. But that’s exactly what this unpopular plan would do.”

Photo, Big Bend National Park, Courtesy National Park Service

This environmental coverage made possible in part by support from Patagonia. For information on Patagonia and its environmental efforts, visit www.patagonia.com.

Tagged as: conservation, environment, national parks, public lands, wilderness