Now, you might wonder what TWS’s position is on coal, given that the Miles City Amendment (approved by Director on the 20th) closed off coal leasing. TWS is pretty open about it, and it’s not very positive.
You might also wonder whether it takes more than three business days to negotiate a high-level job offer. Further you might wonder why TSM couldn’t have recused herself from this one and let Nada Culver sign it, as she did the Rock Springs RMP. Perhaps BLM-knowledgeable folks could explain.
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The Center for Western Priorities reported that the Senate voted to pass Congressional Review Act resolutions for the Miles City and North Dakota RMP’s. We’ve discussed using the Congressional Review Act before here. The CWP talking point is that it “invites chaos” for Congress to use the CRA.. I’m not so sure about that, and I don’t know why some post-election decisions are being redone administratively and some by the CRA. If we look at the talking points on Rock Springs, we find “overturns years of public involvement”- a shading of the truth, and the CRA plans “every management plant will be overturned:”
If the Senate votes to rescind these RMPs, the immediate effect will be to void the current management plans for millions of acres of public land. But the consequences don’t stop there.
First, the “substantially similar” clause would bar the BLM from issuing replacement plans that resemble those Congress just overturned, leaving vast landscapes without a modern management framework. The agency might have to revert to decades-old plans — some dating back to the 1980s — written before the rise of GPS, modern wildlife science, or modern mining and drilling technology. These plans are often out of step with today’s realities, creating confusion for ranchers, energy developers, and conservationists alike.
Yet the post-election BLM decision (approved by BLM Director Nov. 20, 2024) in the bill was actually a plan amendment. According to the bill,
This Miles City Field Office RMP Amendment made no acres available for coal leasing and 1,745,040 acres unavailable for further consideration for coal leasing.
The decision was in response to a court order, and required BLM employees to analyze some of the most-bogus numbers I’ve ever been involved in generating… projections of damages from climate change from the output of specific coal mines. Coal analysis was always very difficult for me as in “we know they’re bogus, the plaintiffs know they’re bogus, the judge probably knows they’re bogus but we have to generate them anyway.” So this Amendment was only about stopping coal leasing and removing it…keeps the RMP as it was, not creating confusion for anyone.
Here’s the response to the Governor’s Consistency Review from the ROD.
On May 17, 2024, the BLM initiated a 60-day Governor’s consistency review on the publication of the Final SEIS/Proposed RMP Amendment in accordance with 43 CFR 1610.3-2(e). The BLM received a response letter, dated July 16, 2024, from the Governor’s office. The letter identified a recommendation to withdraw the Proposed RMPA/Final SEIS and develop alternatives to consider additional plans, policies, and programs. The letter also identified inconsistencies with State laws, policies, programs and Plans. On August 12, 2024, the BLM Montana/Dakotas State Director responded to the Governor’s letter clarifying how the Final SEIS is consistent, to the extent practical, with state laws, policies, and/or plans. It also addressed the Final SEIS as being responsive to the court order which directed BLM to consider limited leasing and no leasing alternatives and to complete a record of decision by December 3, 2024, and therefore, BLM cannot withdraw the Final SEIS. No changes were made to the Proposed RMPA/Final SEIS.
On the face of it, the court directed the BLM to analyze it, not for the BLM to select the no leasing alternative.
The Governor submitted an appeal to the BLM Director on September 18, 2024, appealing the State Director consistency response. In accordance with 43 CFR 1610.3-2, the Director notified the Governor the reasons for the determination to reject the Governor’s recommendations. A Notice of Availability of the Director response is available in the federal register.
We see a pattern here.. election happens, once and future ENGO leaders make decisions and blow off Governors, and we’re told by some groups that Govs trying to remove the sharp stick in their eyes is a bad thing, either it goes against “decades of public involvement” or it “invites chaos.” I just hope media folks look into this themselves and don’t simply regurgitate talking points.
When Tracy Stone-Manning was selected to head the BLM, I spoke up on TSW. She was inherently slippery, never at fault, always innocent. She has has evolved into something much more calculating and powerful over the years. I’ll say it once again, she isn’t a friend of Recreation.
I don’t blame Tracy, I think she is a True Believer and politically oriented. Pols do what they do. I do wonder whether the Ethics folks at Interior and the media might have been a bit more on the ball during the last Admin. Some have said that the media stopped being watchdogs and became lapdogs.. I don’t think I’d go that far but…
Maybe you’re right – it’s better to publicly flaunt the arsenal of sticks it’s using to skewer its enemies like the current party in power does. I just hope the media folks don’t prioritize digging up stories about the dead and gone, (or feel a need to kick someone when they’re down).