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Western States Coalition Summit VII
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Date: Wed, 11 Dec 1996 11:53:34 -0500
From: "CLEAR View Mailing List"
SPECIAL EDITION: WESTERN STATES COALITION SUMMIT VII (November 14-17, 1996)
Attached is the latest issue of A CLEAR View, our periodic bulletin on the 'wise use' movement.
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CONTENTS:
Notable Quotes *1 Introduction to Special Edition: The Western States Coalition Summit VII: The Next 60 Days, The Next Four Years *2 Summit Overview *3 Speaker: Jim Hansen (R-UT) *4 Panel 1: Are Domestic Natural Resources Important Anymore? *5 Luncheon Speaker: Gail Phillips, Alaska House Speaker *6 Panel 2: New Environmentalism *7 Speaker: Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) *8 Speaker: Nevada Assemblyman John Carpenter *9 Study Presented: Public Land Management *10 Speaker: Ted Stewart, director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources *11 William Perry Pendley gives legal update of Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument *12 Panel 3: Delivering the Message: Working with the media *13 Speaker: Oregon State Senator Ted Ferroili. *14 Conclusion
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A CLEAR View Volume 3, Number 19 December 10, 1996
SPECIAL EDITION: WESTERN STATES COALITION SUMMIT VII (November 14-17, 1996)
Notable Quotes:
"We will go in and do the soft shoe. We'll put away our bias and our anger if [Clinton] puts away [his] catering to radical environmental groups." --WSC Executive Director Met Johnson on the request in a letter to President Clinton that the WSC have a "seat at the table" as the new Administration selects cabinet members with influence over western lands issues.
"He's a son of a bitch." -- Met Johnson on why he opposed the re- election of former Rep. Bill Orton, D-Utah. (Salt Lake Tribune, 11/17)
The Western States Coalition Summit VII The Next Sixty Days, The Next Four Years
*1 Introduction The Western States Coalition (WSC) held the seventh in its ongoing series of Summits in Salt Lake City, UT, November 14 - 16. The WSC Summits have become an important regular event on the "wise use" calendar. In terms of the attendance, the number of "wise use" luminaries on the speakers lists, and the topics included on the agenda, the WSC Summits are on par with the Alliance for America's annual Fly in For Freedom and Ron Arnold's annual Leadership Conference as critical arenas for the development and dissemination of "wise use" policies and tactics.
Listed as supporters in the Summit information packets were over 120 individuals and nearly 200 businesses and organizations. The majority of the funders appear to be small companies located in the West. However, several major organizations were among the WSC supporters, including the Utah Farm Bureau Federation, Snowbird Corporation, American Forest and Paper Association, ASARCO, Cyprus Amax Minerals Co., Marathon Oil Company, Edison Electric Institute, Kennecott Corporation, Phillip Morris, The Chevron Companies, Western Board of Realtors, National Association of Realtors, and the American Petroleum Institute. "Wise use" groups credited with contributing to the WSC Summit VII included People for the West!, the National Mining Association, Alliance for America, Competitive Enterprise Institute, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, Oregon Lands Coalition, BlueRibbon Coalition, and California Forestry Association.
The inclusion of so many oil and mineral companies on the list of WSC supporters could indicate that the recently formed alliance with People for the West! (PFW) -- a group the freely admits that 75% or more of its $1.7 million budget comes directly from mining interests -- has begun to pay off financially. Or, it could mean that WSC has simply adopted PFW's list of supporters (CLEAR previously had no records on the financial supporters of the WSC).
Unlike previous Summits, the only organization that was allowed a table at the event was People For the West!. In fact, one of the several news articles that described the Summit reported that the WSC had banned booths by private individuals and organizations because "previous conferences had attracted an array of right-wing organizations, including a few suggesting support for violent resistance to the federal government (_Deseret News, November 16, 1996)."
However, materials from several prominent "wise use" groups were available, including The Land Rights Letter, Nevada Outdoor Alliance, Range Magazine, League of Private Property Voters, National Mining Association, Frontiers of Freedom, American Rights Coalition and the Outdoor Channel. In fact, the current newsletter of the National Federal Lands Conference, the 'county supremacy' group that published the headline article "Why There Is A Need For The Militia In America" in their October 1994 issue, was distributed at the conference despite the purported ban.
