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UPDATED: Latest Speculation On Trump Interior Secretary Points To Washington State Congresswoman

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U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers was said to be nominated for Interior secretary by President-elect Trump/Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers

Editor's note: This updates with additional reaction from groups, provides additional legislative background on Rep. McMorris Rodgers.

A congresswoman from eastern Washington state who in the past has supported legislation to sell off federal lands was expected to be nominated as Interior secretary for the incoming Trump administration, media outlets and others reported Friday.

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers also was described as determined to see more fossil fuels development on federal lands. The Republican also favors hydropower, and in the past has demonstrated an ability to work with Democrats on hydropower issues as well as domestic energy policy.

But her stances on energy development and public lands ownership will generate opposition from advocacy groups. In 2012, in a speech to the Society of American Foresters at its national convention, Rep. McMorris Rodgers said tying up forests in federal ownership was bad for both the forests and their neighboring communities.

“Our federal forests are sick and the communities that depend on them have struggled for decades due to inaction,” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers.  “When I look at our national forests – 200 million acres across the country – and learn that one out of three acres is bug infested, diseased, or dead, I find that unacceptable.  In addition, it is no coincidence that many of the counties with the highest unemployment rates in the country are those which are surrounded by federal forests.  By removing lands from private ownership – and thus, from the local municipal tax rolls – the government stifles locally-driven development and makes rural communities more dependent on Washington, DC.  With job creation, economic growth, and federalism now more important than ever, it is imperative that Congress and the federal agencies undertake a comprehensive review of their land ownership policies.”

(Traveler note: States with federally owned lands within them receive "Payments In Lieu of Taxes" payments to make up for the loss of local tax revenues from those lands.)

At the Center for Western Priorities, officials were concerned about the approach the congresswoman might bring to Interior if she's nominated and confirmed.

"In 2011, Cathy McMorris Rodgers was a co-sponsor of HR 1126, which would have sold off more than 3 million acres of public lands to private interests. This year, McMorris Rodgers voted against an amendment that would have prevented efforts to dispose of public lands outside of the established planning process. These positions should raise a red flag for anyone who values keeping our public lands public," the Center said Friday in an email.

At the Center, Executive Director Jennifer Rokala worried about how Rep. McMorris Rodgers would manage lands under the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other bureaus under the Interior Department.

“This week, President-elect Trump told America he wants to follow in Teddy Roosevelt’s footsteps by conserving America’s parks and public lands. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, unfortunately, has shown little interest in the issues she would encounter on a daily basis as Secretary of the Interior," Ms. Rokala said in the same email. "Before the Senate considers her nomination, the American people deserve to know where McMorris Rodgers stands on the issues facing our public lands today, particularly at a time when members of her party are encouraging the President-elect to take the unprecedented step of erasing national monuments from the map and selling off public lands.

“If Cathy McMorris Rodgers is confirmed, we hope she takes her new boss’s words seriously and follows in the conservation tradition of Teddy Roosevelt, not the robber barons who would have drilled, mined, and clear-cut their way across the West a century ago.”

At American Rivers, President Bob Irvin said her record "raises concerns about what kind of Interior Secretary she will be and her commitment to conserving our rivers, clean water supplies, wild salmon and our nation’s priceless natural heritage.”

“Over the past two years," he continued, "Rep. McMorris Rodgers authored and championed legislation to roll back protections at hydropower dams, weakening safeguards for clean water, fish and wildlife and public lands, and undermining the protection of tribal lands in hydroelectric dam relicensing proceedings. By contrast, in 2013 Rep. McMorris Rodgers worked with American Rivers on successful legislation to promote hydropower without undermining bedrock environmental laws like the Clean Water Act. We hope that, if confirmed as Interior Secretary, she will return to that approach and work for the conservation interests of the American people, not just the interests of large energy companies.”

Defenders of Wildlife said it would oppose her confirmation if nominated.

