Mike Lee Resumes Attack on Federal Lands

Utah Senator Mike Lee has resumed his attack on federal lands, this time sponsoring another deceptively-titled bill called the “Border Lands Conservation Act (BLCA).”

The BLCA would allow the federal government unfettered access to create new roads, install technology, use motor vehicles and motorized equipment, and conduct foot patrols on all federal lands, to “gain operational control of the southern border and northern border,” per the bill’s text. All federal land within 100 miles of each border would be open for use by Homeland Security and other border agents, even currently designated Wilderness Areas.

Section 4 of the bill is titled “Access to Wilderness Areas” and explicitly carves out an exception for using motorized equipment and vehicles on land where that hasn’t been allowed since 1964.

The Secretary of Homeland Security, under this bill, would have the authority to use motor vehicles, motorboats, and motorized equipment; conduct patrols on foot and horseback; use aircraft, including approach, landing and takeoff; deploy tactical infrastructure; and construct and maintain roads and physical barriers, all on land that falls inside current Wilderness Area designations.

In a press release about the bill, Lee said, “Families who want to enjoy a safe hike or campout are instead finding trash piles, burned landscapes, and trails closed because rangers are stuck cleaning up the fallout. Cartels are exploiting the disorder, using these lands as cover for their operations. This bill gives land managers and border agents the tools to restore order and protect these places for the people they were meant to serve.”

In an article for Outdoor Life, Land Tawney, co-chair of American Hunters and Anglers, responded to Lee, saying “Giving them complete authority within 100 miles of our border makes no sense. That’s a third of Montana. Do we want Big Brother setting up surveillance where we’re sitting around a campsite? Hell no.”

Tawney continued, telling reporter Christine Peterson that if the bill is approved, amending the Wilderness Act to allow for motorized access for the Department of Homeland Security would lead to an inevitable weakening of the Wilderness Act everywhere.

The bill does explicitly state, however, that nothing in its text authorizes or provides “authority to restrict legal uses, such as grazing, timber harvesting, oil and gas development, mining, or recreation, on covered Federal land, or any additional authority to restrict legal access to covered Federal land.”