Among the most important observations from the Summit was that the terms "wise use" and "wise use movement" were rarely uttered during the two day program, that the term "new environmentalism" has become a more central theme with the WSC, and that participants spoke often of crafting and sticking to a new message for the WSC and their allies.
One conclusion to be drawn from these observations is that the element of the "wise use" movement represented by the WSC and its allies has become more concerned with the image they project and have recognized that in order for their campaigns to succeed they must become more focused and disciplined in delivering a moderate message -- that they are the "true" environmentalists.
A Salt Lake Tribune (Nov 17) article summarizing the Summit raised the issue of the political nature and funding of the WSC Summit, noting that "some 25 Utah lawmakers -- all but three of them Republicans -- attended [the] conference at an estimated cost of more than $2,000 to taxpayers."
The information below was gathered and synthesized by Richard Warnick, a Salt Lake City environmental activist who attended the WSC Summit VII on behalf of CLEAR. We are grateful for his time and his insights.
WSC Summit VII: The Next 60 Days, The Next Four Years
*2 Overview
The main theme of the summit, which WSC founder Met Johnson explained in his opening remarks, was "We want a seat at the table when there are decisions to be made." Johnson read from a WSC letter to President Clinton that was signed by Johnson and state house of representatives Speakers Gail Phillips (AK), Mark Killian (AZ) and Mel Brown (UT). The letter claims that the WSC represents 25 million Americans via the constituencies of elected officials and memberships of stakeholder groups. The gist of the letter is that WSC wants a say in the selection of cabinet members for the president's second term. Gail Phillips, at the end of the day, announced that WSC had several names to submit for cabinet posts but didn't give details. One wonders how WSC can expect to have a "seat at the table"-- in the cabinet room, no less -- while suing the administration over the Grand Staircase-Escalante NM and generally berating Clinton for everything he has done.
Another recurring theme, which is in the letter to Clinton and was repeated several times during the Friday session, was the concept of a "new environmentalism" which means:
-- Environment and people in balance -- An ethic based on hope instead of fear -- Solutions instead of conflict -- Education instead of litigation -- Science instead of emotion -- Employing human and natural resources instead of negating them
By a show of hands, the approximately 250 attendees came from a number of states, including AK, AZ, CA, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY. The largest group of participants came from Utah. Johnson announced that the summit had 30% more attendance than anticipated. However, this was a smaller attendance than the Salt Lake City meeting in January, 1995, in the aftermath of the GOP takeover of Congress.
While speakers generally kept to an upbeat tone, the mood of the summit was one of uncertainty. Utah State Senator Leonard Blackham noted that while there have been small wins, there remain many "big things we're struggling with" in Congress. Unlike most of the summit speakers, Ted Stewart was able to report a victory: the State of Utah's legal action against the Secretary of the Interior brought about a permanent injunction stopping the Utah BLM wilderness inventory on Friday, November 15.
People for the West! had a professional-looking display and Web site demo in the meeting room both days. Saturday's "Freedom Lights the Way" musical show by the "PFW Players" was nearly 90 minutes long, corny and tedious, but hammered home the message that "we want to save not only our environment, but our liberty as well." The script satirized bureaucrats, politicians and environmentalists.
The Summit opened with Utah House Speaker Mel Brown leading the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by a rendition of the National Anthem by the Box Elder Choir. Following opening remarks by Brown, Utah State Senator Leonard Blackham and Met Johnson, WSC Executive Director, Johnson introduced the first speaker of the day.
*3 Speaker--
Rep. Jim Hansen (R-UT) lamented his inability to attach Utah wilderness and range reform legislation to the Parks Omnibus bill just signed by President Clinton. He noted his main priority in the 105th Congress would include an effort to get the White House to alter the boundaries of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, which Clinton designated in September, so as to exclude the coal field leased by Andalex Resources. Hansen also cited Utah wilderness, forest health, changes to the ESA, and fighting a suggestion by David Brower to drain Lake Powell. Hansen also added that the WSC would not accomplish much through "temper tantrums," saying "You have to get off that nonsense. You've got to get down to reality and say 'What can we do?'" (Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 19, 1996)
*4 Panel 1: Are Domestic Natural Resources Important Anymore?--
This panel featured representatives from the American Forest & Paper Association, American Petroleum Institute, American Recreation Coalition, National Cattlemen's Beef Association and National Mining Association. The panelists expressed concern about the public's negative view of industry and noted that industry needs positive statements, as exemplified by the bumper sticker, "It Takes a Mine to Build a Bridge" (a reference to Clinton's oft- used bridge metaphor). They also discussed the need to work together and address common challenges, including specific issues such as ESA revisions, property rights, mining law reform and global warming. The petroleum and mining representatives believe that U.S. participation in international efforts to reduce global warming puts this country at a competitive disadvantage compared to Europe (because of our transportation needs and reliance on coal-fired power plants). Several panelists noted that although outright wins are unlikely, lobbying can define the issues favorably. The alternative, they said, is to let Vice President Al Gore and others set the agenda for the environment.
