In two weeks I will be on Capitol Hill in DC (third trip this year) to meet with our adversaries in congress who are supporting elimination of many of our national monuments, national parks, national conservation areas and national forests, YOUR national public lands.

I will also be meeting with members of the Trump Administration Dept. of the Interior staff. It is so important to meet with our adversaries on national public lands issues as they are in full control of the process in DC right now.

The Administration and its many allies in congress are now taking a two prong approach to attacking our national public lands.

1) by using the 2018 federal budget process to reduce funding for national public land units the Administration does not feel warrant protections, such as many national monuments, national forests and national conservation areas in the western U.S. and will instead open those lands up to oil and gas drilling, coal and uranium mining, logging and cattle grazing.

2) supporting congressional legislation such as the Public Lands Initiative (PLI) soon to be introduced into congress by congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) which would remove all protections for federal lands in the state of Utah. Similar legislation is being drafted for other states in the western U.S. who do not want the U.S. Government owning/managing national parks, national monuments, national conservation areas and national forests.

3) And on top of all of this will be upcoming actions by the President to reduce the size and eliminate protections of many national monuments and other national public land units as well as National Marine Sanctuaries.

We are in an epic battle to save some of the most spectacular landscapes and endangered ecosystems in the United States.