U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has told the U.S. Forest Service to quicken environmental reviews on federal land, which could expedite the expansion of grazing, logging and oil exploration.
The order comes during Perdue’s trip to Montana, where the state’s ranchers, timber companies, miners and petroleum workers have long sought more access to public lands, TheHill.com reported.
In a memo to U.S. Forest Service Chief Vicki Christiansen, Perdue directed her to “set time and page limits on the completion of environmental documents, including categorical exclusions, environmental assessments, and environmental impact statements; streamline policy to ensure environmental reviews focus on analysis that is required by law and regulation; work across the government to initiate the development of policies for alternative procedures to streamline consultation processes and environmental reviews; and expedite compliance with State Historic Preservation Offices for vegetation management and facility and infrastructure improvements.
The memo reinforces other efforts by the Trump administration with regard to U.S. Forest Service policy initiative and coincides with an effort aided by Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines to pass a conservation bill, TheHill.com reported.
Friday’s announcement was decried by some.
“This is a roadmap to national forest destruction, and it’s painful to read,” Randi Spivak, director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s public lands program, told TheHill.com.
“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.”
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