*5 Speaker--
The luncheon speaker was Gail Phillips of Nome, Alaska, the Alaska House speaker. She expressed disappointment about the Clinton administration vetoes of legislation on ANWR and the Tongass National Forest, but thanked other western states for their support on these issues. Phillips rejected the idea that the 1996 elections were a referendum on environmental issues. She compared environmentalists to "that pesky pink rabbit that keeps going and going" and suggested emulating that persistence. Hitting on the "hope instead of fear" element of the "new environmentalism," she said issues ought to be nonpartisan but then added that House Speaker Newt Gingrich's environmental task force was a mistake because "it gives opponents a platform to attack us."
*6 Panel 2: New Environmentalism--
The afternoon panel addressed the concept of "new environmentalism." Communications consultant Margaret Allender attempted to answer the question, "Why are we unsuccessful in communicating 'our side' of the story?" by citing common pitfalls such as one-way communication instead of dialogue and the "us-vs.-them" mentality. The most effective plan, she said, is to have the message come from third- party -- independent sources seen by the media and public as more credible than spokespersons for organizations.
Kathy Benedetto, a geologist and Montana Field Coordinator for People for the West!, emphasized the benefits of leading by example to prove industry is concerned about the environment. She cited a program from Oklahoma in which the petroleum producers used a "self tax" to clean up environmental hazards and also pay for advertising about their environmental efforts.
Donn Zea of the California Forestry Association talked about "solutions instead of conflict." The national environmental groups, he said, are in the conflict business; they are opposed to solutions. Their direct-mail fundraising depends on "finding the next Armageddon-like issue." To put them out of business, Zea recommended driving a wedge between the national groups and local people who want solutions to problems instead of endless controversy.
New Mexico Lieutenant Governor Walter Bradley urged summit participants to get inside the political system instead of "lobbing grenades" at it. Dynamics at work include the reduced funding of federal agencies and opportunities for states and interest groups to have input. He cited Section 1501-B of NEPA which allows state governments to become a joint lead agency in the environmental review process.
Robert J. Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute wrapped up the panel. He pointed out that "if the message is private property versus the environment, then we lose," using ESA reauthorization as an example. Private stewardship of habitats ought to be rewarded, not punished, he said. Disincentives in the law are harmful to endangered species on private land. The ESA could be made voluntary and non-regulatory, similar to the Soil Conservation Service's Conservation Reserve Program which pays farmers to set aside land. Smith noted that Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ) introduced a bill along these lines in the 104th Congress. He also called for more, better-documented ESA "horror stories" to convince Congress that reform is needed.
*7 Speaker--
The last speaker of the day was Senator Larry Craig (R-ID), the chairman of the GOP Policy Committee which is meeting to develop a strategy for working with the Clinton administration. Craig plans to introduce "National Forest Management Act reform" soon, with hearings planned for January. His bill would allow the chief of the Forest Service to contract out forest management to reduce government costs, and also adopt forest plans developed outside the Forest Service. Too often in the 104th Congress, the administration seized the moral high ground on issues like property rights and ESA, framing the debate in terms of a rollback of environmental progress. "Reformers" need to present new initiatives in positive terms. For example, he said, focus group studies showed the term "timber industry" evokes a negative response but "forest products industry" is positive.
DAY TWO
*8 Speaker--
Saturday's agenda began with a speech by Nevada Assemblyman John Carpenter. Although Nevada was the birthplace of the Sagebrush Rebellion, it is now "very difficult to mount a statewide campaign for the return of our lands," he said. The attorney general "is leading the Greens" and Senator Reid is little better.
