Sonny Fucking Perdue Visits MT W. Big News - More Logging, More Mining, More Grazing, More Drilling [View all]

[hatrack]

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue on Friday ordered the U.S. Forest Service to expedite environmental reviews on its land, paving the way for more grazing, logging and oil development on public lands.

The directive, announced by Perdue on a trip to Missoula, Mont., comes in the form of an unusual memo to Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen. He called it “a blueprint for reforms to further provide relief from burdensome regulations, improve customer service, and boost the productivity of our National Forests and Grasslands.” The move could be welcome news in Montana, where the state’s ranchers, miners, and oil and gas workers have long argued for increased access to public lands.

But environmentalists say the memo affirms a number of dangerous strategies already underway by the Trump administration. “This is a roadmap to national forest destruction, and it’s painful to read,” said Randi Spivak, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s public lands program. “In the midst of the climate and extinction crises, Perdue offers a dystopian vision of expanding mining, fracking, logging and grazing in national forests. This will increase air and water pollution, kill wildlife and increase carbon pollution. It’s the extractive industry’s agenda on steroids.”

The memo, however, lacks the formal letterhead or signature typical with such documents, and mainly sets broad goals for the Forest Service rather than laying out any specific policy directives.

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https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/502530-ag-secretary-orders-environmental-rollbacks-for-forest-service