Why is Congress Trying to Give Military Half a Wildlife Refuge it Doesn't Want?

[Judi Lynn]

Published on Thursday, April 28, 2016

by Common Dreams

Why is Congress Trying to Give Military Half a Wildlife Refuge it Doesn't Want?

The National Defense Authorization Act was amended to give the Air Force control over half of one of the largest wildlife refuges in the country

by Nika Knight, staff writer


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A sage grouse. The House Armed Services Committee also added a rider to the NDAA stripping the sage grouse of its protections as an endangered species, a measure the DoD specifically urged the committee not to pass. (Photo: Bob Wick / U.S. Bureau of Land Management)
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The U.S. House Armed Services Committee (HASC) added a rider late Wednesday evening to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that transfers control of more than half of Nevada's sprawling Desert National Wildlife Refuge to the U.S. Air Force.

"Here we go again on Desert National Wildlife Refuge," said Defenders of Wildlife president and CEO Jamie Rappaport Clark. "Another rider added last night undermines management of our largest national wildlife refuge in the lower 48 by transferring primary jurisdiction of more than 800,000 acres to the Air Force, a responsibility the Department of Defense has neither requested nor is necessary for continued training exercises on and adjacent to the refuge."

Committee members offered no explanation for the measure, and maps show that Air Force ranges are already within the refuge's borders.

The overreaching rider is part of a trend: this is only the latest attempt by the House Armed Services committee, long dominated by Republicans, to demolish endangered species protections through the NDAA, the annual "must-pass" legislation that authorizes annual military spending.

More:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/04/28/why-congress-trying-give-military-half-wildlife-refuge-it-doesnt-want

[2naSalit]

1. Jamie Rappaport Clark

was the Director of US Fish and Wildlife Service During Bill Clinton's presidency and oversaw the reintroduction of the grey wolf to the northern Rockies twenty one years ago. When she speaks about wildlife and habitat conservation, she's a force to be reckoned with.

I'm glad she and others are speaking out about this.

[djean111]

2. My immediate thought is that giving control to the military is just a first step in

getting rid of it altogether - moving its care to an entity that does not want it, and may be able to "reclassify" it.

[ladjf]

3. Search for the profiteers. Money will be made. nt

[kacekwl]

4. Because we have to

rebuild our "decimated" military.