*9 Presentation of Study--
Carpenter introduced Dr. Michael Baughman, president of Intertech Services Corporation and a consultant to Eureka County, Nevada. His topic was "Public Land Management in the 21st Century: Facilitating Congressional Delegation of Responsibility to State and Local Governments." Eureka County was the first county to establish a public land advisory commission and hire a full-time natural resource manager to monitor federal lands policy.
Baughman outlined a scenario which he believes will lead to "a new paradigm for public land management." Budget tightening will lead the BLM and Forest Service to delegate more and more of the on-the- ground management to local governments and private entities. Already, mining operations are expected to bear the full cost of NEPA compliance. Congress will soon delegate to the states authority over, if not outright title to, public lands. Statistics Baughman has gathered indicate that state land management agencies are able to do their job more efficiently than federal agencies because they have a narrower mandate.
If Congress is to move toward the new paradigm, Baughman says, it will be on the basis of cost- cutting. The BLM loses $600 million a year, which is a good reason to let states take over land management. Lobbying for this will be a tremendous challenge, however. Resource industries have questions about how state management will affect their interests. The twelve public land states have just 75 votes in the House and 24 in the Senate, at best. The situation is complicated because most westerners live in urban areas and do not share the rural perspective on public lands, and the influx of 30 million people expected in the public land states through the year 2025 will also have an urban outlook. Environmental groups create controversy over everything, because "controversy is cash, and cash pays salaries."
*10 Speaker--
Ted Stewart, director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources, spoke about the lawsuit against the BLM wilderness re-inventory brought by the State of Utah, the Utah Association of Counties and the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration. Utah now has 3.2 million acres of wilderness study areas (WSAs) which the BLM manages essentially as wilderness pending congressional action. Environmental groups consider the inventory which led to the WSA designations to be flawed, as evidenced by two successful appeals by the Utah Wilderness Association in the 1980's. Had the Wilderness Act criteria been applied fairly during the inventory, wilderness advocates argue, Utah would have something like 5 million acres of WSAs.
Stewart said that last April, just after the failure of a 2.1 million acre bill drafted by the Utah congressional delegation and opposed by environmentalists, Rep. Jim Hansen challenged Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt to produce evidence of his contention that there are 5 million acres of wilderness-eligible BLM land in Utah. Babbitt chose to treat this as a request for a new inventory, which he ordered last July. The re- inventory was to be conducted without public involvement, on an accelerated six-month schedule. New inventory criteria were implemented, again without public involvement.
Because the public was being "outrageously excluded" from the process, the state decided to file suit on October 15. The arguments being used include:
-- The Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA) set a 15-year time limit on the BLM wilderness review, and this expired in 1991.
-- Sections 201 and 202 of FLPMA require public involvement and coordination with state and local governments. No public involvement has been allowed, although the State of Utah has evidence that national environmental group officials have been participating in the re-inventory.
-- The new inventory criteria allow for the inventory of state-owned lands for wilderness potential.
The BLM field work was scheduled to be completed by December 2, at which point Stewart believes "we will have lost the war." So the state asked the court for a preliminary injunction, which was granted November 12. Three days later, it was made permanent. The state met the standard of showing irreparable harm because the BLM could manage newly inventoried lands as if they were WSAs. They also convinced the judge of the substantial likelihood of success on the merits of the case.
"This is just a small victory, but it is significant," said Stewart. He concluded by saying that the Secretary of the Interior must obey the law, and not use public lands as a political football.
*11 Legal Update--
The next speaker was William Perry Pendley of the Mountain States Legal Foundation. Armed with copies of his book, The War on the West, he departed from his assigned topic of the Western States Coalition's lawsuit against the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to discuss property rights, global warming, and environmental extremism.
Pendley believes that wildfires are a sign of "sick" forests, which in turn are caused by "lawsuits and appeals and environmental craziness." He said that a copy of Al Gore's book Earth in the Balance was found in the Unabomber's cabin and that their "anti- technology" writings compare closely.
The Achilles heel of the environmental movement, according to Pendley, is the "takings" issue. "If environmental is no longer free, it is no longer 'feel-good.'" Saying that the Endangered Species Act has gone too far, he gave as an example a report by Barbara Walters on ABC's "20-20" about the kangaroo rat in California. "People now realize it's not about clean air and clean water, but about power and control."
