Political Quotes

“the final analysis is clear. Rangelands need grazing in order to be healthy. Given that understanding, do we work with the stewards now on the land to improve range health, and find the right balance of grazing? Or do we focus instead on regulations that will have the end result of driving many of those stewards off the range? The second alternative is unacceptable to me, and should be to all of us here. But under the regulations now in place, that is the direction we are headed. Innovative managers, like conservation award winner Bud Purdy from Picabo, ID, are seeing their children leave a generations-old tradition because of the uncertainty of depending on Federal lands. And this all despite his nationally recognized conservation projects. We should be encouraging, not discouraging, private enterprise and individual initiative. We should be looking out for the best interests of the public in the long term. Creating vast empty wastelands is not in the best interest of the American public, and it is the responsibility of this body to set policy that will plot the course to protect environmental health and economic stability for rural communities. Mr. Chairman, as you might have guessed, this debate is a source of great frustration for me.”