Chellie Pingree: “I appreciate the concerns raised by the gentleman from Oregon, but this amendment would prohibit the Bureau of Land…”

“I appreciate the concerns raised by the gentleman from Oregon, but this amendment would prohibit the Bureau of Land Management from completing or implementing updates to certain resource management plans in western Oregon. These updated plans cover 2.5 million acres of land that play an important role in the social, economic, and ecological well-being of western Oregon, as well as to the American public generally. The plans determine how BLM-administered lands will be managed to further the recovery of threatened and endangered species, provide for clean water, restore fire-adapted ecosystems, produce a sustained yield of timber products, and coordinate land management of surrounding tribal land. The amendment would suspend the BLM's authority to implement a new resource management plan in western Oregon. As a result, the BLM would be forced to rely on a 20-year-old outdated plan that doesn't incorporate significant new information. For example, the old plan does not include important conservation activities, such as the northern spotted owl recovery plan. The amendment would block one of the most comprehensive and detailed landscape plans that the BLM has ever developed and would ignore significant public input. The public has a right to engage in the management decisions of their Federal lands. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.”