Date: 8/30/2010

Title: NCBA Members Encouraged to Take Action Regarding America’s Great Outdoors Initiative

WASHINGTON - In April, President Obama signed a memorandum establishing the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to develop a “conservation agenda worthy of the 21st century.”  One objective is to create “corridors and connectivity across these outdoor spaces,” erasing public/private boundaries. Implicit in the term “treasured landscapes” is the decrease or curtailment of multiple-uses on these lands.

In light of recent actions on the parts of both Congress and the Administration toward private land acquisition and vast “treasured landscapes” designations, this initiative has potential to be very damaging to the beef industry. In Congress, legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate that would direct new funds toward private land acquisition. From the Administration, leaked internal documents indicate plans to designate some 13 million acres as National Monuments, some of them “private inholdings.” (See one of the internal documents, “BLM’s Vision for Treasured Landscapes in the 21st Century”). An article that appeared in Range Magazine (“Move over Bruce Babbitt: Unmasking Ken Salazar’s Interior Department Agenda”) provides an overview of the issue.

NCBA is encouraging members to make their voices heard by submitting comments on the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative by Sept. 6.