“For the second time this week, President-elect Trump has chosen to commit the health of America’s environment to a person who is hostile to the very values she would be charged to protect. The Secretary of the Interior should cherish America’s public lands and work mightily to sustain America’s wildlife, for the benefit of all Americans and for our children to come," said Defenders President Jamie Rappaport Clark. "Unfortunately, Rep. McMorris Rodgers has demonstrated the opposite throughout her career. She has consistently sought to promote development on our public lands and waters at the expense of environmental protection and wildlife.

“Following the nomination of Scott Pruitt as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the nomination of McMorris Rodgers to lead the Interior is another signal from the Trump administration that environmental protections will likely be rolled back and that America’s land, water and wildlife are up for sale. Defenders of Wildlife opposes the nomination of Cathy McMorris Rodgers as Secretary of the Interior.”

Drew Caputo, Earthjustice’s vice president of litigation for lands, oceans, and wildlife, issued a statement in which he said, “(A)mericans should be deeply concerned by the nomination of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to lead the Department of the Interior. She has a troubling track record of actively undermining our environment.

"... Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers’s environmental record is, frankly, terrible. She has repeatedly voted against the environment and in favor of special interests who want to use public lands and resources for private gain," Mr. Caputo added. "She has supported rollbacks to critical environmental protections for our nation’s forests, voted to undercut the president’s authority to protect public lands as national monuments in Western states, and voted against restricting taxpayer hand-outs to companies that profit from oil and gas extracted from federal public lands.

“On wildlife, McMorris Rodgers has stood in the way of species recovery. She has co-sponsored legislation to remove all federal protections for the endangered gray wolf. She is also one of the most vocal opponents of restoring the lower Snake River, long highlighted by biologists as the most promising tool for recovering endangered wild salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest."

At the Center for Biological Diversity, officials called for vigorous opposition to Rep. McMorris Rodger's nomination.

"McMorris Rodgers will put fossil fuels and logging ahead of the public lands and endangered species we all cherish,” said Randi Spivak, public lands program director at the Center. “Under McMorris Rodgers corporate polluters will have free rein. Endangered wolves and salmon, wild rivers, whales and our climate will all lose under this long-time servant of the oil, gas and timber industries. Senators who care about America’s beautiful wild places and our planet’s future should fight like hell to block this outrageous nomination.

"...If McMorris Rodgers brings her ideology to management of America’s public lands, it will be open season for polluters who want to frack, drill and mine our public lands and waters,” Ms. Spivak continued. “She just doesn’t understand that the nation’s public lands are a legacy for this and future generations rather than up for grabs to industry.” 

However, officials at the Outdoor Industry Association, the trade organization for outdoor gear manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, said they looked forward to working with Rep. McMorris Rodgers.

“As the outdoor industry well knows, the U.S. Department of the Interior is one of the most important cabinet offices for our issues,” said OIA Executive Director Amy Roberts. “We believe we will have a productive and collaborative relationship with Representative McMorris Rodgers like the ones we enjoyed with Secretaries Jewell, Salazar, and Kempthorne before her.”

In an addendum to Ms. Roberts' comments, her staff said, "OIA has an excellent relationship with McMorris Rodgers and her staff, and we would look forward to working with her to continue the investment in and protection of outdoor recreation on America's public lands."

The next Interior secretary will provide a strong voice to the president on such issues as coal leasing on federal lands and off-shore drilling. 

At the National Parks Conservation Association, President Theresa Pierno released the following statement:

“For the last 100 years, Americans have had the privilege of visiting places that have stood the test of time. More than just stunning landscapes and rich history, our national parks attract visitors from across the country and around the world, supporting local businesses and generating tens of thousands of jobs. It is up to all of us to protect our national parks, including the President-elect and his new Interior Secretary.

“The Secretary of Interior has a solemn duty to protect our national parks, a duty that Ms. McMorris Rodgers will be challenged to fulfill if her voting record is any indication of her future actions as Secretary. She has voted against protections for national parks and their wildlife, air and water, and introduced legislation to sell park land to private interests. Through her votes, she chose mining and oil and gas development at the expense of clean air, water, healthy wildlife, and treasured lands. Ms. McMorris Rodgers also questions climate science, and has voted to block efforts to designate new national parks that celebrate our history and diversity of the National Park System.

