Extremist Anti-Conservation Bills Expected to Receive Congressional Vote This Week

Proposed legislation, an industry wishlist, would set back U.S. conservation policy by decades

April 30, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A suite of Republican-led bills seeking to gut conservation standards and wildlife protections are scheduled to be voted on in the House of Representatives this week.

The Congressional GOP is pushing through six bills that would, among other things, allow drilling and mining in some of America's last wild places, block the Bureau of Land Management from promoting conservation on our public lands, and harm thriving wolf populations. All six are expected to get a floor vote in the House this week.

The bills seek to take the United States backward at a time when our nation and public lands are battling a climate crisis. They also threaten some of our most beautiful lands and iconic species. The six bills are:

• Alaska's Right to Produce Act (H.R. 6285). This extreme legislation would reverse Biden-Harris Administration actions that currently protect the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and 13 million acres of the western Arctic from dangerous and dirty oil drilling.
• Western Economic Security Today Act (H.R. 3397).This bill requires the Bureau of Land Management to withdraw its new rule that elevates conservation and landscape health on public lands.
• Superior National Forest Restoration Act (H.R. 3195).A giveaway to a mining company, this bill would overturn the Biden Administration's mineral withdrawal that protects 225,000 acres of the Superior National Forest in the Boundary Waters area from development and degradation.
• Mining Regulatory Clarity Act (H.R. 2925).The bill would make it even easier for mining companies and individuals to stake a mining claim on public lands, without first having to document a valid claim.
• Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2023 (H.R. 615). This bill bars the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture from prohibiting or limiting the use of lead ammunition or tackle on federal land or water that is under the jurisdiction of such departments and made available for hunting or fishing.
• Trust the Science Act (H.R. 764). Unlike its name, this bill would ignore established U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service science and federally delist the Gray Wolf under the Endangered Species Act.

In response, Sierra Club Lands Protection Program Director Athan Manuel issued the following statement:

"The Congressional GOP has decided that what regular people are most concerned about is rolling back fifty years of progress on conservation, clean air, and clean water.

"Big industry couldn't ask for a better wishlist from the Congressional GOP than these bills. They would strip protections for some of our last remaining wild places, drive critically endangered species to extinction, and light the fuse on carbon bombs across the Arctic.

"When it comes down to it, these are not serious proposals. The Congressional GOP would rather grandstand for its Big Business allies than do the work of the American people."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.