During the 1996 elections, "we got off-message," says Pendley. Republicans ought to have emphasized the loss of rights caused by environmental regulation instead of attempting to "out 'me-too' the other side." The environment "is a winning issue for us" if defined in the right way.
On the subject of the Grand Staircase-Escalante, Pendley recalled that President Clinton made the national monument proclamation while standing at the edge of the Grand Canyon, "but not close enough." The Mountain States Legal Foundation launched a lawsuit on behalf of WSC on October 31, challenging the monument as a misuse of the 1906 Antiquities Act.
Pendley acknowledged that no Antiquities Act lawsuit has ever succeeded in challenging the presidential authority to declare national monuments. He noted however, that the last unsuccessful suit of this kind was during the 1950's and a lot of public land law has changed since then. The court, he predicts, will eventually either rule that the president has unlimited power under the Antiquities Act (which would make it an unconstitutional delegation of power by the Congress) or spell out what limits there are. For example, the Act specifies that only the minimum necessary acreage can be set aside -- but Clinton established a 1.7 million acre monument, almost the size of Yellowstone.
In conclusion, Pendley reiterated that "we've got to get back on message." Departing from the "seat at the table" theme, he said there can be no common ground with President Clinton, who is too far to the left. Pendley reminded the audience that some 60 percent of federal judgeships are up for appointment in the next four years, suggested the need to get into schools and educate kids about resources, work with the media, and quoted Bruce Vincent: "The world is run by those who show up."
*12 Panel 3: Delivering The Message--
This panel featured five journalists talking mainly about the mechanics of working with the media. Utah's John Hollenhorst, a KSL-TV News environmental reporter, described his view of the Utah public lands debate as a "holy war." Journalists know the first casualty of war is the truth, and it is "shot full of holes by both sides." Half-truths, distortions, exaggerations and character assassination are all part of the daily dialogue. "We cover the unusual," he said, and compromise and willingness to listen to the other side would make an unusual story in Utah.
*13 Speaker--
Oregon State Senator Ted Ferrioli was introduced by Laura Cleland, Executive Director of the Oregon Lands Coalition. Ferrioli spoke about "Positive Activism and Financial Support." He used the opinion matrix to describe how people move from being unaware of an issue to awareness, knowledge, opinion, conviction and action. A common mistake is to try to convince an unaware person to take action -- you can only move people up the ladder one step at a time.
In Oregon, political contributions are limited to $100. Ferrioli's favorite fundraising technique is to call ten contributors and ask each of them to call ten. Another method, useful for grassroots groups, is to ask a particular industry to fund your group for one month-- and devote that month to working with them and highlighting their issues.
*14 Grand Conclusion--
After lunch, Arizona State Representative Joe Hart read the summary of the WSC platform, copies of which were given to all participants. Full platform documents were not available. The issues comprising the platform include: air quality, energy policy, forestry, National Environmental Policy Act, private property rights, recreation and tourism, rights of way (RS 2477), Superfund, water rights, wilderness, Endangered Species Act, fisheries, mining, National Heritage Areas, public rangeland management, regulatory reform, shared jurisdiction, waste management, and wetlands.
Speaker Gail Phillips of the Alaska House of Representatives announced that WSC would be presenting names to the president for cabinet appointments, and these would need to be supported by letters and phone calls at the appropriate time. She did not give any of the names.
Bruce Vincent delivered "inspirational" closing remarks before introducing the PFW (People for the West!) Players. He said we need to end the conflict industry that is the old environmental movement and replace it with the tenets of the "new environmentalism." Hope instead of fear, etc. He also compared the fear of environmental catastrophe with the fear of nuclear catastrophe, decrying its effect on children. "The bridge to the future is burning before our very eyes" unless we can give hope to the new generation.
The finale was "Freedom Lights the Way," a patriotic show put on by the PFW players which attacked environmentalists, federal regulators and politicians.
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contact information:
Met Johnson Executive Director Western States Coalition P.O. Box 560 New Harmony, UT 84757 801-586-4239 801-586-7660 fax WSC@sisna.com
For additional information on the Western States Coalition, or any of the other groups or individuals mentioned in this Special Report, please contact CLEAR at clear@ewg.org, or call 202-667-6982.
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For additional information on anything you've read in A CLEAR View, please contact CLEAR.
Editor: Sara Savitt Contributors: Dan Barry, CLEAR Director Allison Daly, Grassroots Coordinator
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