“If confirmed, our national parks will be the responsibility of Ms. McMorris Rodgers. She will inherit a Park System that is more expansive, diverse and reflective of the American story than ever before, but also a system facing many challenges. It is critical that if confirmed, Ms. McMorris Rodgers address the needs of our national parks, with recognition of their immense benefits to our nation’s natural resources and cultural history.

“National parks belong to all of us. The president and his administration have the authority and the privilege to protect the air we breathe, the water that sustains us, the wildlife that draw wonder and the sites that serve as living classrooms. Our next president and Interior Secretary should embrace and uphold the values of our national parks, remembering that the decisions made today will be those that our children and grandchildren inherit.”

In the League of Conservation Voters' most recent congressional scorecard, Rep. McMorris Rodgers earned a zero.

In the past, the congresswoman has supported legislation that would rein-in a president's ability to use the Antiquities Act to designation national monuments.

"By limiting national monument declarations in Washington State to no more than one per presidential term, the land will not be subject to unwarranted use," she said in 2014.

Among her votes in Congress, Rep. McMorris Rodgers:

* Supported the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Route Designation Act of 2006, which called for a "vehicular tour route from Missoula, Montana, to the Pacific Ocean along existing public roads linking certain nationally significant natural and cultural sites associated with the Ice Age Floods";

* Was in favor of revisions to the Endangered Species Act to "revise various provisions of that Act relating to determinations of endangered or threatened species, recovery plans for such species, and the role of states and private property owners in protecting such species.

* Supported the stocking of fish in once-barren lakes in the North Cascades National Park Complex in Washington.

* Supported legislation to designate "the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail, a trail from Missoula, Montana to the Pacific Ocean."

* Was in favor of legislation to block the Interior Department from "taking action on public lands which impede the activities of the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to secure the border on such lands."

* Supported a bill that "(D)irects the Secretary of the Interior to offer for disposal by competitive sale certain federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming."

* Was in favor of legislation to direct "the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue gold, silver, and half-dollar clad coins in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the National Park Service."

* Supported legislation to "give permittees of specified federal land (including improvements) located along Sherman Creek and Rickey Point in Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area in the state of Washington the first option to purchase such property for fair market value."

Back in 2013, Rep. McMorris Rodgers and some of her office staff were investigated by House's Office of Congressional Ethics for using "official resources" of her office for campaign activities. However, the Ethics Office did not establish a separate committee to further look into the allegations.

Comments

it is past time that the funding being held back by the Federal government was distributed out to the parks as it was suppose to be! Millions that were appropriated need to be released.


Sounds as if this person is not a supporter of NatioanlnParks in general and in specific would like to sell them off for development. She is another poor choice for the job. 


would like to sell them off for development.

Can you cite a single statement or action that indicates she wants to sell off the National Parks?


As one that lives in a County that is comprised of more than 50% National Forest lands, I can attest that PILT payments have been decreasing for years.  Just one Link.  http://www.hcn.org/articles/how-federal-land-payments-work-1   It's just another unfunded program, where the local folks pay the price.


Exciting to see someone who will remember rural communities out west surrounded by millions of acres of mismanaged public lands. Maybe public lands will be productive again instead of a massive fire hazard. 


Finally, someone who might understand the taxpayer can only support so many parks, monuments and do it well. Where is the common sense that we need to divest thefederal government of managing over 50% of the lands in the USA. Its high time the Antiquities Act, Endangered Species Act and several others have a review and come in line with more of what the USA wants rather than the Defenders of Wildlife and others guided by lawyers that make fortunes taking the Department of Interior and National Park Service into irresponsible and often frivolous litigation. Does anyone realize that this litigation costs hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to improve/sustain the NPS lands the government already manage?


Well . . . . she might be a little better than turning Rob Bishop loose in the office.


McMorris Rodgers also outraged public land and national parks advocates last summer with a bill she sponsored to sell land from the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area, a unit of the National Park Service, to the highest bidder for shoreline homes. The area was created for public use and recreation following the building of Grand Coulee Dam and the creation of Lake Roosevelt

 http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers...


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