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Washington Newsletter

December, 2006

Election Results

Last month’s newsletter was released just one week prior to the November 7th elections. In that newsletter I made reference to the upcoming elections when I wrote, “Elections are all about change and certainly the polls indicate that we may well be on the threshold of change?” Well, the American electorate indicated their unhappiness with the current state of affairs and promptly removed Republican Party control of both the U. S. House of Representatives and the U. S. Senate. Come January, President Bush will face an entirely different atmosphere when he delivers his State of the Union message before a Joint Session of Congress. Everyone is talking about need for bi-partisanship and I agree. However, I fear party politics will begin sooner rather than later especially since everything will be geared towards the 2008 Presidential election.

Beyond Congress, Democrats were successful at other levels of government as well. They enjoyed a net gain of 6 state governors as well as a host of other state and local government positions. All in all, November 7th wasn’t a very good day for Republicans. I have heard that Republicans are now taking a new interest in the Endangered Species Act especially since there are now so few Republican officer holders left in the New England states. ESA status might bring some needed attention to their plight!

What Does This All Mean?

Alright, putting aside the actual election results, what does this all mean especially to those of us who want to maintain access to our federal public lands? For one thing, we will see a host of changes to the entire leadership structure of the Congress. The chairmanship of important committees with oversight on public lands will change. For example, in the House of Representatives, the current chairman of the House Resources Committee, Richard Pombo, was defeated for re-election. Rep. Nick Rahall, a moderate Democrat from the State of West Virginia is likely to become the next committee chairman, provided he can survive a challenge by Rep. Ed Markey, a liberal Democrat from Massachusetts.

Mr. Rahall is very familiar with OHV recreation since the very successful Hatfield-McCoy Trail System is in his district. Mr. Markey, on the other hand, hails from Boston and is less likely to have an appreciation for OHV recreation interests or public lands issues. Our assumption has been that the new Congress might not be so supportive of OHV recreation and the upcoming chairmanship race between Rep. Rahall and Rep. Markey may well be a case in point. This leadership race will be settled by mid-December and as a result, we will then have a better idea of what to expect in terms of recreational access issues for 2007.

There is similar fight brewing over the top Republican spot on the House Resources Committee. With Rep. Pombo defeated, other Republican members have indicated an interest in the ranking minority position, including Rep. Don Young of Alaska, Rep. John Duncan of Tennessee and Rep. Jim Saxton of New Jersey. I think Rep. Young has the inside track in gaining the ranking designation, but again, we won’t be certain until sometime in December.

The situation in the Senate is not as complicated in terms of musical chairs. Senators Domenici and Bingaman, both from New Mexico, simply switch positions. In the next Congress, Senator Bingaman becomes the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Senator Domenici takes the ranking minority member spot.

The switching of chairmanships and ranking minority positions also means a major uprooting of committee staffs for Democrats and Republicans alike. Republicans will lose staff positions and Democrats will gain positions. Also, a change in majority status also means an actual change in office space. The majority enjoys better space and more of it. So, during the first few weeks of the new Congress, we will see a lot of office moving taking place. In the short term it means a lot of dislocation and distraction on the part of Members and staff. In the longer term it means that we will have a whole new set of decision-makers for issues affecting the use of our public lands.

Critics of the Republican controlled Congress have said that Congressional oversight of the Administration has been less than strenuous. Well, that is all about to change. The Democrat controlled Congress will take oversight hearings very seriously. We anticipate that Bush Administration officials will be spending a lot more time next year testifying on Capitol Hill before Congressional committees than they have in past years. To what extent our issues will become the focus of such oversight hearings, it is hard to tell. I suspect, however, that the use of public lands will come under scrutiny, not only in terms of recreation but also in areas of resource recovery like timber harvesting, oil and gas drilling, and mining.

The Magic Number for Yellowstone is 720

The never ending saga of whether snowmobiles should be permitted inside Yellowstone National Park seems to be taking one more step closer towards resolution. The National Park Service recently released a preliminary draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that endorses a winter use plan for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Under the plan, up to 720 snowmobiles per day will be permitted in Yellowstone and up to 140 snowmobiles per day in Grand Teton. Within Yellowstone, all snowmobiles must be commercially guided, and all must be Best Available Technology (BAT) machines.

Snowmobile access to these national parks has been very controversial going back to 2000 when the Clinton Administration imposed an outright ban. Obviously this issue isn’t going to go away. And, in fact, I would wager a bet that snowmobiles in Yellowstone will be the subject of an oversight hearing once the new Congress settles into office after the first of the year.

More Motorized Vehicle Route Designation Workshops Scheduled for 2007

Coming to a place near you in 2007... more route designation workshops. Already for 2007, we have workshops scheduled for Grand Island, Nebraska; Missoula, Montana; Montrose, Colorado; and Albuquerque, New Mexico. And, we anticipate more will be scheduled for other locations. Please check out the ARRA website for the actual dates for these workshops. This information will be updated on a regular basis as soon as registration information is available for each location. Please give serious thought to registering for one of these workshops.

109th Congress Leaves Town Limping

I have never known a lame-duck session to accomplish anything of substance and the lame-duck session of the 109th Congress so far has done nothing to dispel me of that notion. The Congress reconvened after the November election for the purpose of completing work on those appropriation measures not yet enacted into law. The federal government’s fiscal year began on October 1st and at present most federal agencies still do not have a permanent appropriation for this fiscal year. In the meantime, most agencies are operating on what is called a continuing resolution which simply funds the agencies at the 2006 spending level.

The Congress met for one week just prior to the Thanksgiving holiday and accomplished very little on the remaining measures. They then took a two week recess for Thanksgiving and are due to return to session during the first week of December. The speculation is that the House and the Senate will be unable to agree on spending levels for FY 2007 and will simply punt the problem to the new Congress which takes office in January.

Some observers have suggested that the 109th Congress was a “do nothing” Congress. I don’t necessarily embrace this notion because some good things were accomplished, but I am beginning to believe that best thing for this Congress to do is to leave town quietly, remembering first to turn off the lights in the Capitol Building. I pray that when the 110th Congress convenes in January, there is a new sense of urgency in terms of doing the “people’s business,” though I fear this might be wishful thinking on my part.

I expect next year is going to be a very challenging one for us in terms of our issues. The makeup of the new Congress will make that so. I will be writing more about those challenges at a later time.

I hope all of you are able to enjoy this holiday season with your family and friends. Please take a moment to remember those men and women serving our country abroad in dangerous places and who are unable to spend this holiday season with their loved ones.

Sincerely,

Larry E. Smith

Executive Director

ARRA